Wasatch Public Media Inks Deal to Buy KCPW FM Frequencies

Mar 28, 2008 by Lara Jones

New Non-Profit Has 60 Days to Prove Financing

(KCPW News) Community Wireless of Park City, the parent company of KCPW, has signed a letter of intent to sell the FM licenses of this community radio station to Wasatch Public Media for $2.4 million. Board member Joe Wrona says the decision was unanimous but comes with stiff financial expectations over the next two months:

"If Wasatch Public Media is unable to perform, Community Wireless will accept an offer from a third party," he says. That third party has been reported as EMF Broadcasting, a non-profit Christian broadcaster.

Wrona says KCPW's 1010 AM frequency will be sold for $1.3 million dollars to IHR Educational Broadcasting, a network of Catholic radio stations.

Former KCPW general manager Ed Sweeney started Wasatch Public Media in order to bid on the station's FM frequencies - 88.3 and 105.3 FM - when Community Wireless announced in January that it would sell its Salt Lake City assets. Sweeney says negotiations to this point have been tough, and there's more to come by the end of May:

"During that 60-day period of time, we also start to enter into and negotiate an asset purchase agreement," he says. "And once that asset purchase agreement is executed, which is typically at the end of the 60 days, that then is attached to an FCC [Federal Communications Commission] application to change the licenses for us from Community Wireless to Wasatch Public Media."

Sweeney says he expects to reach an operating agreement in 15 days in order to assume control of programming and day-to-day operations. That time period is part of the 60-day window in which he must prove to the board of Community Wireless that Wasatch Public Media's financing is sound.

Click here for a statement from Wasatch Public Media.

Full press release from Community Wireless:

Community Wireless Announces Sale Plans for KCPW

Two Groups Submit Letters of Intent

PARK CITY, UTAH – The Board of Trustees of Community Wireless of Park City, which is the parent company of Park City based radio station KPCW-FM, met in closed session this week to consider various offers for the purchase of KCPW-AM and KCPW-FM. The KCPW stations are Salt Lake City based radio stations currently owned and operated by Community Wireless of Park City.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to sign a letter of intent to sell the assets of the AM station to IHR Educational Broadcasting for a purchase price of $1,300,000. The assets of the AM station consist primarily of a broadcasting tower and the licenses to broadcast on the 1010 AM frequency.

The Board of Trustees also voted this week to enter into a letter of intent to sell KCPW-FM to Wasatch Public Media, Inc. for $2,400,000. Wasatch Public Media is a Salt Lake City based group headed by Ed Sweeney who previously served as the Salt Lake station’s general manager. Wasatch Public Media has committed to maintain KCPW’s existing National Public Radio format if it is successful in acquiring the station from Community Wireless.

In January, Community Wireless stated its intention to sell the Salt Lake radio properties in order to focus on KPCW-FM based in Park City. At the time, Community Wireless Chairman Bill Mullen said he felt that the growth in Summit and Wasatch Counties warranted the Board’s full attention on KPCW. In response to that announcement, Wasatch Public Media rallied support from listeners who actively communicated to the Board of Community Wireless their desire for the Board to consider an offer from Wasatch Public Media.

Board of Trustees member Joe Wrona voiced appreciation for the attention that the Salt Lake assets have generated, “We are very pleased to have seen this level of interest from both the Salt Lake radio audience and from IHR. Community Wireless looks forward to concluding these transactions as soon as negotiations and the FCC will allow.”

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1. Doug Bird said:

Just three months ago there was a huge, and apparently fraudulent fund-raising drive to convert 1010 AM into a BBC World News affiliate. Now they got the money donated under false pretenses, you can sell it to a religious station to pound their dogma over the airwaves.

Ed Sweeney responds: The decision to aggressively sell 1010AM came after the December drive to help fund the BBC launch. It was a good faith effort to try to save the AM by KCPW management. Wasatch Public Media had no control over the decision to sell 1010AM. To learn more about WPM and our plans for KCPW-FM, listen to Midday Metro Wednesday, April 2, 10 a.m. If you'd like to contact me personally, go to the Wasatch Public Media website.

2. Mark Coren said:

I'm pleased to hear that the board was able to reach a favorable agreement with Wasatch Public Media. KCPW in its current format is too valuable to the community to have decided otherwise. Thank you to Ed and the supporters of the station for pulling through on this! Thank you to the board for making the right choice, too. Having been involved in the sale of many commercial businesses, I know how hard it can be for everyone to come to a mutually agreeable contract in such a short time time frame.

@ Doug: I'm assuming that when the board had the fund drive, they were originally expecting that the stations would be sold as a collective unit. In light of the statements that Bill Mullen and others made early on, they expected that it would stay a Salt Lake City based operation and maintain its current programming.

It just looks like everybody had to be flexible to pull off this deal in such a short window. Before we get wound up about the BBC pledge drive, why not contact Community Wireless and see what relief they can offer? Since this offer was only announced in the last few hours, I'm certain that there are details still remaining to be resolved, including that one.

(As an aside, I think they are losing a significant chunk of money on the sale of the AM frequency in any case. I think it originally cost them much more than $1.3m if I remember correctly.)

Speaking for myself, I'm willing to call it good enough and let my BBC pledges end up wherever. If I'd known that we would be getting station's management down to Salt Lake City and creating an independent board of directors, I would have found a way to make more significant contributions toward the station's ongoing operations.

In any case, I'm pleased with the results overall.

