The Federal Communications Commissions is raising the possibility of revoking the licenses of three Texas stations after it says its investigation into the ownership tied to their potential sale has “raised more questions than it has resolved.” In doubt is the fate of El Paso market regional Mexican “Ke Buena 97.5” KBNA-FM, Spanish AC KAMA (750), and the currently silent KQBU (920).
In 2023, Lorena Margarita Pérez Toscano filed a $2,461,565 deal to buy the stations from a U.S. holding company with ties to Grupo Radio Mexico led by Luz Maria Rygaard. Because Toscano is a Mexican citizen, that triggered a deeper review by the Justice Department as part of its now-standard process for assessing foreign buyers. It had no objection to the sale. But a more consequential, simultaneous review was occurring at the FCC. It has led the Media Bureau with questions about who has really been running the stations — questions that it now hopes an administrative law judge will be able to answer.
The Bureau says in an order released Friday that after reviewing the record and the parties’ responses to its inquiries, “substantial and material questions of fact” still exist regarding whether the parties have engaged in an unauthorized transfer of control, as well as whether they misrepresented the facts…