In early March 2020, just days before COVID-19 lockdowns and a pandemic would rattle the global economy, High Plains Radio Network (HPRN), the entity led by Monte Spearman, agreed to sell two AMs, two FMs and a FM translator in Arkansas to Broadcast Industry Group, led by Charles Jayson Brentlinger. That deal did not close. In July 2023, a reengineered deal that added an FM translator and seven additional full-power stations was agreed to. That transaction also ended up with a non-consummation notice.
Now, HPRN has struck a fresh deal that sees many of those properties going to a new buyer.
According to an asset purchase agreement shared by broker Hadden & Associates, HPRN is selling the following stations to E Radio Network LLC:
KDEL-FM – Arkadelphia, AR
KVRC-AM – Arkadelphia, AR
KZYP-AM – Malvern, AR
KAFN-AM – Benton, AR
K281CK – Sheridan, AR
K257HA – Sheridan, AR
KWPS-FM – Caddo Valley, AR
KYXK-FM – Gurdon, AR
KCMC-FM – Viola, AR
KJMT-FM – Calico Rock, AR
KRZP-FM – Gassville, AR
KDAV-AM – Lubbock, TX
K281CK and K257HA are translators that RBR+TVBR has confirmed with Spearman are being sold; the APA incorrectly listed K281DJ and this facility is not being sold. An update to the asset purchase agreement is being drafted as of February 7.
KDAV is a new station to the mix of properties that HPRN has attempted to sell. The prior deals with Broadcast Industry Group did not include the AM but instead included an AM/FM combo in Greenville, Miss., and FM translators in Benton and Sheridan, Ark., respectively.
A $1 million purchase price has been agreed to, with a $25,000 deposit being held by escrow agent Bill Whitley, who served as the seller’s broker. Doyle Hadden’s firm represented the buyer.
At closing, $475,000 in cash will be sent to Spearman’s group via wire transfer. The remaining $500,000 will be honored in subsequent payments of $250,000, payable via wire transfer some six months and 12 months, respectively, after closing.
E Radio Network is a buyer, and in May 2024 added KKTK-AM and K246CR in Texarkana, Ark., and KTRG-FM in Hooks, Tex., to its stable in a deal with Freed AM Corp. E Radio Network is led by Christie Tate and is also the licensee of KGVL-AM in Greenville, Tex.; KIKT-FM in Cooper, Tex., and FM translators in Caddo Mills and in Commerce, Tex.
HPRN is a debtor-in-possession, and declared bankruptcy in a Texas federal court that must approve the deal before it can close, regardless of Commission regulatory approval.
“We are very happy to be doing the transaction with the E Radio Network group,” Spearman tells RBR+TVBR. “They are a solid and growing newer radio network and they want to work with the smaller communities, which is and has always been my personal priority. They will do well with the radio stations and our goal is to assist in any areas needed.”
Spearman adds that HPRN “now has a main priority to properly get through this process so that everything can be resolved and to work best for all associated. We have always been very proud to be in the small market radio business and our goal has always been to be a responsible local radio station, for the listeners in our communities. There are various issues included in the filing of the Chapter Eleven — Sub-Chapter Five Bankruptcy, but with that all being resolved, the goal now is to sell the stations to quality buyers and to resolve all issues possible.”
