For sale on eBay: Las Vegas-area radio station

Some people sell antiques and collectibles on eBay. Others try to move cars and trucks.

Scott Mahalick is offering a 100,000-watt FM commercial radio station in Moapa, about 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

“It’s a little unconventional, but this is Vegas, so I thought I’d give it a try,” Mahalick said Friday.

Mahalick posted the station on eBay Thursday evening. By Friday night, it had received 32 bids with the high bid of $50,200 — a little shy of the buy-it-now price of $8.9 million.

“I got it for $22 million a few years ago and after the economy crashed, it’s now worth about $10 million,” said Mahalick, a former manager for Citidel Broadcasting, a radio station group based in Las Vegas that had no stations here and was bought out last fall by Atlanta-based Cumulus Media.

Mahalick acquired KXLI, 94.5 FM, about five years ago and in June turned it into Jelli — an interactive rock radio format that enables listeners to choose songs the station will play using web browsers or iPhones.

A photo of the radio station on eBay shows a small rectangular tan building with a radio tower and dish in the desert.

Mahalick moved to Portland, Ore., where he is program director of Alpha Broadcasting’s country station KUPL. But he still owns KXLI, which, with a signal booster, covers parts of three states and reaches listeners in North Las Vegas, Mesquite and St. George, Utah.

The sale of the station is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission, which requires that majority control of the station be in the hands of a U.S. citizen.

Mahalick said if a bid meeting his price threshold emerges, he’ll immediately file an application with the FCC to transfer control of the station. If it doesn’t, he’ll hang onto it.

Bidding started Friday morning at $1,000 and eight different bidders have submitted offers and counteroffers. Bidding is scheduled to close Jan. 29 near 8 p.m.

Mahalick believes it’s the first time a radio station has been put on eBay. The online company did not respond to inquiries to confirm that.

“I thought I’d try this and see what happens,” Mahalick said. “I looked at Christie’s (an auction house that handles fine art) to do something more dramatic and grandiose.

“But doing it this way makes it more accessible and available. We’ll see what happens.”

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