In the February 2022 Nielsen Audio ratings for San Francisco, a Class A FM primarily serving San Jose, with boosters assisting it in areas south of that city extend the signal to Watsonville and Santa Cruz, scored a 1.8 share of the listening audience.
In its home market of San Jose, the station was ranked No. 1 with a 7.5 share.
Now, the staff and management of the station, the only FM airing Country music in the San Francisco Bay Area, can say they are going out with a bang.
KRTY-FM has been sold. Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) will be coming soon to the facility.
An application for FCC approval was submitted late Wednesday (3/23) and appears in the LMS. It shows Empire Broadcasting Inc., led by VP/GM Nate Deaton, agreeing to sell KRTY and its boosters in New Alamden and Scotts Valley, respectively, to Educational Media Foundation.
The purchase price is $3,138,000. There is no pre-closing LMA.
The deal has been in the works since March 9, the asset purchase agreement shows.
The sale of KRTY comes following the May 25, 2020 passing of Bob Kieve, who closed on the $3 million purchase of the station in 1993, some four years after it adopted a Country format and took on the KRTY call sign.
At the time of Kieve’s passing, KRTY had emerged as one of the few independently owned FM stations serving one of America’s biggest markets. It had outlasted two different attempts at Country on the 95.7 MHz facility serving San Francisco, and the former KYCY at 93.3 MHz. Even the unexpected passing of midday host Randy Jones on Dec. 1, 2021, didn’t deter listeners from gravitating toward KRTY.
It is now known that Kieve’s death set the wheels in motion on seeking a new owner. The best option involved EMF.
“This is the end of a magical era,” Deaton said. “Bob would be sorry to see the end of Country Radio in San Jose, but we know he would be proud to see how the employees at the station have honored his legacy since they lost Bob two years ago. We extend our congratulations and compliments to the entire team at EMF—they have been extraordinarily helpful and respectful during the entire transaction. We wish them the very best.”
Joe Miller, the VP of Signal Development at EMF, added, “We have appreciated working with Nate and his team on this transaction and applaud the service KRTY under the Kieve ownership has brought to the Bay Area over the years. They have been a credit to radio industry.”
While it is not formally known what EMF’s plans are for KRTY, it will likely serve as a home for Air1, its Worship Music non-commercial network. At present, it can be found on the HD2 signal of its KJLV-FM 97.7, and on various FM translators in the San Jose area. KJLV has been a KLOVE affiliate since EMF acquired it from Cumulus Media as part of a 6-station $103.5 million transaction that closed in late May 2019.
Empire, through its KRTY, Ltd., licensee, was represented by Elliot Evers at Houlihan Lokey.
EMF’s legal counsel, as has been standard for most transactions for the company, is David Oxenford of Wilkinson Barker Knauer.
