The Capital Public Radio Endowment Board gifted a broadcasting tower that needed lots of repairs to KVIE-TV, a non-commercial station in Sacramento, on April 1. However, CapRadio (KXJZ-FM), a non-commercial radio station in the city, says the tower belongs to them.
CapRadio, which broadcasts from Sacramento State University (Sac State), said at a meeting last Wednesday that “it can definitively show the public radio station owns the tower, including all rights to third-party licensing and revenue.” Sac State provided backup for the CapRadio case, including a 1990 lease agreement and audited financial statements from 2015 and 2022 showing that it owns the transmission tower.
However, auditors challenge the entwinement between the endowment and CapRadio, stating that an independent endowment is “unauthorized” to work outside a university foundation. In addition, last fall, auditors found mismanagement at the public radio station, so Sac State took over its financials.
In March, the endowment sent a letter to Sac State, encouraging CapRadio to merge with KVIE-TV. Seventy-five community members also signed a letter urging the two stations to join together, saying the organizations would both benefit from shared resources, fundraising, and other efficiencies. Sac State said they “strongly believe that these are conversations between CapRadio and KVIE and not with external stakeholders who do not understand the complexity of what is being requested.”
Endowment Chair Dan Brunner said the tower was transferred to KVIE due to hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred maintenance costs. “We made an informed decision to protect the signal given the state of disrepair and put it in the hands of the appropriate party,” Brunner said. He added that the endowment, which has grown to around $2 million, plans to continue to support CapRadio.
Regarding KVIE’s control of the tower, President and General Manager David Lowe said, “KVIE accepted the transfer to ensure that the property remained an asset for public media, an action which the management of both Sac State and CapRadio have since agreed was important. With the ownership of the property secured for the benefit of public media in our region, KVIE looks forward to working with CapRadio to ensure it has continued, uninterrupted access for its broadcast signal, just as it always has.” Lowe added that KVIE will conduct “due diligence” regarding CapRadio’s ownership claim of the tower.
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