According to Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, legendary radio station KFUO-FM (99.1) has been sold. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) has entered into an agreement with Gateway Creative Broadcasting, owners of Joy FM (97.7 and 94.1) to turn over 99.1 for a $150,000 down payment, $1.35 million at the sale's supposed closing in March, and smaller interest payments for ten years when $14 million is due, for a total of $26 million. (Story here courtesy of Stltoday.com.) The kicker is that Joy FM plans to convert 99.1 into a Christian Contemporary station, leaving St. Louis without a classical music outlet for the first time in 61 years.
There are many issues with this situation:
First, the LCMS did not publicize its intention to sell the station and other interested buyers were kept at arm's length, including those from their own church. Also, the board decided to grant full power regarding negotiations and the decision to sell to a handful of people led by Kermit Brashear, a lawyer who is from Omaha, not the St. Louis area. In fact, most of the board is not from St. Louis, leading one to wonder whether they understand the significance and importance of this station to the area.
Second, while there are many other Christian stations in the area, some of which already play Christian Contemporary (five, according to Ontheradio.net), there is only one classical station, which could come to the FCC's attention. Furthermore, even though KFUO is only the 20th ranked radio station in St. Louis according to Arbitron, who measures radio listenership across the country, it is doing better than every Christian station combined, including Joy FM's two stations, which scored so low they do not even show up in the chart (the only Christian radio station to be ranked is gospel-playing KATZ-AM). KFUO has turned a profit for the past 60 years, and only lost money this year due to the economic downturn (as seen on KTVI Fox 2 News). Could one assume that the LCMS would continue to make money in the long run with KFUO rather than taking a lump sum now? Perhaps there would not be as big of an immediate impact, but the effect would be continuous.
Third, the other potential buyers reportedly included not only the Circle of Friends, who have donated $800,000 in the past to KFUO, but also media conglomerates such as Clear Channel and Bonneville who would have been able to top Joy FM's offer and not have had to make the LCMS finance the deal. Theoretically, this could have helped the LCMS's money troubles more than the current situation, but the LCMS decided to only negotiate with Joy FM, reportedly to keep the station in Christian hands (which is ironic especially if other Lutheran groups, including members if the LCMS itself, have offered to buy the station). This collusion could get the FCC's attention as well.
Fourth, while the LCMS and Joy FM are coming up with solutions to keep classical music alive on the radio in St. Louis, their suggestions leave much to be desired. Putting the station on Joy FM's current stations that are out of range of the St. Louis area (which is why Joy FM wanted 99.1's superior signal in the first place) and supplementing it with HD radio (which many people don't have) would leave a lot of people in the dark with regards to being able to hear classical music. And despite the fact there are satellite and internet options, as well as CD's and iPods, not everybody has satellite radio, cars are not equipped with internet radio for the most part, and one of the benefits of having a radio station is being able to hear pieces that you never knew existed and not have to spend too much money buying songs. And there are local benefits as well, with local DJ's who know their music and understand the city and its culture, and the services the station provides to the community, such as promoting local events or broadcasting live concerts, for example. (Many references can be found here at the Culture Club blog at Stltoday.com. Just click on a KFUO tag and read away.)
Help is needed to keep KFUO classical. Dennis Stortz, the current program director at KFUO, forwarded the following e-mail sent to St. Louis Symphony Orchestra newsletter subscribers (with a little note attached at the beginning in response to an e-mail requesting ways to help):
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David, see below from the St. Louis Symphony. Help is needed. Thanks for these kind words:
The sale of St. Louis ’ only classical music station was announced this morning, Tuesday, October 6, 2009. KFUO-Classic 99 (99.1FM), which is owned by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, was sold to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, which plans to change the station to JOY FM, a contemporary Christian music station. The sale is pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). You may read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s report on the sale here.
KFUO-Classic 99 has been providing classical music to the St. Louis community for over 60 years. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra has a long and valued relationship with KFUO. During the 2009-2010 season, Saturday night orchestral concerts have been broadcast live on Classic 99. The SLSO is one of only a handful of orchestras in the United States to offer live broadcasts.
The SLSO, along with many of its fans and friends in the local artistic community, believes the loss of KFUO-Classic 99 would diminish the cultural diversity of the St. Louis community. With the loss of KFUO, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, one of the cultural jewels of the city, would lose a vital advocate. The sounds of classical music over the region’s airwaves would be silenced.
We suggest that you express your opinion on the pending sale of KFUO. You may contact the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod via its website or e-mail its Board of Directors: bod@lcms.org. Or you may reach the Synod by phone 1-888-THE-LCMS (843-5267). You may also contact the FCC via its websiteor e-mail fccinfo@fcc.gov.
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St. Louis media expert Mike Anderson has a brief summary and case study here, and St. Louis Jazz Notes has a summary and some good points as well.
To comment about a couple of the frequently asked questions (PDF) about the sale of KFUO posted on the LCMS website: The LCMS claims that the possible sale of KFUO has been on the board's agenda since February 2008, and thus claims that the sale was made public. Except no one is going to be checking agendas for every owner of every radio station in the interest of buying or in this case saving the station. Yes, perhaps the information was obtainable, but that does not change it from being secretive and underhanded. Also, the LCMS claims that they were not interested in only selling to a Christian organization. Of course they would say that. They are trying to put out a fire here. How would it come off if they admitted that they were only selling to a Christian broadcaster? I am not saying that they definitely were, but I am quite skeptical of that statement. Granted, the LCMS is trying to find ways to further their mission of spreading the gospel and touching people's lives, and that is a good thing. But I am not sure that doing so by alienating the community and even its own members is the way to go. More people would be willing to listen if the LCMS had a good reputation. As of now, that seems to be going down the drain.
While the sale has been agreed to, it is by no means final (courtesy of Examiner.com). The FCC has to authorize the sale, and for the reasons listed above, among others, there is a chance that the deal will not go through. If you are a supporter of classical music, let your voices be heard, and help save this civic treasure from being cast away.
Disclaimer: I am not Christian and I am not a fan of Christian Contemporary. I do respect its right to be composed and played. However, this article is an appeal to save the only classical station in St. Louis, not an appeal to keep Joy FM from broadcasting in the city. If they find another outlet, great. Just please not at the expense of the the city's only classical station.
