Control of one Vicksburg radio station has reverted to its former owner, while the fate of a sister station is in the hands of a federal judge, forcing a shake-up of on-air personalities in the local radio market.

Station KLSM-FM, known locally as KHits 104.5, was taken back by Holladay Broadcasting of Louisiana Tuesday as Nashville-based Debut Broadcasting Corp., which had held a lease-purchase agreement on the station since March 2008, voluntarily relinquished it, said Bob Holladay, general manager.

Holladay filed suit Sept. 2 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Natchez to regain ownership of River 101.3, WBBV-FM, claiming Debut had defaulted on the $800,000 promissory note the corporation signed when Holladay sold the station 31⁄2 years ago.

“I don’t know an exact time frame of when I will have WBBV back,” Holladay said in a telephone interview Wednesday night. “It could be tomorrow, or it could be up to a year if we have to go through a lot of legal processes.”

KHits began broadcasting Tuesday from Holladay’s Monroe, La., studio, he said.

River 101.3 continues to be staffed by a chief engineer in Vicksburg, said Debut spokesman Sariah Hopkins.

“The company has not closed the office and has no intention of closing it,” Hopkins said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “There has been no gap in the station being on the air. It’s just a staffing change.”

A sign taped to the front door of the North Frontage Road office provides a phone number for visitors or those with concerns to call a representative of the station.

“Our attorneys are in contact with Mr. Holladay’s attorneys and we hope to have a resolution soon,” Hopkins said. “Our listeners in Vicksburg will get the same great programming they have always enjoyed, and we will have some new personalities on the air in the near future.”

Local high school football games broadcast on both KLSM and WBBV are expected to continue without a hitch. Holladay said KLSM will continue to air Porters Chapel Academy games, including Friday night’s game against Manchester Academy. Plans are in the works at River 101.3 to air St. Aloysius’ next game, Oct. 28, Hopkins said. “It will take about a week to get that sorted out,” she said. St. Al is not playing this week.

Most of the personnel who staffed the Post Plaza office that has been shared by River 101.3 and KHits 104.5, including morning personalities Chris Burks and Evelyn Johnson, left Debut this week and accepted employment with Holladay working for KLSM, Holladay said.

“I think that people make the radio station, and they are a good team,” he said. “They are good people that got caught in a bad situation.”

Holladay said KHits’ morning disc jockey Burks would continue on the air. By Monday, Burks will be joined for the 6 to 10 a.m. show by former River 101.3 personality Johnson.

“After I get River 101 back, Evelyn will be back on the air on River 101.3,” Holladay said.

The lawsuit claims Debut defaulted on the March 3, 2008, agreement, financed by a promissory note held by Holladay, to purchase WBBV-FM. The collateral included the WBBV-FM tower lease and physical assets.

Debut failed to make payments, the suit claims, and under the terms of the note Holladay has the right to “accelerate the entire indebtedness,” which amounts to $724,592 in principal and interest as of July 31.

The suit also claims Holladay Broadcasting has the right to take over property at the North Frontage Road offices, but is asking the court to order that rather than demanding “pre-hearing seizure.”

A subsequent motion for default judgment, claiming Debut has not responded or defended against the allegations was filed Oct. 13 and awaits the judge’s decision, Holladay said.

The Post Plaza office leased by Debut is owned by Vicksburg Printing and Publishing, whose president and owner is Louis P. “Pat” Cashman III.

“I’ve had no communication with anyone at Debut or Holladay Broadcasting,” Cashman said Wednesday. “We have not received the rent check for October, which was due Oct. 10.”