He operates two Albuquerque-area radio stations through an agreement with their owner, Vanguard Media. Now, he’s seeking a similar arrangement with the latest court-appointed trustee to assume control of the radio stations formerly licensed to Ed Stolz and his Royce International Broadcasting.
Entrepreneur Kurt Nilson, who operates KYLZ-FM 101.3 in New Mexico’s largest market as “The Hustle” and sibling KOAZ-FM 103.7 as “The Oasis,” is working with Michael W. Carmel, the trustee in possession of KRCK-FM in Palm Springs, Calif.; KREV-FM in San Francisco; and KFRH-FM & KBET-AM in Las Vegas, on assuming control via a signing of programming agreements between the two parties.
Carmel has asked for approval from Nevada federal bankruptcy court judge August Landis to have Nilson pay to run the three FMs formerly owned by Stolz — and KBET-AM, which was not included in Stolz’s California legal foibles but now is, given his bankruptcy declaration and that station’s inclusion into his total asset pool.
The revenue generated by Nilson’s operation of the properties would be used, Carmel says, to recoup the operational costs to Carmel of the radio stations.
The application was initially filed with Landis’ court on April 25. It references Nilson’s Autopilot FM LLC operation. The plan, Carmel argues, “will get the radio stations up and running and broadcasting,” which he anticipates will not only generate immediate revenue but will also increase the stations’ value as Carmel formulates bidding procedures for an auction and ultimate sale “of these valuable radio station assets.”
The most valuable radio station as Carmel sees it is Class A KREV, with a signal blanketing the cities of San Francisco and Oakland from a waterfront transmitter on a small hill adjacent to the former Candlestick Park athletic stadium.
Who are the potential buyers? That remains a key question. VCY America, which had agreed to purchase the FMs from previous trustee Larry Patrick in a $6 million deal, offered to buy them again — at a reduced price of $4.5 million. Stolz balked that the stations were worth more than twice that amount. However, a poor market for sellers plus the lingering impacts of the pandemic, along with macroeconomic headwinds, make finding a buyer other than a noncommercial broadcast ministry incredibly challenging.
