So far, bidders scarce for

Spanish-language radio station KQLO in Reno is on the auction block, with a sale date of May 26 set by U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Reno.

But bidders are scarce in the current recession. Only one bidder pre-registered, says Ray Rosenblum, a media broker in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Radio station bankruptcies are up by about a third, he says, as are auctions, at which investors like to think they're getting a bargain. But the recession has put a lid on the usual trading in stations.

KQLO, is on the block for a starting bid of $75,000. The station has been silent since June, but similar stations still on the air might bring $150,000 says Rosenblum.

Since the auction is still a month off, he plans a mailing to radio station owners nationwide, hoping to drum up more interest.

KQLO broadcast at 1590 AM as "Radio Universal." Two years ago, in its filing in federal bankruptcy court in

Reno, Universal Broadcasting Inc. the parent company of the station said it owed the Internal Revenue

Service $40,635 and owed $6,000 to Broadcast Music Inc., the outfit that collects royalties on the music that radio stations play.

It listed assets of less than $10,000. At that time, Baudilio Liriano, president of Universal Broadcasting, said he hoped that the company would emerge from its reorganization on better financial footing.