KLMX Clayton sold

[Mark Roberts]

In the far northeast corner of the state, almost to the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, owner Melba McCollum, based in the Houston area, is selling KLMX-AM/FM plus the AM's translator to locally-based Rabbit Ear Media for $264,000. The sale amount is payable in installments with no interest being charged. KLMX(AM), "Crossroads Christian Radio", is on 1450 kHz with the usual 1 kw class-C facility plus a translator at 104.5 MHz; KLMX-FM, "The Bear", is a class C1 station with 52 kw. According to the station's website, it programs a mix of classic rock and country.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Rough business environment in Clayton. I was last through there a couple of years ago, and the town was pretty dead except for a very nice and modern Toot ‘n Totem convenience store and a Love’s truck stop. I think there were only four or five stations audible on FM there with a listenable signal.

Clayton had more of a pulse decades ago, but seems to be struggling now.

 

[Kent]

Rough business environment in Clayton. I was last through there a couple of years ago, and the town was pretty dead except for a very nice and modern Toot ‘n Totem convenience store and a Love’s truck stop. I think there were only four or five stations audible on FM there with a listenable signal.

It's pretty desolate country. $264,000 seems high, but they are the only commercial radio stations licensed to Clayton. So, maybe there's hope those properties can turn a profit.

Clayton had more of a pulse decades ago, but seems to be struggling now.

I never went through Clayton, but I didn't notice much of a pulse in eastern New Mexico last time I went through there (about 21 years ago). Even Tucumcari seemed like it had seen better days. Despite being smaller, Santa Rosa seemed to have more happening.

 

[Mark Roberts]

It's pretty desolate country. $264,000 seems high, but they are the only commercial radio stations licensed to Clayton. So, maybe there's hope those properties can turn a profit.

The AM, at least, has survived since 1949.

There's also an entity called the KLMX Educational Foundation, which owns a bunch of NCE FMs in Clayton; Boise City, Oklahoma; and Dalhart, Texas. All are small class A stations on 88.1. The Dalhart station appears to be a CP not yet on the air. There's no website for this mini-network that I can find. The licensee's address is also in Houston, but at a different address from KLMX-AM/FM. There's no indication yet of a transfer of control for those stations, but that may come.

I never went through Clayton, but I didn't notice much of a pulse in eastern New Mexico last time I went through there (about 21 years ago). Even Tucumcari seemed like it had seen better days. Despite being smaller, Santa Rosa seemed to have more happening.

When Interstate 40 bypassed Tucumcari, it also bypassed the old motel row on what was US 66. I-40 kind of threads through Santa Rosa, which was also a highway town.

Rural New Mexico generally isn't prosperous, to say the least. It's a tough place to make a living.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I never went through Clayton, but I didn't notice much of a pulse in eastern New Mexico last time I went through there (about 21 years ago).

I went through Raton on the same trip a couple of years ago and was rather shocked at how dead it had also become, compared to what it was many years ago. It is in a nice setting, and would seem to have potential for a very charming revitalization if there was a vision and money for such an effort.

Even Tucumcari seemed like it had seen better days.

It has. The old Route 66 through Tucumcari had quite a bit going on 50+ years ago, but the completion of I-40 on the south side of town killed a lot of that, at least from what I’ve seen on more recent rips through there.

Despite being smaller, Santa Rosa seemed to have more happening.

Agree, and it is a rather scenic area.

The AM, at least, has survived since 1949.

I remember as a kid on trips through Clayton in the 1960s that KLMX was more or less a full service station. That was when the town seemed to be doing a lot better. No FM anywhere in the area in those days.

 

[GM1430]

The buyer is Mrs. McCollum's granddaughter. The family has had that station for close to fifty years, and they've made a decent living with it. Clayton is a trade center, and they draw a lot of advertisers from Raton, Dalhart, and some of the communities where locals travel to do business. It's a small place, but they have taken care of that station for years.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Rural New Mexico generally isn't prosperous, to say the least. It's a tough place to make a living.

A small community along the northern border of the state, Chama, has reinvented itself as a "out of the way vacation spot" and the Chama Trails Motel advertises on Don Davis' Albuquerque stations as such. Apparently that business model works because the spot has been running for about a year and a half, with no gaps in the schedule.

 

[Mark Roberts]

A small community along the northern border of the state, Chama, has reinvented itself as a "out of the way vacation spot" and the Chama Trails Motel advertises on Don Davis' Albuquerque stations as such. Apparently that business model works because the spot has been running for about a year and a half, with no gaps in the schedule.

But, man, Chama and Clayton are worlds away from each other. Chama's in the heart of the New Mexico Spanish culture, Rio Arriba County. It's also one of the termini for the narrow-gauge railroad that goes between there and Antonito, Colorado, which is a seasonal tourist attraction. It's a delightful place, if a bit isolated, right up there in the mountains. It makes a great day trip from Taos. Clayton's in the far west of the Great Plains just a short way from the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, and close to the part of Colorado that has more in common with Nebraska than with Denver.

I can easily imagine Burqueños going to Chama for the weekend as an in-state getaway, or as a day trip for a Taos weekend. So it doesn't surprise me that the motel's business model works.