HAIKU, HAWAII — There is a proud bunch of owners of a station, presently dark, that is licensed for 100kw from one of the most beautiful locales in the U.S.
Introducing Kauai Broadcast Partners, a Hawaii LLC that has acquired the station from a company that had been most recently using the facility for a religious format. The manager of this newly formed licensee is none other than Larry Fuss, owner of Mississippi-based Delta Radio Network and none other than “93KHJ” … in American Samoa.
In a transaction valued at $180,000, Kauai is acquiring KZZV-FM 94.3, licensed to Hanapepe, Kauai, with a tower above the south-coast community of Koloa.
The seller is Virtues Communications Network, led by Maurice Vargas. Its lone other property is KJVV-FM in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
A $24,000 deposit has been made to Virtues by Fuss’s Kauai Broadcast Partners. The remainder will be paid at closing.
KZZV is silent under a STA expiring March 26, 2018. If closing has not transpired by then, Virtues is responsible for an extension of the STA. KZZV went dark on Aug. 13.
Meanwhile, the 100kw output reflects a Construction Permit expiring on Jan. 20, allowing it to upgrade from just 100 watts. The closest co-channel facility is on the island of Maui, where Visionary Related Entertainment’s KDLX-FM 94.3 operates a Class C1 facility at 2kw from a tower adjacent to the entrance of Haleakala National Park’s summit, some 6,900 feet above sea level. There is no fear of interference, as Kauai and Maui are separated by Oahu and are some 200 miles from one another.
The purchase of KZZV saw Fuss enlist several radio industry professionals, as investors and shareholders. Among them: Former WLYF-FM 101.5 in Miami Director of Programming and Operations Rob Sidney; Fletcher Ford of Virden Broadcasting/Regional Media in Davenport, Iowa; Ken Kuenzie and Dennis Klautzer of Viper Communications in Osage Beach, Mo.; and communications attorney Barry Wood, who served as legal counsel in this transaction.
In an interview with Streamline Publishing’s Radio INK, Fuss explains, “When the Kaua’i station came available, Paul Gardner from KELK/KLKO in Elko, Nevada, said, “You should go look at it on your way back from Pago Pago.’ I did. There wasn’t much to it, but I saw potential. I put together the idea to buy it and e-mailed a bunch of friends. Less than 30 days later, the contract was signed and the transfer application was filed with the FCC. So, I guess we can say it’s all Paul Gardner’s fault.”
A format for KZZV is forthcoming.
Fuss holds 18.75% ownership in Delta Radio Network LLC; 54.9% ownership in Delta Radio LLC; and 46.7% ownership in South Seas Broadcasting, owner of four stations including KKHJ-FM 93.1 in Pago Pago, American Samoa, branded like former legendary Top 40 KHJ-AM 930 in Los Angeles.
Fuss is also the sole owner of Contemporary Communications LLC, owner of WMYQ-FM in Moorhead, Miss., and KAVH-FM in Eudora, Ark., pending the company’s closing of that station’s acquisition.
