News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 56

8 NEWS-PRESS BUSINESS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1986 Company aims to get WCAI-AM on air again to take over the station's license from Morris-Pierce Inc. of Fort Myers Beach for $400,000. Bruce Micek, Astl's president, says that if the deal goes through, chances are good that the station will undergo a format change. Micek says no final decision has been made about a change from the previous newstalk format But "if I were the programmer hired by us, I would probably look with a jaundiced eye on that format" By JUDY L. WARD News-Press Staff Writer A Clearwater company that recently requested Federal Communications Commission approval to take over local WCAI-AM radio station's license hopes to get the FCC's go-ahead by January.

Asti Broadcasting Corp. submitted an FCC filing in late October PENNY STOCKS AN OPPORTUNITY OFTHE80'S FOR YOUR FREE REPORT CALL CARY LIPM AN 1-800-432-0550 Although Asti hopes to get the FCC's OK by January, Micek says that does not mean the station would go back on the air at the same time. Before it resumes broadcasting, the company will do a thorough study of the local market. But Micek says he already knows there are a couple of problems with newstalk. First he says, it is expensive.

Second, the format hasn't panned out as "the end-all to bring in big audiences" that it was originally predicted to be. If the proposed deal gets FCC approval, it would end a lengthy quest for a WCAI buyer. It has been a long haul for the station, which began broadcasting in 1962 under the ownership of Truman Morris. Ron Pierce later joined Morris as a part-owner, and the two sold the station in 1980 to Charles Frank of Yardley, Pa. In March 1985, Frank sold WCAI to a company now called Ercona South headed by James Seemiller of Sarasota.

The station ran into serious problems during the fall of 1985. It came in last among 12 area radio stations rated on popularity, lost several staff members and issued employee paychecks that bounced. A strong sign on WCAI's problems came one morning in September 1985, when the station didn't go on the air until late morning because no one showed up to run the programming. The station's new programming director was quoted as saying, "We fell apart this weekend." But WCAI had farther to fall. On Nov.

12, 1985, Truman Morris and Ronald and Helen Pierce filed a foreclosure suit against WCAI owner Ercona South. The filing claimed that Ercona owed Morris $273,529.44 and the Pierces $122,475. The filing said Ercona "has mismanaged the aforesaid radio station, causing it to incur extraordinary debts that it has failed to pay because it was unable to do so, and causing it tion: they bought the station back. Their intention, he says, was to turn around and sell it, thus cutting their losses. Morris-Pierce Inc.

purchased the station assets subject to foreclosure judgments in September. Jensen says the price was $65,000, but the $436,211.71 foreclosure judgment it assumed made the final cost much higher. Morris-Pierce then made the deal subject to FCC approval for Asti's purchase of WCAI. When taking into account Asti's $400,000 offer, Morris and Pierce would lose over 1 00,000 on the deal. Asked if he is angry or dissa-pointed at the state of events, Morris says.

"Both. Quite." Micek, Asti's president, says WCAI is a great buy for the company. Asti, which he says was formed in April, does not presently operate a radio station. But Micek says Asti has licences and currently is building the facilities for three AM Florida stations. They are WEND in the Tampa area, WOOO in the Palm Beach area and WWSS in the Panama City area.

WCAI was attractive to Asti for a couple of reasons, Micek says. For one thing, he says, as a "regional" station it reaches a wide listening area. For another, he adds, Fort Myers is an attractive growth area. If the Asti deal goes though, Micek says, at least one change is definite. The company wants to change the station's call letters to WWWQ.

"When we go into a marketplace," he says, "we probably want a new identity." to go off the air periodically in recent months." WCAI went off the air last Nov. 15. "They just walked away from it" Morris says. "They even left the door open." The station requested "silence authority" from the FCC last Nov. 18, meaning it would stop broadcasting until it found a buyer.

Last December, WCAI filed a voluntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Under Chapter 7, a debtor's assets are turned over to a trustee in this case, Fort Myers attorney Diane Jensen who sells them and distributes the proceeds to creditors. Then the merry-go-round of potential buyers began. Caloosa Television Corp.

of Bonita Springs owner of WEVU television, Channel 26 submitted a $50,000 bid but withdrew It before the public auction of the radio station. The winning bid at the Jan. 9, 1986, auction came from Roger Coleman, the owner of a Galesburg, 111., radio station. But Coleman later withdrew his FCC application for the station. In March, Lee County Circuit Court Judge James R.

Thompson issued his final judgment in the foreclosure case Morris and Pierce brought against Ercona South. The news wasn't good for Ercona South. The total judgment came to $436,211.71. Thompson ordered that Ercona pay the following: 1 22,475 to Ronald and Helen Pierce (plus $11,989.13 interest previously accumulated); $273,529.44 to Truman Morris (plus $18,007.97 interest accumulated); $210.17 in court costs; and $10,000 in attorneys' fees. Morris says he knew that he could not collect the full foreclosure judgment from Ercona.

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