FCC Designates El Paso Radio Station Transfer for Hearing

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, January 23, 2026 | 2:12pm CT

Federal Communications Commission

The FCC has designated a proposed transfer of control involving three El Paso radio stations for hearing, citing substantial and material questions about unauthorized control, foreign ownership compliance, and possible misrepresentation to the agency.

In a Hearing Designation Order released January 23, the FCC's Media Bureau placed the transfer application for KBNA-FM, KAMA-AM, and KQBU-AM into abeyance and ordered a formal evidentiary hearing to determine whether the stations' licenses should be revoked and whether the proposed transaction should be approved, denied, or dismissed.

The application seeks approval for Luz Maria Rygaard to transfer control of 97.5 Licensee TX, LLC to Lorena Margarita Perez Toscano, a Mexican citizen. Toscano also filed a related petition requesting approval for 100% indirect foreign ownership of the stations under Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act.

Following a lengthy investigation, the Bureau concluded that the record raises serious questions about whether Rygaard maintained actual control of the stations after acquiring them in 2022, or whether control had effectively shifted to Toscano or a related company without prior FCC authorization. The Commission cited concerns that programming, personnel, and financial operations may have been controlled by Pro Radio LLC, an entity ultimately owned by Toscano and her family, under an unwritten agreement that was not disclosed in the transfer application or placed in the stations' public inspection files.

The FCC also pointed to the financial structure surrounding the transaction, including a $2.45 million debt owed by the licensee that Toscano acquired the right to collect shortly before Rygaard purchased the stations for $10,000. The same nominal purchase price appears in the pending transfer application. According to the Bureau, these circumstances, combined with undisclosed family relationships between the parties, raise additional questions about who has exercised de facto control of the stations.

In addition to potential unauthorized transfer of control, the Commission found substantial questions regarding misrepresentation and lack of candor. The Bureau cited incomplete, inconsistent, or contradictory responses to letters of inquiry, as well as the omission of material facts related to programming arrangements, debt obligations, and station operations. Such issues, the FCC noted, directly implicate a licensee's character qualifications and could support license revocation under Sections 312(a) and 312(c) of the Act.

Under long-standing FCC policy, the agency will not act on the transfer application or the related foreign ownership petition while unresolved character qualification issues remain. The forthcoming hearing will determine whether the stations' licenses should be revoked and whether the proposed transfer can proceed in the public interest.

The FCC emphasized that the designation for hearing does not represent a final decision on the merits, but reflects the need for a full evidentiary record before any determination is made.