One Wichita-area Rocking M Media radio station is back on, but what about the others?

The on-again, off-again KKGQ, 92.3-FM is on again, but Monte Miller apparently does not want to discuss it.

“We put it back on the air is all,” said the owner of Salina-based Rocking M Media.

A reader who was a fan of the former Kansas Country reports the new station is calling itself Sizzlin’ Hot Country 92.3, the Brand.

“I’m not even sure of that,” Miller said before hanging up.

He did not respond to a follow-up text to ask if he’s going to return other former Wichita-area Rocking M stations to the air.

Last year, Have You Heard? followed the saga of Allied Media Partners’ attempt to acquire Rocking M’s six Wichita-area radio stations.

While the purchase was pending, AMP and Rocking M had an agreement for AMP to operate the stations.

At the time, Miller said the deal for a sale fell apart because Allied couldn’t come up with $6.2 million to buy the stations.

AMP CEO Matt Baty said the issue was that Rocking M wouldn’t clear the liens on its assets in order to close the deal.

Amid the dispute, Envision Broadcast Network — the landlord for the stations — took all the stations off the air due to what it called Rocking M’s failure to pay for the KKGQ license.

Envision is involved because of its previous ownership of KKGQ and its status as the licensee.

The other Wichita stations involved are KIBB, 97.1-FM, which is known as Bob; KVWF, 100.5-FM, which is known as Flight; and KWME, 92.7-FM, which is known as the Blast. Also included in the deal was to be Wellington’s KLEY, 100.3-FM and 1130-AM, which is known as the Wave; and Winfield’s KKLE, 1550-AM, a news and talk station.

Envision has filed two lawsuits against Rocking M and various members of the Miller family.

One suit alleges Rocking M failed to meet a payment schedule to buy KKGQ and its assets, and the other alleges Rocking M failed to vacate the building at the end of its lease and that once locked out it left behind damaged property. The suit also alleges that some property is missing and that Rocking M failed to pay all of the rent it owed on parking spaces.

Baty is observing what happens with the stations.

“I’m kind of just sitting back and waiting to see what’s going to be the next step in the Wichita radio market, and hopefully we can revive the Allied Media Partners group and . . . see if there’s a place for us in the market,” he says.

“Certainly radio is something I grew into loving and cherishing and wanting to be a part of.”

Baty is now doing consulting for area businesses, including the Wichita Sports Forum, where he used to be general manager.

Tommy Castor, who has been in Wichita radio for 15 years, had been AMP’s COO.

He and Martha Triana, who had been general manager for the stations under the operating agreement, started AMP Digital Innovations. It’s a digital media and marketing company.

Castor says he and Baty wanted to do digital in addition to radio. When the deal for the stations fell through, Castor says he decided to still pursue the digital side.

“We kind of went off in our own direction,” Baty says, “with the hope one day we’ll see how the radio industry plays out in the Wichita market.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 4:32 PM.