Aside from former FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, there may be few people outside of Kansas familiar with the town of Ulysses. It’s to the northwest of Liberal, southwest of Garden City, and a 300-mile drive from construction-cluttered Denver International Airport.
Here, a group of eight radio stations are heading to a new licensee.
Why? The current operator defaulted on payments owed to the entity getting the octet.
Through court-appointed receiver Ron Metzinger, Southwind Broadcasting is relinquishing ownership and control of the following properties:
- KBUF-AM 1030 and FM translator K296HO at 107.1 MHz in Holcomb, Ks.
- KULY-AM 1420 and FM translator K249FI at 97.7 MHz in Ulysses, Ks.
- KHGN-FM 106.7 in Hugoton, Ks.
- KSKL-FM 94.5 in Scott City, Ks.
- KKJQ-FM 97.3 in Garden City, Ks.
- KSKZ-FM 98.1 in Copeland, Ks.
- KWKR-FM 99.9 in Leoti, Ks.
- KSSA-FM 105.9 in Ingalls, Ks.
All but KSKL can be heard in Ulysses. KSKL, a 100kw FM, serves an area to the north stretching from Garden City to Leoti and Scott City.
The stations are heading to Central Plains Finance, a division of Murfin Inc. in Wichita.
It comes following a direct order from Finney County District Court filed on January 25 granting Metzinger’s motion to preliminarily confirm the sale of the stations.
And, it is the concluding act following a November 6, 2020 Order of Sale from the court; the paperwork was finalized Jan. 5, 2021.
Central Plains was the only, and highest, bidder, and obtain the properties in exchange for absolution of Southwind’s $2,567,658.85 unpaid payments owed to the finance company.
