Charles Crane/MDN The broadcast tower at Faith Broadcasting office in Minot remained silent Thursday, but the former broadcaster's FM station could return to the air in 2025 as a buyer has been located.

A shuttered Minot Christian FM radio station could make a return to the airwaves in 2025 with the materialization of a buyer.

Faith Broadcasting ended 60 years on the air on July 31, shutting down both The Heart 106.9 FM and KHRT 1320 AM, but a recent update on the broadcaster’s website has announced a buyer has been located for the FM station. The AM station will not be involved in the potential sale, and the announcement stated the broadcaster’s AM equipment and office furniture are for sale.

Station manager Roy Leavitt confirmed the sale and transfer of the license were in progress with the Federal Communications Commission, which he said could take several months.

Based on filings with the FCC, the buyer of the station is RadioDifferently LLC, an entity formed by Joe Goldade of Dayton, Minnesota.

Goldade is a Minot native, and graduated from Minot High School in 2003 and Minot State University in 2011. Goldade began a career in broadcasting while living in Minot, working as a DJ for Reiten Radio from 1999 to 2004, as a weekend weather forecaster for KXMC TV from 2003-2005. He later transitioned to morning meteorologist at KXMC TV from 2006-2012. He currently lives and works in the Minneapolis area as a software engineer and solution architect for Mayo Clinic.

“My connection to KHRT FM goes back to my childhood. I vividly remember hearing the station’s transmitter sign on for the first time as staff and engineers tested the equipment before officially launching the new radio station. As a second grader, it felt like magic. Mike Carrier, a DJ at K-Heart, was especially inspiring to me. He graciously answered my endless questions, took my song requests and even gave me a tour of the station. Those early experiences solidified my love for broadcasting and planted the seed for this dream,” Goldade said.

Goldade confirmed Radio Differently as the buyer of The Heart, a decision he said began taking shape after he read coverage in August about the stations shutting down.

“I felt compelled to reach out to Roy to let him know the impact his family and their station had on me and to find out what the plans were for the stations. Honestly, I never planned on owning any broadcast station. But I’d be lying if I said I would be OK with another Minot radio station being corporate owned,” Goldade said.

Goldade indicated updates with information on the new station’s name and format will be coming in the near future, but there will be an emphasis on local news, weather, community events and area high school and college sports.

“While I’ve formed RadioDifferent, LLC to acquire KHRT FM, this is not something I”ll be doing alone. I’ve been fortunate to learn from some of the best in the business, many of them right here in Minot. I’m excited to bring that knowledge and experience — and maybe even some of those amazing people — to KHRT FM as we build something to serve the area for, hopefully, decades to come,” Goldade said.

Leavitt said in an Aug. 10 article in The Minot Daily News that the station’s FM transmitter began carrying regular broadcasts in 1992 and covers a 60-mile radius from a 400-foot tower located south of Minot.

KHRT hit the AM airwaves in 1957 as KQDY and was purchased by the People’s Radio Association, a group of 100 local investors organized by Hal Christensen in 1964. Leavitt’s father, Dick Leavitt, purchased the station in 1982 after he was informed during a Sunday school class that the radio station was going to be sold and would no longer be a Christian station.