A Texas broadcast group is the latest radio company to file for bankruptcy in 2024. High Plains Radio Network, LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas on March 26. High Plains operates across six states.
The case has been assigned to Judge Scott W Everett, following the petition made by Jeff Carruth of Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski & Zuber, P.C. on behalf of High Plains owner Monte Spearman.
The Vernon, Texas-based company operates 18 stations in Texas, one in New Mexico, one in Colorado, four in Oklahoma, two in Mississippi, and 14 signals across Arkansas. The FCC canceled licenses for KICA-AM and KICA-FM earlier this month due to both stations going silent for more than a year.
KICA lost its tower site leases in 2022.
The bankruptcy comes after the second failed deal centered around those Arkansas stations. In July 2023, Broadcast Industry Group LLC tried to finalize a deal with High Plains Radio Network to purchase eleven radio stations and two FM translators across Arkansas and Mississippi for around $3 million. That deal later fell through.
It was the second try after the same buyer expressed interest in those same stations in 2020. Several of the stations in question carry Broadcast Industry Group’s Classic Rock “Arkansas Rocks” network.
