Family Radio Headquarters in Oakland, CA (photo: J. Waits)
Family Stations, home of Harold Camping’s Family Radio network, has filed paperwork with the FCC in order to assign the licenses for three radio stations to religious broadcaster Educational Media Foundation (EMF).
According to the asset purchase agreement, WFRW 88.1 FM in Webster, New York, KIFR 88.3 FM in Alice, Texas, and KXBC 89.1 FM in Garberville, California will be sold for $655,000 and Family Radio will retain the rights to use the two call signs with Family Radio branding (WFRW, KIFR). This transaction is right on the heels of the news that Family Radio would also be shutting down its shortwave operation out of Florida.
EMF plans to use the three Family Radio stations as outlets for its contemporary Christian programming. EMF requested main studio waivers for all three stations, in order to operate the stations more than 25 miles away from their cities of license. According to its FCC filing, EMF is seeking permission to relocate WFRW’s main studio in Webster, New York all the way across the country to “the main studio of EMF’s co-owned station KLVR (NCE-FM), Middletown, California” in order to use the station as a satellite of KLVR to broadcast its K-LOVE programming. Similarly, EMF is asking to relocate KXBC’s main studio to the KLVR site. It’s additionally requesting that Alice, Texas-licensed KIFR’s main studio be relocated to EMF’s co-owned KLRD in Yucaipa, CA to use it as a satellite of KLRD, broadcasting AIR-1 programming
While Family Radio is selling stations, EMF is also in the process of purchasing commercial radio station WYND-FM in Hatteras, North Carolina from Hengooch License. Although the purchase price was only $1, a stipulation in the purchase agreement states, “Seller may obtain a bonafide independent appraisal of the Assets conveyed hereunder and to the extent that the appraised fair market value of the Assets conveyed exceeds the Purchase Price, Seller may seek a charitable deduction.” Currently a commercial radio station, EMF plans to convert WYND to non-commercial status and air K-LOVE programming from KLVR in California.
