Update: Sale of Twin Cities Christian Radio Station Filed with FCC

The previously-announced deal for Christian broadcaster PraiseLive to buy back KNOF/95.3 (St. Paul-Minneapolis) has been formally filed with the FCC.

The $1.225 million sale from the Educational Media Foundation to Christian Heritage Broadcasting, which operates the PraiseLive network, was first announced in April in what the buyer’s executive director described as a “miracle story.”

The May 3 FCC filing to transfer KNOF’s license shows that the buyer has been programming KNOF since April 13, the day after EMF closed on its purchase of the station from a commercial broadcaster. A network affiliation agreement between the parties calls on the buyer to pay operating expenses such as rent and utilities until the sale closes.

The asset purchase agreement says that if Christian Heritage Broadcasting decides to sell the station to a third party within seven years of closing, it will have to give EMF 50% of the net resale purchase price.

Executive Director David McIver first announced the deal on the air on Friday, April 23.

McIver said the first $250,000 for the purchase is already covered and a person who grew up listening to KNOF is offering to match donations to cover the rest of the purchase price.

PraiseLive, then known as Praise Broadcasting, had begun programming KNOF in 2009 and bought it from Selby Gospel Broadcasting in 2014 for $5 million. They then sold it to Northern Lights for $7.95 million the next year, allowing Praise to free itself from debt and work on its expansion overseas.

Praise had continued to be carried on an HD subchannel after the sale but McIver says they had been praying to get a full FM signal back.

EMF closed on its $2.45 million purchase of KNOF and KMWA/96.3 (Edina-Minneapolis) from the Pohlad Companies’ Northern Lights Broadcasting on April 12. KMWA now carries EMF’s Worship network called “Air1.”

The move is extremely unusual for EMF, which is a frequent buyer of stations but rarely a seller. It operates the Contemporary Christian “K-Love” network in addition to “Air1.”

“K-Love” continues to be carried on translators, an HD subchannel, and a full-power station in the far northeast metro, while former Air1 signal W225AP/92.9 switched to the new Christian Rhythmic “Boost Radio” network on May 3.

This article was originally posted on April 24 and updated on May 4.