FCC OKs KSTK license transfer

The Federal Communications Commission last week approved the transfer of licenses from Wrangell Radio Group to CoastAlaska.

A nonprofit radio and television service based in Juneau, CoastAlaska provides administrative and technical support for public broadcast

stations in Wrangell, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg and Ketchikan. Citing financial difficulties, last December Wrangell Radio Group – the entity which manages local radio station KSTK – filed a petition with the FCC to allow a transfer of its four licenses as part of a larger consolidation. Pending that approval, the station's assets and management structure would also be transferred to CoastAlaska per a sales agreement the two had previously reached.

Cutbacks to Alaska Public Broadcast Commission grant funding and changes to the fundraising benchmarks set for Corporation for Public

Broadcasting funding in recent years have threatened the viability of Wrangell's radio station. Funding from both sources make up just over

half of its nearly $400,000 in annual revenue, which is about what it costs to run the station.

Part of the cuts to all agencies statewide, APBC grants have been significantly reduced since the 2015 fiscal year. The grant to Wrangell was $80,907 last year, about $55,000 less than what it was in 2015.

To qualify for CPB grant funding a station needs to raise a proportion of its money from non-federal sources, which

includes listener donations, underwriting and state-sourced funding. As APBC grants were diminishing, an increase in

the level of non-federal funds the station would need to raise in order to receive its CPB funding put Wrangell's station well under that level, by about $68,000 for the current fiscal year.

KSTK manager Cindy Sweat had explained the station last year received notice from the CPB that it had a limited grace period to make up the difference before it would lose its federal grant sources, prompting its search for other

arrangements. The transfer of its four licenses to CoastAlaska would allow Wrangell's station to continue to receive both

state and federal funds, using the larger network's resources to meet funding benchmarks.

With the FCC's approval received on March 8, the network's attorney is now

finalizing details for the formal transfer, expected imminently. CoastAlaska executive director Mollie Kabler explained

Tuesday the changes at KSTK will be slight, with the Wrangell Radio Group board transitioning into a community advisory board. While ownership and board management of the station would be transferred along with the licenses, under the arrangement KSTK will be able to continue with its local programming as before, with the same staff.