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TheBuzz

BY ERIKA ENGLE

Hawaii radio station
call letters put up
for sale on eBay site

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The call letters of Honolulu's KENT-AM 1170 and four mainland sister-stations are being auctioned on eBay.

Not the stations, just the call letters.

KENT has been licensed and silent since Feb. 19, according to the Federal Communications Commission Web site. KENT has tested broadcasts on the frequency, but has never operated a full schedule.

The licensee for KENT, Utah-based AM Radio 1170 Inc., could not be reached for comment.

The minimum bid for the Hawaii "calls," as they're known in the industry, was $30,000 on Monday, the first day of the online auction. That compares to $50,000 sought for KNFL. The lowest asking price was $20,000 for KITT.

Deep discounts were offered by yesterday after none of the sets of call letters had received a bid. The minimum bids were dropped to $25,000 for KNFL, $15,000 for KACE, $10,000 for KBET and KENT, and $5,000 for KITT. As of late yesterday there were still no bids.

The eBay listings specify that exclusive rights to the call letters are offered to a qualified Federal Communications Commission licensee or permittee and must be used west of the Mississippi River where broadcast call signs begin with the letter "K."

Licensees normally request call signs or apply for changes with the FCC.

The FCC Media Bureau's media relations office would not comment on the eBay auction, but issued a statement.

"The primary holder of a call sign can consent to another party's use of the call sign in a hyphenated manner. ... For example, if the primary holder has an AM station with the call letters WNFL and an FM station would like to have the call letters WNFL-FM, they can negotiate for consent with the primary holder."

TV exec promoted

Kim Montour has been named vice president of news for Indiana-based Emmis Communications Corp.

She has most recently served the company as a consultant and interim executive in charge of KHON-TV and then KGMB-TV in Honolulu.

"I'm going to keep her here as long as I can," said Rick Blangiardi, Hawaii market senior vice president for Emmis. "She's done a great job for us, it's great acknowledgment by our company."

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Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com