In a mini-deal reminiscent of the commercial radio station consolidations that have taken place the last 10 years, a new era in Cincinnati public radio was unveiled Friday as two of the area's legendary stations will soon be under one nonprofit ownership group.

Cincinnati classical station WGUC-FM (90.9) announced it is purchasing WVXU-FM (91.7) and the seven stations in its X-Star network, which extends from Ohio to Indiana and Michigan, for $15 million. Changes will be slow, at least at first.

The deal allows WGUC to shift its news and public affairs programming to WVXU, essentially becoming a classical music juke box.

Such WGUC Saturday shows as "Car Talk" and "Brain Brew" would move to WVXU.

It means the popular "All Things Considered" from National Public Radio would air only on WVXU, ending duplication of the show on the two stations.

WVXU would essentially turn into a news, talk and public radio information powerhouse. WVXU will move from the Xavier University campus to the WGUC studios on Central Parkway.

Whether the changes are ultimately a good or bad development might depend on whether you're asking management pursuing profits, employees concerned for their job safety, or loyal listeners.

"We certainly think one license holder operating both stations will provide a great deal of synergy and cross promotion activities between the two," said Richard Eiswerth, WGUC general manger and president. "This will be healthy and strengthen both services dramatically."

The purchase price is the second largest amount ever paid in the country for an established public radio license. It is the largest public radio consolidation deal in terms of the number of stations involved. WGUC officials said the debt for the purchase would be funded by municipal bonds amortizing over 20 years.

The deal requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission, expected to come in 90 days.

Xavier officials said the trustees had been mulling over selling the station for over a year. The final decision came as part of an overall department-by-department budget review. Money from the sale will be used to help fund a campus expansion of a "living-learning" center to be called the James E. Hoff Academic Quadrangle.

"This helps us meet our academic needs," said Xavier spokeswoman Kelly Leon. "WVXU is helping us pave the way for the future with this contribution."

The consolidation is expected to make major national news in the radio world since such buyouts are rare in the public radio sphere. They have become the norm in commercial radio since ownership restrictions were lifted in 1996, leading to such radio giants as Clear Channel, which owns 1,200 stations, eight in Cincinnati.

The deal doesn't mean WGUC is in some sort of acquisition mode, though. "Not at all," said Eiswerth. "In fact, I may go down as the manager who put the station into its biggest debt. But, if someone wants to donate us another license, I'd be able to take it."

The deal puts under one owner two nationally celebrated heritage public stations.

WGUC, coming on in 1960, was the first licensed public station in the United States and is one of the few remaining that is dedicated exclusively to classical music. WVXU was founded in 1976 by Dr. James King, who nurtured it as an alternative mix of specialty music programming and news with an almost religious devotion to preserving Cincinnati's radio heritage.

WVXU has produced a number of specials capturing the city's pioneering radio days and won a prestigious Peabody award in 1995 for its 12-hour documentary, "D-Day + 50 Years."

In some ways the merger of the two stations is the public radio equivalent of the first significant commercial radio consolidation in the Cincinnati market, when heritage stations WLW-AM and WEBN-FM came under the same ownership in the late '80s with Jacor Communications.

Eiswerth says the integrity of WGUC and WVXU will remain under the purchase.

"One of the strengths of both stations is their local nature. We are committed to maintain that."

Like commercial radio consolidation, the purchase allows for plenty of efficiencies in operation by combining marketing, strategically targeting programming and cross-promotion opportunities between the stations. Eiswerth suggested the new WGUC/WVXU configuration will be closely watched nationally from such interested parties as National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as public radio struggles to find a niche in the increasingly splintered radio universe wracked by Internet competition.

"There are national entities that have an interest in both stations and are very pleased and excited about what has transpired here," said Eiswerth. "They will look with a great deal of eagerness about what happens in Cincinnati."

The WVXU buyout was generally considered a smart public radio marketing move by many local observers, but it was greeted with less excitement by WVXU's 21 full-time employees, many of whom stand to lose their jobs under the consolidation. Eiswerth said WGUC, with 26 full- time employees, expects to add 10 new jobs under the buyout and will conduct interviews with current WVXU personnel to fill them. Friday, Xavier offered WVXU employees severance packages and job counseling about other opportunities at the university.

The word of the sale caught WVXU employees totally by surprise Friday morning when they were informed of the deal, over nine months in the making, but kept secret from the staff.

"It is a total shock here. There have been people crying in the halls," said Mike Martini, a 20-year WVXU producer, newscaster and writer who has been instrumental in the station's old-time radio archive efforts.

"This is the toughest day of my professional life," said WVXU general manager Vicky Jones about informing her staff of the deal.

Many WVXU staffers felt betrayed, according to Martini, since "we just worked our butts off for a fund drive. I just want our listeners to know it wasn't the station people that sold out. It was the university."

WGUC officials say they are sensitive to the often intimate bond public radio listeners form with their stations and offered to refund any pledges made by WVXU listeners during the recent fund-raising drive.

In a statement, King called the announcement of the sale "one of the saddest days of my professional life," saying he was "shocked, disturbed and deeply saddened" by Xavier's decision to sell the station.

King announced late last year he was leaving the station to return to an academic post. He now revealed the decision was partly made when he learned of the pending sale.

Xavier officials said the station had received anonymous offers periodically through radio brokers -- a common practice for radio headhunters looking for the rare radio licenses for sale.

Xavier officials said the WGUC offer was actually not the highest bid they received, but that they chose to take it with assurances from WGUC that the integrity of the station would be maintained. Xavier officials stressed they sold to WGUC realizing it would essentially maintain the station as it is.

The agreement calls for an ex officio member to be appointed by Xavier's president to the 20-member board of Cincinnati Classical Public Radio, Inc., the body which owns WGUC. Eiswerth said the deal states that, if WGUC dramatically alters the WVXU format, it must give up the call letters.

Eiswerth said there is no intention of radically changing WVXU programming, but he said the station will undergo a massive revaluation of its programming. "We will spend several months interviewing the local hosts and get their feel for what listeners like and don t like. Everything's up in the air right now. Everything's on the table."

WGUC average some 150,000 listeners a week; WVXU averages about 110,000, according to Arbitron ratings. WVXU's XStar radio network properties include stations in Chillicothe and West Union, Ohio; Rogers City, Harrison and Manistee, Mich., and Richmond, Ind.