A Sky High Sale For El Paso’s Christian Station

An AM radio station with an FM translator and an FM serving a small area of New Mexico between Las Cruces and the Texas state line — possessing its own FM translator serving the El Paso metropolitan area — are heading to a new licensee.

It involves the changing of the board for a Christian noncommercial operation, and the transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the transaction happen.

KELP Radio, comprised of Class B KELP-AM 1590 in El Paso, Tex., and FM translator K240ER at 95.9 MHz and KELP-FM 89.3 in Mesquite, N. Mex., plus FM translator K269GF at 101.7 MHz in El Paso, are being sold to On Earth Media by Sky High Broadcasting and Pamela McClatchey.

She serves as President and Director of Sky High while also serving as the owner of McClatchey Broadcasting. That entity is the licensee of the AM; Sky High is the licensee of the FM.

Earlier this month, On Earth and McClatchey executed the asset purchase agreement, which sees On Earth taking on control of KELP via a time brokerage arrangement.

Terms call for a purchase price of $634,744, payable via a promissory note bearing 3% interest to be paid out in equal installments of $4,166.67 over 16 years. This puts the total payment at $800,001.64. A $2,000 escrow deposit has been made and is being held by Lone Star Title Company of El Paso.

Additionally, at closing the sum of $400,000 in cash is due to McClatchey for the real estate associated with KELP Radio.

The deal also includes a purchase price adjustment/prorations and dispute resolution section, which appears as follows:

There is no broker or finder in this transaction, which will see David Keith Kaufmann and Andrew Charles Frecka each of 50% equity interest in On Earth Media.