Alaska FM sold for bargain basement price

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KKNI-FM serves a portion of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula from its community of license, Sterling AK, and its headed for a new owner in an all-cash, completely prepaid deal. Of course, it’s not that hard to come up with funding in full when the price tag reads $1.00.


The seller is Seward Media Partners LLC, headed by Wolfgang Kurtz, who has interests in both commercial and noncommercial Alaska broadcasting according to the application filed with the FCC.

The buyer is Charles F. Dunham’s Kenai Broadcasting LLC.

The station is a Class C3 on 105.3 MHz with 7 kW @ 284’.

For you legal types out there, the contract that was attached to the FCC application was not without its oddities. For one thing, it provides for the possibility of an escrow deposit into an interest-bearing account, a formality that is generally dispensed with in a deal of this small magnitude. And indeed, since the contract later goes on to say that the purchase price has already been paid in full, it appears that the escrow clause remains only because nobody took the time to delete it.

The contract also mentions that the seller was parting with it due to lack of funds to complete the station’s construction. This is also odd, because a quick check of the FCC database reveals that as far as the Commission is concerned or understands, the station is licensed and operational, and holds no granted CPs.