March 28, 2003

Public Radio Capital Works to Acquire Frequencies for Stations in New York and California

Denver, Colorado– Public Radio Capital, a national organization partnering with public broadcasters to broaden the reach and service of public radio, recently helped acquire new stations for public broadcasters in California and New York.

In California, Public Radio Capital worked with legendary public television and radio broadcaster KQED to acquire Sacramento station 89.3 FM, from Family Stations of Oakland. In upstate New York, PRC partnered with WAMC Northeast Public Radio in its purchase of Albany station 1400 AM from Galaxy Communications. These acquisitions enable the local broadcasters to extend their round-the-clock news and information services.

“More stations mean more service,” said Marc Hand, managing director for Public Radio Capital. “That’s the goal of every public broadcaster: to help more people hear the vital news and information, classical music, and other programming only public radio provides. For these community-based, non-profit organizations to compete with the resources of commercial broadcasters, they need to be able to call on the same levels of business and financialexpertise. That’s where Public Radio Capital comes in.”

Hand worked closely with the management of both WAMC and KQED in analyzing how much to offer for the stations they were considering, and what their options were for paying for them. And he represented both KQED and WAMC in negotiations with the sellers of the stations.

“We helped WAMC and KQED understand the whole process,” Hand explained. “We advised them on the drafting of letters of intent asset purchase agreements, analyzed and recommended ways of handling specific engineering and legal issues. The role of Public Radio Capital is not unlike that played by the Trust for Public Land and Nature Conservancy in securing land for the enjoyment of the public. We use the tools of business to realize the non-profit visions of public broadcasters.”

Denver, Colorado-based Public Radio Capital serves as intermediary, representative, financial advisor and readiness counselor for public broadcasters nationwide. In the past two years, PRC has worked with local broadcasters to add stations in Baltimore, Chicago, Colorado, and Nashville, in addition to the new stations in California and New York. PRC has consulted with Radio Bilingue and is acting as intermediary in the purchase of a $5 million station in the Tacoma, Washington area, to be operated locally.

“We have about 20 projects in various stages of consultation,” said Hand, “some of which will lead to new channels later this year.”