As the court-appointed receiver of three radio stations tied to Ed Stolz, Larry Patrick was directed by a California federal district judge to move forward with the sale of Stolz’s three FM radio stations licensed to Royce International Broadcasting. The action, the judge said, was necessary in order to provide past-due royalty payments tied to the airplay of music on those FMs.
Then came Stolz’s bankruptcy filing, in a Nevada court. As RBR+TVBR reported in early February, August B. Landis of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada — in an oral ruling made on January 31 — paved the way for Stolz to regain ownership of the properties.
Paperwork reflecting the unwinding of a deal engineered by Patrick has now been filed with the FCC.
The filing was made on behalf of Patrick on Friday (2/11), and it includes a copy of Judge August B. Landis’ February 7 entry of an Order Granting Debtor’s Emergency Motion for Turnover.
In plain terms, it was a directive to hand ownership of Major Market Radio LLC’s KRCK-FM 97.7 in Palm Springs, Calif.; Golden State Broadcasting’s Class A KREV-FM 92.7 in Alameda, Calif.; and Silver State Broadcasting LLC’s Class C KFRH-FM 104.3 in North Las Vegas, Nev., to Stolz.
That’s now transpiring, reversing — at least for now — the $6 million sale of the stations from Patrick as the court-appointed trustee to VCY America. That transaction officially transpired in March 2021, Patrick had become the licensee of KRCK, KREV and KFRH with the FCC’s approval on July 24, 2020.
Serving as Patrick’s legal counsel in the transfer is Dawn Sciarrino of Sciarrino & Shubert PLLC. Stolz’s legal counsel is Barry Wood of Wood & Maines P.C.
What’s next for Stolz? It is believed that he will need to demonstrate to the Nevada Bankruptcy Court how he intends to emerge from voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
At present, VCY America is the lone revenue generator for the three stations, thanks to an LMA established in 2021 allowing it to operate the FMs prior to closing its transaction. RBR+TVBR has also learned, via Patrick, that Royce International’s studio space has been greatly diminished since he lost control of KRCK, KREV and KFRH and that VCY America-owned equipment is in place in at least one station operation center.
