Gary and Terri Johnson’s Three Eagles Communications’ Heart of the Rockies Radio Group has announced the sale of their four stations in Salida CO to Jake and Emily Rishavy’s Highwater House Media for $1,750,000.
Included in the deal are Hot AC “92.3 The Peak” KVRH-FM Salida, Oldies “Hippie Radio 97.5” KWUZ Poncha Springs, “Eagle Country 104.1” KBVC Buena Vista, and 1980s Hits “102.9 The Valley” 1340 KGKG/102.9 K275CR Salida.
Three Eagles Communications President Gary Buchanan said, “Heart of the Rockies Radio Group is the epitome of community radio. It takes great people to make great local radio and I am very proud of the team of broadcast professionals who continue to make great local radio happen in Chaffee County.” Buchanan and CEO Rollan Johnson retained the Colorado stations after selling their 48 other stations in Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota to Digity for $66.5 million in 2014. Those stations are now part of Alpha Media.
Jake Rishavy has served as Executive Director of the Chaffee County Economic Development Corporation since 2021 and previously ran a digital advertising agency. He said, “It is a great honor to be in a position to lead Heart of the Rockies Radio Group, which has been an important community institution here for decades. For the last 15 years, I’ve worked day in and day out to help other people build remarkable businesses. I’m thrilled to bring the skills and relationships I’ve developed to support the staff, advertisers and listeners at the center of the Heart of the Rockies Radio community.”
Rishavy continued, “Gary and Terri have had remarkable radio careers over decades, and the opportunity to work and learn from them and their award winning team is one of the things that excites me so much about this opportunity. When Gary and I first started talking and building a transition plan, his goal was for he and Terri to retire. I am excited to say that Gary has agreed to continue working with Heart of the Rockies Radio Group as a broadcast consultant to support what’s made these stations so successful over the many years of its history.”