Ownership of Vicksburg’s country radio station, River 101.3, will remain with Nashville-based Debut Broadcasting at least until April 30, a federal judge has ordered.

The order, signed Feb. 7 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert H. Walker, notes a settlement has been reached between Debut and the station’s former owner, Holladay Broadcasting of Louisiana.

Holladay filed suit in September to regain control of River 101.3, WBBV-FM, claiming Debut had defaulted on an $800,000 promissory note the corporation signed when Holladay sold the station in March 2008.

Debut’s attorney, Kenneth Rector, said details of the settlement could not be released but added, “at present River 101 will continue to be owned by Debut.”

“The agreement provides that the terms be kept confidential,” said Rector. “Basically the court has given an opportunity for the settlement to be carried out.”

“I will have to let the court documents speak for themselves since it is still in litigation,” said Bob Holladay, general manager of Holladay Broadcasting. “The court has set another hearing date for May 15, so we will have more information at that time.”

Debut Broadcasting purchased two stations from Holladay in March 2008: WBBV-FM, for which it signed a promissory note held by Holladay, and KLSM-FM, known locally as KHits 104.5, for which it executed a lease-purchase agreement.

Both stations operated out of an office in Post Plaza on North Frontage Road.

Holladay Broadcasting’s Sept. 2 suit to reclaim River 101.3 was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Western Division. Debut had failed to make payments on the note, the suit claimed, and collateral included the WBBV-FM tower lease and physical assets.

While defending its ownership of WBBV-FM, Debut relinquished ownership of station KLSM-FM back to Holladay.

KHits then began broadcasting from Holladay’s Monroe, La., studio, with former River 101.3 on-air personality Evelyn Johnson moving to KHits, where she joined disc jockey Chris Burks for the 6 to 10 a.m. show. It has since been broadcast from private homes in the Vicksburg area, said a KHits employee.

During the litigation, WBBV-FM has continued on the air without interruption. Debut spokesman Sariah Hopkins said in October the company had no intention of shutting down the station, but broadcasts would be aired from its Nashville headquarters with a technical employee staffing the Vicksburg office, which remains in Post Plaza.

Hopkins did not return messages asking about Debut’s plans for WBBV-FM during the period governed by the settlement. Thursday, both KHits and River 101.3 broadcasts included Vicksburg-area advertising.

Post plaza is owned by Vicksburg Printing and Publishing, whose president and owner is Louis P. “Pat” Cashman III.

“They’re still our tenants and they have not given us any indication that they’re leaving,” Cashman said.