Another changing of the guard in the Outer Banks

An out of court settlement has resulted in a change in the ownership of a cluster of stations in the Outer Banks NC area, better known to Arbitron fans as the Elizabeth City-Nags Head market.

Ray-D-O-Biz LLC, licensee of WCXL-FM Kill Devil Hills, WWOC-FM Hatteras, WGAI-AM Elizabeth City and WQDK-FM Ahoskie, is the #2 group in town behind Eastern Carolina. William S. & Lisa D. Ray, owners of Ray-D-O Biz Inc., hold all of the Class A stock in the LLC. Meanwhile, A. Eugene Loving Jr. and John A,. Trinder are the principals of NCRB LLC and Max Media LLC, and the combined entities own all of the Class B stock.

Both NCRB and Max have unspecified lawsuits pending against the Rays' entities (a search of the Virginia court database showed the suit but gave no further details).

A filing with the FCC shows how the cases are being resolved. Max will pay the Rays $2.6M for the stations - - a promissory note has already been executed in that amount.

RBR Observation:

We would have thought that this would go on a Form 315, which the FCC uses for stock transactions involving broadcast facilities. It was filed on a Form 316, which is generally for minor changes in the ownership line-up, or for changing the legal name of the licensee. Whatever the case, the involvement of the Rays with these stations is likely coming to an end soon - - but $2.6M will buy a lot of Bloody Marys across from the Atlantic Ocean at Jolly Rogers in Kill Devil Hills, if the two of them have any taste for that sort of thing.