A Sacramento, CA Superior Court judge recently ruled against KVIE-TV in the public television station’s bid to appoint a third-party entity to collect rent from a broadcast tower’s tenants. The ruling continues the legal battle between KVIE and Capital Public Radio over which entity owns the tower, reports the Sacramento Bee.
The ruling is the first by a judge in a civil case between two of Sacramento’s largest media nonprofits to determine which owns a tower used for decades by CapRadio to transmit its news. The issue of ownership was not resolved in the judge’s ruling last Wednesday and remains pending.
The dispute began when CapRadio’s endowment board donated the Elverta property to the PBS affiliate last year, according to the Sacramento Bee. Endowment Board President Dan Brunner said the board became concerned about the tower’s upkeep, which extends to the welfare of public broadcasting, prompting the donation.
CapRadio rejected allegations that the tower was in disrepair, and that the endowment donated only the land and not the tower. KVIE filed a motion last month requesting a judge “appoint a receiver to protect the Tower while litigation is pending in order to ensure that it is preserved for the public benefit for which it was initially and always intended.” KVIE alleged the tower requires repairs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and CapRadio is collecting tower rent but not using the money to maintain it. CapRadio said it has budgeted for the tower’s cost and has been conducting repairs.
Judge Thadd Blizzard ruled Wednesday that KVIE did not meet a burden to show the property is “in danger of being lost, removed or materially injured,” according to the text. The television station also did not show a receiver is “necessary to preserve the property or rights of any party,” Blizzard wrote.
CapRadio said the ruling discredits KVIE’s claims of ownership over the tower and rejects that the radio station should pay rent on the tower through a receivership, according to a news release. The endowment has previously said it allowed CapRadio to use the tower without charge and the radio station collected third-party rent of about $126,000 per year.
“It seems very clear that the outcome that CapRadio and everyone in the community wants is to see this dispute resolved without lawyers,” said CapRadio Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer Chris Bruno. KVIE General Manager David Lowe told the Sacramento Bee the television station does not intend to pursue an appeal “but reserves the right to again request appointment of a receiver in the future if CapRadio’s financial challenges jeopardize the tower’s viability.”
CapRadio experienced a financial crisis in 2023, leading to layoffs. The station accused its former general manager Jun Reina of embezzling from the station in another civil lawsuit seeking to seize Reina’s West Sacramento home. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said previously it was investigating financial improprieties at the radio station. CapRadio is still nearly $10M in debt after slashing expenses, according to the account.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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