On October 27, RBR+TVBR was first to report that the group behind a highly successful eclectic noncommercial Adult Alternative brand serving the Pacific Northwest’s biggest market had emerged as the successful bidder for KREV-FM 92.7 in Alameda, Calif.
The station, auctioned off in a Nevada bankruptcy court as part of Ed Stolz‘s ongoing saga linked to his Royce International Broadcasting, now appears to be seeking an upgrade — one that would put KREV’s transmitter on a storied Bay Area broadcast tower.
A FCC filing for a “Minor Modification of a Licensed Facility for FM Application” made by the Bankruptcy Estate of KREV licensee Golden State Broadcasting shows the trustee, Phoenix-based Michael Carmel, paying a $1,410 regulatory fee to submit a proposal that would put KREV’s transmitter on the Sutro Tower.
For Friends of KEXP, which plans to eventually rollout a unique-to-San Francisco version of its KEXP-FM in Seattle, that could make its $3.75 million investment in KREV perhaps more valuable than at present.
Today, KREV uses a tower adjacent to the site of the former Candlestick Park, giving it coverage of the city of San Francisco; Sausalito; and East Bay communities including Oakland.
With the FCC’s approval, KREV will move to the iconic three-legged 977-foot broadcast lattice tower smack dab in the middle of San Francisco, bringing a city-grade signal as far south as the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. East Bay communities and the southern tip of Marin County would continue to receive KREV.
With Bert Goldman hired as a Technical Consultant, he notes that KREV proposes operating with an EPA Type 3, Opposed U Dipole, 2-level halfwave spaced non-directional antenna at 60 meters above ground.
The request to move to the Sutro Tower could be seen as an upgrade by many industry observers. However, there’s a clear reason why the move is being done.
“Although the KREV trustee and the proposed buyer of KREV have attempted to extend
the lease which expires at the end of 2023, the tower owner has been unwilling to do so,” Goldman said.
It is likely this unwillingness is tied to Stolz’s inability to pay the tower owner as per the terms of his lease agreement.
The lease cancellation for KREV currently stands at January 1, 2024. As such, expedited processing of the FCC application is being requested so that KREV may continue to operate.
Interestingly, veteran radio station valuation specialist David Schutz tells RBR+TVBR that KREV previously operated from Sutro Tower in 2003. Within two years, however, KREV returned to a legacy site on top of a condominium building in the Russian Hill section of San Francisco. The shift to Sutro occurred under Chris Devine-led Millcreek, not under Stolz, which RBR+TVBR had incorrectly reported in earlier versions of this story. At the time, the station used the KPTI-FM call letters.
