The El Paso Community Foundation is getting back into the broadcasting business.
It's expected to soon take over management of the University of Texas at El Paso’s 76-year-old radio station, KTEP 88.5-FM, part of the National Public Radiosystem, after the University of Texas System regents recently approved terms of a preliminary management contract.
The foundation also will have the option of buying the commercial-free, nonprofit radio station for $1 million within three years of its initial, five-year public service operating agreement — expected to be finalized with UTEP soon.
For about seven years, it owned the KTSM, Channel 9, TV station and KTSM 690-AM and KTSM 99.9-FM radio stations bequeathed to the foundation by El Paso broadcast pioneer
and philanthropist Karl O. Wyler. The foundation sold the stations in 1997 for about $30 million, according to El Paso Times archives.
The foundation manages millions of dollars in charitable funds through which it disburses millions of dollars in grants annually. It also has “leadership” projects, of which KTEP will be classified, Eric Pearson, the foundation chief executive officer, said in an email.
KTEP ranked 10th in audience share among El Paso radio stations in Nielsen’s June ratings, according to a report published by Radio Online, a radio industry news website. It had a 2.3 audience share, compared to an 11 audience share for the top station, KOFX 92.3-FM.
KTEP was El Paso’s first FM station when it went on the air in 1950, according to the KTEP website.
The KTEP change comes about a year after the U.S. Congress stripped public radio and TV stations of federal funding, leading UTEP officials to look for ways to keep the station’s operation sustainable, UTEP President Heather Wilson said in a statement.
Pearson said the foundation agreed to take over management of KTEP because it’s “committed to providing fair and balanced news and information and helping build the information ecosystem in our region."
It will manage KTEP, located on the UTEP campus, in exchange for being able to use and occupy KTEP's studio and broadcasting equipment at no cost, according to the KTEP contract details on the UT System regents Aug. 13 consent agenda.
Besides its KTSM ownership, the foundation also has been involved in other media projects: It formed the 5-year-old Puente News Collaborative, a nonprofit, bilingual newsroom focused on the U.S.-Mexico border, and helped start the El Paso Matters nonprofit, online news publication, which spun off the foundation in 2025.
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Here’s the foundation’s initial plans for KTEP:
New general manager
Marina Monsisvais, a senior program officer at the foundation, will become KTEP’s general manager. She is the former owner and operator of Barracuda Public Relations, an El Paso marketing firm that closed in 2025 after almost 15 years in business.
Other employee decisions will be made as the foundation sets up an employment structure for the tiny station, Pearson said. It only has a handful of employees.
"We will definitely try to employ more students to continue to support the mission of KTEP," he said.
Programming survey
Few changes will be made to KTEP’s lineup when the foundation takes over management, Pearson said. But foundation officials will carefully listen to the community and “try to respond in a way that best reflects it” in programming, he said.
A survey will soon be available on the foundation website (epcf.org/ktep) to get El Pasoans’ views on what the station should offer, he said.
KTEP funding
The foundation will help fund the station in the same way it “provides funding for many nonprofits in town,” Pearson said. It already has two endowment funds designated for KTEP. But most of the funding will come from listeners, he said.
UTEP will continue to pay for KTEP's antenna site lease and pay for maintenance and repair costs for the antenna and transmitter equipment up to $162,000 a year.
It’s unclear if UTEP will provide any additional money for the KTEP budget.
Radio station purchase
The potential KTEP purchase price of $1 million is “based on the middle ground of two independent appraisals,” Pearson said. How such a purchase would be funded will be decided if foundation officials decide to buy KTEP, he said.
The foundation “often raises money to carry out its initiatives,” Pearson said.
Vic Kolenc may be reached at 915-546-6421;vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on X, and @vkolenc.bsky.socialon Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Community Foundation returning to broadcasting with KTEP deal
