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Monday, May 18, 2015

Report: Lawsuits Settled, Larry Crain Sells AR Stations

Larry Crain
All of the pending litigation that Little Rock businessman Larry Crain was entangled with earlier this year has been resolved, opening the door to the sale of two radio stations, according to  arkansasbusiness.com.

In an interview last week, Crain’s attorney, Charles Darwin “Skip” Davidson, said the most recent lawsuit against Crain and his company, Crain Media Group LLC, has been resolved. In that case, Bo Mattingly’s Sports Personality LLC argued that Crain had renewed Mattingly’s contract through the end of 2016 but had failed to follow through with honoring the contract. Mattingly hosted a sports talk show on Crain’s Little Rock radio station KKSP 93.3 FM.

Crain resolved a lawsuit filed by his former business partner, Steve Renfro, earlier this year.

Renfro filed his lawsuit against Crain, Crain Media Group and Capital City Broadcasting, the entity formed by the two partners to oversee operations at KKSP. Renfro argued that the company had become “deadlocked in the management and operation of its affairs.”

Judge Cristi Beaumont appointed a receiver to oversee operations and later admonished Crain, who, she wrote in an order, was “deliberately thwarting” the receiver’s work.

The terms of that settlement were also never disclosed, but Davidson said at the time that Crain had bought out his former partner’s interest in the station.

Davidson said that Crain has since sold KKSP and another Little Rock station, KTHE 96.5 FM, pending regulatory approval. The company, which has headquarters in Camarillo, California, took over management of the stations April 1.

If the sale receives regulatory approval, Salem Media will own and operate three stations in Little Rock, including KDIS 99.5 FM, 99.5.

On March 17, 2015, it was announced that Salem Media Group, would take over operations of KHTE and KKSP through a local marketing agreement with Crain. On April 2, 2015 KHTE-FM rebranded as "96.5 The Answer", matching the names of fellow stations owned by Salem.

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