A Class B AM with a signal covering the entire Houston radio market and more thanks to its 15kw daytime signal and 1kw nighttime coverage contour is being acquired by a limited liability company led by Yasmeen Qureshi.
What does this mean for “The Voice of Texas”? If anything, it concludes a second round of ownership for the man that since 2015 has been the Lieutenant Governor of the Lone Star State.
Dan Patrick, who first acquired Houston-focused KSEV-AM 700 in Tomball, Tex., in the late 1980s for $47,164 after previously buying four hours of air time to host a talk show, is selling the station to Qureshi-led Lone Star Media LLC.
Patrick, through his Patrick Broadcasting LP, is agreeing to a $300,000 sale of the station he would later repurchase after two previous ownership shifts.
A $100,000 downpayment has been made to Patrick by Lone Star and Qureshi. There is no broker or finder associated with this transaction, which sees Dan J. Alpert serve as the legal representative for Lone Star and Seth Williams of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth act as the legal voice for Patrick in front of the FCC.
With a 0.1 share in the most recent Eastlan Ratings report for Houston, KSEV has a mix of unique programs and syndicated fare, including FOX News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade Show in the 9am-Noon Central slot. The lineup once included Patrick, who like the famed American sports commentator of the same name began his career in the same space.
With a career start at a radio station, in 1968, Patrick would take a job at WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pa., followed by a role at WTTG-5 in Washington, D.C. After that position, Patrick moved to Houston to become the lead sportscaster at KHOU-11 in Houston. There, his flamboyant antics got him fans and foes until Belo Corp. couldn’t come to terms on a long-term contract with Patrick, leading to his 1984 exit.
Patrick had name recognition in Houston, and this allowed him to team on one of the nation’s first sports bars. A late 1980s oil bust brought economic challenges to the region, and Dan and Nick’s Sportsmarket would enjoy a boom-to-bust ride. As Patrick sorted out his personal finances, he invested in a four-hour brokered time slot on KSEV, starting in 1987. That show provided the spark to buying KSEV, in late October 1989, and serving as its General Manager and morning host. One master stroke — piping in rising syndicated talk host Rush Limbaugh for his Houston debut.
In 1995, Patrick sold KSEV — to iHeartMedia predecessor Clear Channel Communications. Mr. Patrick would remain as VP/GM through 2001, when Clear Channel divested the property. The former Liberman Broadcasting would acquire it, and keep the English-language conservative talk programming in place as Patrick entered into an LMA with the company. In October 2009, a LMA-to-ownership conversion made Patrick KSEV’s owner a second time. However, the price was steep — $6.5 million.
Patrick would also purchase an AM in Dallas, in the mid-2000s, but sold it just few years later. Meanwhile, his ascent in Texas politics was just starting, with his election to Texas’ State Senate in 2006. In 2014, Patrick entered the ring to become Lieutenant Governor, winning the race and presently up for re-election.
Polling in late July showed Patrick in a difficult battle against Democratic hopeful Vikki Goodwin. By the end of August, Patrick surged with likely voters, opening a big lead over Goodwin.
