On November 1, 1992, a Salt Lake City-market radio station officially debuted, with a mix of spoken word secular programming not distributed by NPR. Today, KCPW-FM has a programming grid comprised of shows from American Public Media, PRI, and both the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) and Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC).
Soon, however, those offerings could disappear from along Utah’s Wasatch Front, as an auction is being conducted that will likely award KCPW to the highest bidder. And, Greg Guy of Patrick Communications is overseeing the process.
The bidding for KCPW-FM is the result of financial strains involving its owner, Wasatch Public Media, which acquired the Class C3 facility in spring 2008. At the time, KCPW was a NPR member station; NPR affiliation was discontinued in June 2013 as part of a reported expense reduction plan. Indeed, times were tough for Wasatch Public Media, and a summer 2014 fundraising drive warned that if it could not meet a $42,000 fundraising effort to pay for APM programming, KCPW would go silent.
That July 2014 campaign was successful. So was a 2017 effort to keep Wasatch Public Media’s operation of KCPW alive. Alas, six years later, struggles persist for KCPW as crosstown KUER-FM has emerged as the NPR member station for the Salt Lake City DMA. This time around, however, Wasatch Public Media is not putting an ultimatum to donors.
Instead, it will move ahead with an auction scheduled for 10am Mountain Time on October 9.
For those visiting the KCPW website, there’s no indication that Wasatch Public Media is accepting bids in an upcoming auction for the facility. In fact, the homepage offers an article describing how one can apply for a job with KCPW.
However, Guy confirms to RBR+TVBR that secured lenders FJC and Public Media Company have been brought on to consult Wasatch Public Media in the auctioning off of KCPW.
With Educational Media Foundation rumored to have been the alternative buyer of KCPW some 15 years ago, qualified bidder of all kinds — assuming they are not-for-profit — may deliver the required bid documents associated with the KCPW-FM auction to Guy at [email protected] and to WPM counsel George Hofmann at [email protected] no later than 4pm Mountain Time on October 4.
How does one become a qualified bidder?
- A term sheet proposing to purchase some or all of the assets for consideration that is at least $350,000
- Written evidence, satisfactory to the WPM in its reasonable discretion, of a
commitment for financing or other evidence of ability to consummate the
sale.
WPM will notify potential bidders who submit the information above whether
they are Qualified Bidders on or before October 5, signaling a swift process for WPM.
Wasatch Public Media acquired KCPW-FM for $2.4 million from Community Wireless of Park City Inc. In the 1980s, the call letters were associated with a now-defunct Top 40 station in Kansas City, “Power 95.” That facility has been KCMO-FM since 1989.
Full details regarding the auction can be be found here.