3. Nancy Mitchell said:

This is the best news!!! I am so excited. Thanks to Ed Sweeney and everyone else who worked so hard and so quickly to keep KCPW for all of us in the comunity. Thanks to Lara Jones and the staff who held the station and coverage together for us listeners. I do not have all the facts and information about what the financial issues were, but have hope for transparency for the future.

I feel like the issues I care about will continue to be covered (even some I don't care about, but that's good!) and that our community is still intact.

Best wishes for the future and hope for growth in our community,Congratulations to all at KCPW and Wasatch Media!Nancy Mitchell

4. Janice Perry Gully said:

I am so pleased that the board was willing to be flexible so we can keep our public radio treasure on the air. I also offer kudos Lara and her staff for persevering under difficult circumstances.

I've been a KPCW news junkie (and more) over the years, and I hope we all can pull together to help Ed & Co. continue to produce the best local news coverage in Utah.

5. Jonathan Moore said:

I really hope this marks a renaissance for KCPW. As a long-time listener, contributer and volunteer, I think the station was at its best when Jonathan Brown and Lara Jones had just come on board. Sadly, Jonathan left, but thank goodness Lara stayed. I feel there has been a steep decline in the quality of programming as of late and I really hope that this move will help it get back up to snuff! Love you guys!

6. Anonymous said:

Congrats.

7. Amelia Parker said:

This is the KUER fiasco all over again: we pledged money to support programming, and shortly after the checks clear the format is changed. I'd like my money back.

8. Tom Barman said:

I am also very pleased that WPM has a letter of intent. I am somewhat concerned about the upcoming pledge drive, because NPR, theoretcially, could be off the air by May. I think the station has an obligation to inform listeners/contributors of the financial status of WPM concurrent with the fund drive.

9. Karen Wildfoerster said:

I hope that Wasatch Public Media is able to pull this off. It would be a tragedy to lose KCPW. I want to know why there is not more light being shed on why this happened in the first place.

After a dozen or so years of being a donor I stopped contributing when it was revealed that Blair Feulner and his wife became millionaires between 2001 and 2003 due to deals made with the board of Community Wireless of Park City. Now the Salt Lake community faces the possibility of losing KCPW if it can't come up with the bucks demanded by Community Wireless. And not a word is being said about why KCPW's finances went down the drain in the first place.

Congratulations Blair Feulner and Community Wireless for doing your best to drive your own creation right off a cliff. A tip of the hat to you for living up to the creed of greed that so permeates corporate America, and for bringing it to the nonprofit sector.

10. Peggy Gentles said:

Hopefully, now that the station is not affiliated with KPCW the signal will improve in Summit County. I live right at the top of Parley's and it's lousy (one of the reasons I like the AM station at least during the day).

11. Steve Horvat said:

"Ed Sweeney responds: The decision to aggressively sell 1010AM came after the December drive to help fund the BBC launch. It was a good faith effort to try to save the AM by KCPW management."

I'm sorry, but this doesn't cut it.

When KCPW was hitting its loyal listeners up for money to pay for the BBC World Service, KCPW's management had to know that there was a real chance that KCPW would have to sell the AM station. Yet I don't recall KCPW disclosing this significant information during the fundraising drive. Had this information been disclosed, I would not have donated money to help bring the BBC World Service to KCPW.

It appears to me that KCPW failed to disclose material facts, and as a result I and others were misled into giving KCPW money. In my opinion, that is awfully close to fraud.

When can I expect my refund?

12. LInda Crinshaw said:

I'm pleased that so many posts are asking for their money back. These are just the tip of the iceberg of many who were asked to give, and received the shaft.

I'd like to know just how deep this goes.... how dare they!

13. Chris Ostlind said:

So, Linda, Steve and otheres who feel like they got toasted like a marshmallowover the 1010 fund raising scam... get hooked-up with a lawyer who also gave money and get these folks into court where they have to answer to the issues, ON THE RECORD.

I don't think you will hear Blair Fuelner address this topic publicly unless he's dragged into court and subsequently has the FCC poking around in his trash can. Then, he'll do all the squawking he has to in order to keep his license in Park City.

Public Radio does not, apparently, mean publically open with transparent accountability.

The word Cheesey comes to mind.

14. Caveat Emptor said:

B/G - Active listener past three years. Really Appreciate: Mix of solid Local/Western States News coverage and NPR/national programms.Disappointments: 1. Financial mismanagement of your listeners donations, well documented even before I started to listen. Disconnecting from BF and KPCW will help, but as above notes - you have plenty of things to explain - what you will do differently?2. Compared to my fifteen years of listening/supporting So Cal Public Radio you guys have gone overboard with "commercials". Recognition of support is one thing, but the constant barrage of commercials is a big -ve.Suggestion: Begin discussions with KUER in terms of merging your excellent local programming, into one of their new digital radio channels. We don't need duplicate broadcasts of expensive NPR programming such as: ATC,Car Talk, Fresh Air etc. etc. etc. etc.SLC benefits by your local focus. KUER might be the best way to keep it alive.....

15. Stratocaster said:

While I hope for the best for the new edition of KCPW, I sympathize with those who ended up funding the acquisition of 1010 AM by Immaculate Heart Radio. 24-hour news is not the same as 24-hour prayer. By all means pursue legal recourse. The discovery process alone should be revealing -- and probably embarrassing.

For those of us whose KCPW memberships expire in April, when will the cleaning crew be done taking out the trash? And will there still be any co-productions with KPCW? If that can be done, then co-productions with KUER can also be done, as other posters have noted.