With an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Federal Appeals Court fizzled and Federal District Court Judge Jesus Bernal the final arbiter in an ongoing legal battle involving Ed Stolz and its Royce International Broadcasting, a conclusion to the matter is now one step closer to fruition.
Court-appointed receiver Larry Patrick has filed paperwork with the FCC confirming that the buyer of the three ex-Royce FMs put into receivership by Bernal has assumed control of the stations.
A Local Programming and Marketing Agreement was signed Monday between Patrick and VCY America Inc., the Wisconsin-based non-profit religious broadcaster.
VCY is buying the stations for $6 million, with the proceeds going to the court to pay off Stolz’s creditors, both secured and unsecured. Patrick will get his cut. Then, whatever is left over — perhaps upward of $1 million — will go to Stolz.
Stolz through his attorneys late last week tried yet again to prevent this from occurring. Bernal didn’t bite.
Now, despite efforts from Stolz to deny the FCC’s approval of the stations’ license transfer from his Royce International, VCY is essentially operating Class A KRCK-FM 97.7 in Palm Springs, Calif.; Class A KREV-FM 92.7 in Alameda, Calif., with coverage of the city of San Francisco and Oakland; and Class C KFRH-FM 104.3 in North Las Vegas, Nev.
It’s a significant step for VCY and for Patrick, who has been obstructed by Stolz from assuming control of the three stations since Bernal appointed him as receiver in July 2020.
Programming mirrors that of KVCC-FM in Tucson and KVCP-FM in Phoenix, with “Christian information” and spoken word talk and teaching programs across the schedule.
And, as a non-profit, VCY need not gain access to the studios or offices of any of the three stations, as VCY has assumed control remotely from Milwaukee, where it is headquartered.
The LMA would last through closing, with VCY fully obtaining control of KRCK, KREV and KFRH. During the LMA period, VCY is to pay Patrick $5,000 per month.
A call sign change is anticipated for each of the three stations.
