They are heritage stations that have served the Lake Tahoe basin and surrounding areas for decades, with the AM dating back some 68 years and the FM some 50 years old. Alas, changing media habits and local advertising shifts have made business challenging for the stations’ owner. As such, D&H Broadcasting LLC has voluntary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
As such, “debtor in possession” status is now associated with D&H at the FCC, with paperwork reflecting the company’s actions submitted to the Commission’s License and Management System (LMS).
The stations impacted by the business decision are KOWL-AM 1490 & KRLT-FM 93.9 in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Through D&H, the stations are owned by General Manager Steve Harness, who also hosts the 2pm-6pm shift on KRLT, branded as “93.9 The Lake.”
Harness is a radio programming and operations veteran who worked as an on-air personality for Entercom radio stations between June 1998 and December 2006, at which time he joined the former Cherry Creek Radio as GM for KOWL and KRLT. In July 2015, Harness bought the stations from Cherry Creek, for $650,000. Steve Harness took one-third ownership, while Jay Harness took another third and Stacy Driskill took the final third. Speaking at the time to CarsonNow.org, a Carson City, Nev., news organization, Harness said, “I’ve put eight years of sweat equity into both stations and I did not want to see that work undone by new owners.”
By June 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on many businesses, KOWL and KRLT were fighting for their life. A GoFundMe page to keep the operation from shutting down was created; $7,500 of a $100,000 goal was raised.
Yet, even as monthly overhead was flat as the stations’ revenue plummeted by roughly 80%, Harness kept KOWL and KRLT afloat. “We’re still No. 1 in this market and have a large loyal audience, as always,” Harness said some four years ago.
By December 2023, Harness was chatting with Southtahoenow.com to share the news that a “broadcasting veteran that wants to take over as owner” and help revitalize KRLT had stepped up. “The truth is, we didn’t really survive that COVID economy,” Harness told the online publication. “It buried us in debt and now it’s all catching up to us.” Longtime morning host Howie Nave was furloughed from morning drive.
On January 10, 2024, more trouble arose as ice damage to the KRLT transmitter forced the station to go silent for three days. By mid-April, Nave was sharing with his Facebook audience that his morning show was still a “go” under new ownership, but a new studio was between six weeks and eight months away from getting built. This came after a January Facebook post in which Nave said he met with “the new station owner” who wanted to hire Nave once the deal was done.
As of May 17, there was no update on who the mystery buyer was, nor was there any filing with the FCC suggesting an asset purchase agreement had been finalized. Instead, Harness shared how on December 29, 2023 D&H Broadcasting field a voluntary petition for bankruptcy in a Nevada federal court, with an amendment filed on Feb. 2, 2024.
The assets are valued between $100,001 and $500,000, while liabilities are between $500,001 and $1 million.
Among the largest unsecured creditors are Jerry Evans Broadcasting of Carson City, Nev., with some $298,000 owed.
An outstanding balance of $198,000 is owed to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Music licensing fees are also unpaid.
