Iconic Urban outlet KCOH-AM in Houston is being sold out of the format to an Hispanic non-profit, but the station will move down the dial a few clicks from its long-time home on 1430 kHz to 1230 kHz, courtesy of an Hispanic for-profit company.
The station was sold by the Estate of Michael Petrizzo to La Promesa Foundation for $2.766M in a deal accepted by the FCC for filing 11/13/12.
According to the Houston Chronicle, attempts within the Houston African American community to acquire the station in the past have failed due to lack of financing. However, one of the activists, Jesse Dunn, is said to have an LMA that will keep the station up and running on its new channel.
The current resident of 1230 kHz is Liberman Broadcasting’s KQUE-AM.
The current KCOH is a Class B with 5 kW-D, 1 kW-N, DA2.
KQUE-AM is a Class C with 1 kW-U, ND.
The sale of the station was the subject of a call by members of the US Congressional Black Caucus, led by Houston’s Sheila Jackson (D-TX). They expressed the view that the FCC has been getting from multiple sources of late, that no further ownership deregulation should be considered until the lack of diversity among broadcast licensees is dealt with.
