Radio Stations Get New Owners as Longtime Broadcaster Retires

Two Cloudcroft-licensed radio stations pass the baton

Operations Manager John Hurt to add a new title to his business card — owner — after FCC approval in the coming months.

John and Valeria Hurt are set to become the new owners of two Cloudcroft-licensed radio stations after filing a $425,000 deal with the FCC to purchase classic rock “Rock 97.9” KTMN and noncommercial country “Active Radio” KHII (89.9) from Robert J. Flotte’s Cloudcroft Broadcasting.

The Hurts’ company, JVH Media Connect Corporation, will operate KTMN under a time brokerage agreement until the sale closes. FCC approval is expected by late spring. The filing shows a $380,000 promissory note, as part of Flotte, now in his mid-80s, has decided to retire after decades in broadcasting. John Hurt said the longtime owner and his family “were generous enough to accept” his offer.

For Hurt, the deal caps a winding path to the broadcast business. A 23-year Air Force veteran who landed in Alamogordo in 1997, he spent years working in comics and games before joining the Air Force in the 1980s.

Once retired and attending New Mexico State University–Alamogordo gaining 2 associate degrees and acting as the President of Phi Theta Kappa a student organization and International Honor Society. A colleague at New Mexico State University–Alamogordo heard his voice and nudged him toward the mic. “Hey, you got a pretty good voice for radio,” Hurt recalled her saying. “How about you come with me and let’s go record some spots for the college?” He agreed — and, as he puts it, “that’s kind of where the bug stuck.”

Hurt went from cutting promotional spots to volunteering at the local station, spending about a year learning the operation, from audio processors to transmitters.

After Flotte acquired ROCK97-9FM, a personnel change in the operations manager role opened a door. Hurt stepped in and has run the station for roughly nine years, handling Operations while also hosting morning shows, sales, and remote broadcasts on the sister station, KHII88.9FM.

The two stations serve distinct roles. KHII operates as a noncommercial community station focused on supporting local organizations and nonprofits, broadcasting a red dirt format. KTMN is the commercial flagship, broadcasting classic rock with a regional signal that reaches from Belen to Portales, with strong coverage in Artesia and outside Carlsbad.

Hurt said ownership will give him room to sharpen both signals — tightening on-air sound, adjusting programming, and expanding coverage of agriculture, including farm-to-table and food transportation topics.

“I get to stretch my wings a little bit more now that the stations are going to be mine,” he said. “Continue to bring programming that the community likes and wants, educationally as well as entertainment.”

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