KFUO (AM)
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Transmitter coordinates | 38°38′17.9″N 90°18′54.9″W / 38.638306°N 90.315250°W |
Translator(s) | 92.7 K224FT (St. Louis) |
Repeater(s) | 1380 KXFN (St. Louis) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | www |
KFUO (850
KFUO is a
Programming
KFUO's programming includes Bible studies (e.g., Thy Strong Word), theological and social commentary (e.g., Law and Gospel and Issues, Etc.), and Christian lifestyle shows such as The Coffee Hour and Midday Moments. Several hours a day are devoted to Lutheran sacred music, which is also available on the website when the AM station is off the air during the night.
The station broadcasts a total of four Lutheran church services each weekend. They are heard late Saturday afternoon, two on Sunday morning and one heard late Sunday afternoon.[3]
History
Raising funds
The first step in the creation of KFUO was at a meeting of the Board of Control of
Since the project was estimated to cost $14,000, the seminary board asked the
Sign on
Construction soon began at the seminary, which at that time was located on South Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis. The control room and studio for the 500-watt transmitter were located in the attic of one of the seminary buildings.[5] The license to broadcast was issued on October 25, 1924,[6] and the next day (October 26) the station went on air for the first time to cover the laying of the cornerstone for the new seminary being constructed in Clayton.[7]
The station was formally dedicated and began regular broadcasting on December 14, 1924.[5] KFUO is the longest continually operating Christian radio station in the United States as KFUO remains focused on broadcasting a Christian format.[citation needed]
Early programming
Initially the station broadcast two programs each week and shared the 550 kHz frequency with station KSD (now
By 1928 the station was broadcasting 21 hours per week. Under the terms of the shared frequency arrangement with KSD, KSD had 80% of the broadcast time while KFUO had 20%. In 1936, KFUO petitioned the
Changing frequencies
In 1940, KFUO petitioned the FCC to move it to the 830 kHz frequency and to increase its transmitter power to 5,000 watts. The FCC approved the move to 830 kHz on July 1, 1940. The request for the 5,000-watt transmitter was approved in November of that year, but the new transmitter did not become operational until September 1941.
Many stations were required to change frequencies in 1941, with the enactment of
During this time, KFUO also began broadcasting The Lutheran Hour, which is still heard on over 700 stations worldwide.
In 1953, the LCMS received a construction permit for a non-commercial television station, KFUO-TV, that would operate starting in early 1954 on channel 30.[8] The station never went on the air, and the LCMS surrendered the permit in January 1956 because it had decided that a UHF station was not viable.[9] Channel 30 was later awarded to a different party and went on the air as KDNL-TV on June 8, 1969.
In 1989, the LCMS was given radio station KICX-AM in McCook, Nebraska, and changed its call sign to KNGN on April 8, 1990. The station aired much of the KFUO programming. In 2001, the LCMS decided it could no longer afford to operate the station and transferred its license to the local operators.[10]
On February 6, 2023, the LCMS bought KXFN (1380 AM) for $570,000 from Catholic talk radio network Relevant Radio. It is now a full-time satellite of KFUO, and allows KFUO to continue its format at night throughout the year.[11][12]
FM radio
FM station
In March 2010, KFUO-FM was sold to Gateway Creative Broadcasting. On July 7 of that year the station switched to a
.FCC charges
In 1997, KFUO-AM-FM was investigated by the FCC. The agency charged that the LCMS had violated the FCC's Equal Employment Opportunity requirements by not hiring enough minorities and women and by requiring a knowledge of Lutheran doctrine in order to be hired by KFUO and KFUO-FM. After losing appeals within the FCC, the LCMS appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. That court found, in Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod v. FCC (1998), that the FCC's requirements were unconstitutional.[14]
Even though the LCMS had prevailed, one negative result of the investigation was the failure of the LCMS's bid to purchase radio station KSLH from the St. Louis Public Schools in order to simulcast KFUO 24 hours per day. The LCMS had submitted the highest bid for the station, $1 million, in 1993,[15] but the application to transfer the license that it filed in February 1994 was put on hold for 18 months and then cancelled by the FCC while the litigation continued.[16] KSLH was sold to another bidder and is now KSIV-FM.
Studios and streaming
KFUO began streaming its broadcast on the station's web site, kfuo.org, in 1998. Program archives on the site were spotty until the station began formally archiving its programs in 2003. In 2004, KFUO launched its
The studios of KFUO were moved to the LCMS International Center, the denomination's headquarters in Kirkwood, Missouri, on June 24, 2013, in order to provide modern facilities and to allow easier access to denomination's leaders and organizations.[17] The transmitter remains at Concordia Seminary. At the time of the move, the old studio at the seminary had been the oldest radio studio in continuous operation in the United States.
