Travel to the Monterey Bay area and tune to a longtime AM radio station at 1410 kHz or its recently added FM translator at 94.7 MHz and you’ll get an Adult Alternative blend of music that’s attracted both locals and streaming audio audiences from afar.
Now, that operation’s future is in question, as the facilities are being sold.
An asset purchase agreement has been submitted for FCC approval that would see the sale of KRML-AM 1410 in Carmel, Calif., and K234DH at 94.7 MHz in neighboring Monterey, Calif., from KRML Radio.
The buyer is El Avance LLC, and all signs point to a programming change at the station that served as the setting for the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me, forever linking Eastwood to the AM.
For the buyer, a $64,000 purchase price was agreed to, demonstrating the challenges of running a small, independent operation in today’s environment — even in a region where localism is celebrated through the support of other local and non-profit radio operations.
Terms explain everything when it comes to just how difficult the challenge of being hyperlocal can be. At closing, $10,000 cash will be paid. The remaining $54,000 will be delivered through an advertising agreement giving the seller airtime for “Refuge/CVAC” spots at a price of $1,500 per month, for 36 months.
As additional consideration, El Avance is getting three months of rent-free occupancy upon closing of KRML’s facility.
Signing off on the sale of KRML is the Heidi McKay Marital Trust. Serving as the legal counsel for the seller is Mark Lipp of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth.
KRML’s current programming dates to May 2017. Its past includes Jazz formats, with a simulcast of KLON-FM in Long Beach, Calif. (today KKJZ-FM).
