Court-Named Trustee Takes Over at KADY

A court-appointed trustee has taken control of KADY-TV in Oxnard following a bankruptcy judge’s finding that the current owners were not paying their bills.

“I’m overseeing the station now. It will continue to run and be on the air,” John Hyde said Tuesday after assuming control of the family owned station from John and Erica Huddy. “We’re continuing very much business as usual.

“We have two or three interested buyers,” Hyde said. “And we plan to run the station until we find a suitable buyer.”

U. S. Bankruptcy Judge Robin Riblet in Santa Barbara ordered the appointment of a trustee Monday evening, concluding an all-day hearing where she found that the Huddys’ company, Riklis Broadcasting Corp., “was generally not paying its debts as they became due.”

Hyde, a well-known bankruptcy trustee who oversees troubled entertainment companies, said creditors claim they are owed about $10 million by Riklis Broadcasting.

The ruling ends years of financial problems at KADY-TV. Former owner Donald Sterling and the Huddys have been trading lawsuits since at least 1992. Sterling’s bankruptcy lawyer, Joel Weinberg, said Tuesday that Riklis owes Sterling’s KTIE-TV nearly $6 million.

KADY ended its local news broadcasts last week, citing financial problems.

Creditors, including Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Viacom International and Warner Bros., filed March 22 to force Riklis into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization to protect the station’s assets.

Riblet granted the request because of “the conduct of current management . . . both before and after the commencement of this case.”

The Huddys will continue to help manage the station under Hyde’s control, John Huddy said. “It’s been a tough first half of 1996, but for the first time this year, I feel good about KADY,” he said.

Hyde said the couple are cooperating completely with the court order and will stay on at the 38-employee station for now.

Hyde said he has overseen 40 entertainment industry bankruptcies.