43
No bids received for radio station
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
STRUTHERS
The Struthers Board of Education has received no bids for its radio station.
The board had advertised for bids for WKTL-90.7 FM and its FCC license, and had set Friday as the day to open them. The minimum was set at $900,000.
Currently, modern rock station The Summit, which is based in Akron, uses WKTL on a lease basis. Its broadcast originates in Akron, and is simulcast to the Mahoning Valley via WKTL.
The Struthers school board had advertised for bids strictly as part of its effort to precisely gauge the cash value of the station and its license. A Pennsylvania firm appraised the station this year at $800,000.
The school board is in no hurry to sell the station, and is quite happy with the current arrangement with The Summit, according to Superintendent Joseph Nohra.
The board is expected to discuss the station at its Oct. 20 meeting.
The sale of radio stations is typically done through brokers, said Nohra, and the board could decide to use a broker to determine the value of the station and if there are any potential buyers.
It could also decide to again seek bids, or take no action at all at this time.
Nohra noted that the appraised value is not necessarily the cash value; that can only be determined by getting interested parties to submit purchase offers.
“The board is not going to just give it away for peanuts,” said Nohra. “They love the station, its history and tradition, and they are just going through their due diligence.”
WKTL was started in 1965 at Struthers High School and was used as an educational tool, with students serving as on-air and technical staff. Student interest in the station waned over the years, and The Summit began leasing it in 2010, after it ceased being used by the school.