University of Houston System Buys Radio Station from Rice University

University of Houston System and Rice University officials have announced the signing of an asset purchase agreement authorizing UH’s acquisition of the broadcast tower, FM frequency and license used by Rice station KTRU for $9.5 million.

The asset purchase agreement will be filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which will trigger a 30-day period of public comment. KTRU will be required to run on-air announcements regarding the pending transaction, inviting interested parties to submit comments to the FCC. The FCC may grant its Consent to the Transfer of License as early as January.

The purchase will be financed 100 percent by enhanced underwriting and ongoing private gift fundraising by KUHF.

KUHF, the National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate station owned and operated by UH, plans to broadcast 24-hour classical music and fine arts programming on 91.7 FM (to be renamed KUHC Classical) and to convert 88.7 FM to a 24-hour NPR news and information format (KUHF News). KTRU will continue to provide free radio programming online at http://www.ktru.org/.

The University of Houston is the first Texas university to propose this configuration, said KUHF General Manager John Proffitt.

Visit http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1282158381 for more information.

Richard Bonnin