An ownership transfer in 1986 attracted controversy after most of the tenured airstaff was dismissed on December 31, 1986. When KFAC was sold to Lotus Communications as the new home of KWKW (1300 AM) for $8.7 million on July 15, 1988, only five percent of KFAC and KFAC-FM's total audience listened to the AM frequency; the only deviation between both stations was the Brian Clewer-hosted "Cynic's Choice" that aired solely on KFAC. Days before that deal closed, on January 15, 1989, KFAC-FM was sold to Evergreen Media for $55 million, setting a record for the most expensive sale of a classical music outlet in the United States.