St. Louis Radio: Randy Markel Talking KFNS Sale

Tim McKernan

Tim McKernan has run a successful radio program, a company and even a sports-talk radio station. Full ownership of an outlet in that format could be next.

Randy Markel bought KFNS 590 AM in a process that began in late 2015 when he in essence pulled it out of bankruptcy. Now Markel wants to sell the station to McKernan, who gained a 25 percent ownership stake in it in a transaction that took effect last September. Part of that deal included a provision that McKernan would receive $100,000 if the station is sold to another party, with the agreement he first would have the right to match that offer.

But Markel isn’t pursuing outside interests, as he has offered the station to McKernan — for $2.5 million he said, a substantial amount for a local AM radio station of that ilk. But Markel has invested heavily in the operation, including personnel and upgrading the towers that transmit the station’s signal .

“The idea was to sell to Tim in four or five years,” Markel said this week. “But I thought, ‘Why not sell now?’ I will make a cool half a million dollars-plus in a (little over) a year. I’ve got $2 million in it, I want a half-million profit. That’s what I deserve.”

So talks have begun on the potential deal, according to STL.com.