The station accepts pledges from businesses, individuals, congregations, and organizations which go directly to the station's owner, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. The LCMS subsidizes the station as needed. KFUO derives only limited revenue from sponsorship messages and retains its non-commercial status.[citation needed]
Issues, Etc.
During Holy Week 2008 (March 18) the theological talk show, Issues, Etc., was abruptly discontinued from KFUO's program line-up after 15 years on the air. The show was distributed to Christian radio stations across the U.S. In each city outside the St. Louis area the program was sponsored by local LCMS congregations, not by KFUO or the national LCMS office. The producer and host of Issues, Etc. were fired with no explanation.
Three weeks after the cancellation, KFUO management issued an official announcement citing programmatic and stewardship (business) reasons as the cause for cancellation. Management claimed that the station was running deficits into the hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, that Issues, Etc. (the most expensive program to produce at KFUO-AM) was contributing significantly to those deficits, and that the LCMS no longer had the ability to subsidize or overcome these shortfalls.[18] There was no way to verify management's claims because the station does not have a policy of making its financial information available to the public.[19]
On April 14, 2008, a group of some 50 to 60 people suspecting ulterior motives for the cancellation held a demonstration at the LCMS International Center. An online petition to reinstate the show collected more than 7,000 signatures.[20][21]
Issues, Etc. resumed operations as an independent listener-supported broadcast on June 30, 2008, on another St. Louis radio station, KSIV, and through on-line internet streaming at issuesetc.org. Radio stations in five other states now carry the program live, and podcast downloads are distributed through the show's website. In February 2009, the LCMS officially gave up its legal claim to the trademark name "Issues, Etc.", which it had allowed to lapse in 1999. The trademark name is now owned by Lutheran Public Radio, the current production company of Issues, Etc.[citation needed]
On March 13, 2012, Issues, Etc. returned to KFUO in a new arrangement whereby Lutheran Public Radio pays the station for broadcast airtime. The program now maintains complete control of its own financial matters and program content as gained following the 2008 split.[citation needed]
Awards
In 2000, KFUO won a "Gold Angel" award at the 23rd annual "International Angel Awards" ceremony held in Hollywood, California. The award is the highest honor bestowed by Excellence in Media, a Hollywood-based organization devoted to promoting morality in film, television, video, radio, and print.[22]
See also
- Louis J. Sieck, president of KFUO's board of directors from 1926 to 1943
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KFUO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/KFUO
- ^ "Schedule and Program Guide". KFUO Radion. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f "History". KFUO Radio. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Radio Stations, Religious". Christian Cyclopedia. Concordia Publishing House. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
- ^ a b c "KFUO Was One Of St. Louis' First Stations". St. Louis Media History Foundation. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
- Concordia Historical Institute. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- ^ "Lutheran Synod Authorized To Use Channel 30 For TV". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 5, 1953. p. 3A. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Lutheran Church's UHF TV Permits Are Canceled". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 21, 1956. p. 8A. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Discoe, Connie Jo (January 12, 2018). "Religious station adding FM, boosting power, going 24 hours". McCook Gazette. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ Holleman, Joe (November 7, 2022). "Lutheran radio station will soon have night-time signal in St. Louis area". STLtoday.com. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ "Station Sales Week Of 10/28: Relevant Radio Sells In St. Louis & Buys In Tucson - RadioInsight". October 28, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ "St. Louis' "Classic 99" ends 62 years in the format tonight with Beethoven's 9th". Radio-Info.com. July 6, 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
- ^ Carney, David. "DC Appeals Court Rules Against FCC in Lutheran Church Case".
- ^ "School Board Sells KSLH To Lutheran Synod". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 29, 1993. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ "School Board Sells KSLH To Lutheran Synod". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 29, 1993. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ "KFUO Moves Studio". St. Louis Media History Foundation. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
- Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. March 27, 2008. Archived from the originalon May 26, 2010.
- ^ "Jubilee Network/KFUO AM 850". MinistryWatch.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. June 5, 2008. Archived from the originalon November 24, 2010.
- ^ "Missouri-Synod Lutherans protest cancellation of radio show". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. April 11, 2008. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008.
- ^ "Concordia Historical Institute - Today in History (February 24)". Archived from the original on April 21, 2004.
External links
- Official website
- FCC History Cards for KFUO
- KFUO in the FCC AM station database
- KFUO in Nielsen Audio's AM station database