KFUO-FM Sale Approved by FCC

[mbatchelor]

The FCC has approved the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's sale of KFUO-FM to Contemporary Christian music broadcaster Gateway Creative Broadcasting (Joy FM). The station will transfer control sometime within the next 30 Days, thus ending the long running Classical Music format.

Still no word if there are any good alternatives out there for the Classical format to remain on a standard analog FM station, although word has been that the format will continue on the 99.1 HD-2 signal.

99.1 will also be getting new call letters, as the LCMS retains rights to the KFUO call letters, which of course are still in use on their AM religious station.

 

[pqgeorge]

It was pretty much a done deal, months ago. Though I'm not a big fan of the Classical format myself, I must say that there should have been some alternative to allow the Classical format to continue in the St. Louis market in the analog mode. I think the LCMS should have been a little more considerate of the listeners of KFUO-FM before they decided to sell the station to Gateway. Throwing the Classical format on to an HD-2 signal would only be like throwing a small carrot to Classical audience, if the new owners would decide to do just that. Unfortunately, the HD Radios are just not there. And for the HD Radios that are out there, the coverage would be less than adequate. I'm truly sad for the Classical music audience of St. Louis.

 

[board_manager]

Some posts have been relocated to Take It Outside

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=167765.msg1440940#msg1440940

 

[Bongwater]

It's really sad to hear about KFUO-FM. I've listened to them online from time to time and I thought they sounded excellent. The St. Louis arts community has truly lost a treasure.

Not sure if there's anything available on the air down there to replace them. But online, you can try Seattle's KING-FM 98.1

http://www.king.org

Great efforts have been made to insure KING-FM does not suffer the same fate as KFUO-FM and many other now former classical broadcasters. So they will be around for a long time to come....

 

[xmusicmatt]

JoyFM moves to 99.1 on July 7th at 7am.

 

[Ai4i]

St. Louis is becoming part of a soon-to-be nationwide radio network called Classical 24 from American Public Media.
Usually available on HD2s, occasionally on main channels all or part of the time, they will be available locally over KWMU-HD3.
Although the service does lean toward a neutral, generic sound, all their announcers are pleasant, experienced, and extremely knowledgeable on classical music.
I am proud to be a founding member of the station they own in my market.

 

[Mr. Mike]

The news reports, particuarly from the Post-Dispatch, said that after the Synod gave up interest in the proposed HD channel, the FCC dismissed the other objections. What do you supposed happened to convince the FCC to approve the deal? What ultimately happened to influence the decision? Dic the commission find all of the red flags raised by petioners against the sale not sufficient to prevent the deal from being approved? Or was it something else?

 

[uncamark]

The news reports, particuarly from the Post-Dispatch, said that after the Synod gave up interest in the proposed HD channel, the FCC dismissed the other objections. What do you supposed happened to convince the FCC to approve the deal? What ultimately happened to influence the decision? Dic the commission find all of the red flags raised by petioners against the sale not sufficient to prevent the deal from being approved? Or was it something else?

The FCC tends not to get involved in local contract disputes. And even though they kept WEFM in Chicago (now CBS' WUSN US99.5) from flippping from classical to Top 40 in 1972 after General Cinema acquired the station from Zenith, since then they have stayed out of new owners promising format changes.

 

[Ai4i]

We are listening to the final countdown but will need to leave for work in a few minutes.
KFUO will lead up to the finish of LV Beethoven's Choral Symphony (#9) tonight at 10 PM CDST, 11 PM EDST.

 

[Geek-O-Rama]

Besides KING FM in Seattle another source is KDFC FM in San Francisco, one of America's last successful commercial Classical Station.
http://www.kdfc.com/ They have an iphone app at the itunes app store.

 

[Ai4i]

Besides KING FM in Seattle...

...there are dozens of classical music stations with English language announcers streaming on line from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and I could have missed some. Classical99.com is still available and KWMU.org will be streaming their new HD3 classical 24 feed for the foreseeable (sp?) future.

 

[Mr. Mike]

If anybody's interested, I'd still like an answer to the question I had raised earlier in the discussion regarding the FCC's approval of the license transfer. Thus, it can be assumed that we dismiss the FCC getting involved in format disputes like what happened in Chicago with WEFM 99.5fm in the mid-1970s, since such disputes are essentially red-herring these days.

With that out of the way, the question now is: what ultimately convinced the FCC to approve the sale? Did it come down to money? Or were there other factors that conspired to ensure FCC approval?

It's been know that those opposing the sale had filed petitions to deny comprised of documentation like allegations that Gateway had lied to the Board of Directors when they said they had the money, when in fact they had raised funds after the fact. In addition the petitioners alleged that the board did not announce the sale until after the deal had been announced, leading to allegations that the board had been acting in a secretive manner and thus should have opened the process to all bidders. They also supplied documentation suggesting that the legal adviser the board hired to handle the sale, an Omaha attorney and former Nebraska state senator by the name of Kermit Brashear, had been acting in an idiosyncratic and mendacious manner that was riddled with confilcts of interest. I was wondering what the FCC thought of that, like whether the FCC dismissed it as either irrelevant or insufficient.

I'm asking because I couldn't find any mention of the FCC approval on their website. Did the FCC give out any reason for why they decided to approve the sale rather that turn it down? ???

 

[jrpete550]

24/7 commercial free - theclassicalstation.org with a daily playlist for the entire day. I get it on an internet radio as WCPE (FM). Out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Listener supported with 200 volunteers.

 

[Ai4i]

WCPE is one of a handful of fully independent (no NPR, Classical 24, or Beethoven net) listener supported full time classical music stations in the US, available on a network of FM translators, KU band Free To Air satellite, cable TV systems, and several file types on the web. They are free for anyone who wishes to redistribute their program service all or part time but worthy of support (hint, hint). Read up on Deborah Proctor. She founded the station and is their GM, CE, and a forceful personality when dealing with the FCC.

 

[Mr. Mike]

I'd still like an answer to the question that I had raised as to what factors made FCC approval of the sale possible, if you don't mind.

 

[Ai4i]

I'd still like an answer to the question that I had raised...if you don't mind.

Of course we do not mind; steadfast determination is an admirable trait.
The race goes not to the swiftest, but to those who persevere and to those who grease government agencies best.

 

[w9wi]

With that out of the way, the question now is: what ultimately convinced the FCC to approve the sale? Did it come down to money? Or were there other factors that conspired to ensure FCC approval?
...
Did the FCC give out any reason for why they decided to approve the sale rather that turn it down? ???

Today, approval of station transfers is essentially automatic. The old owners file the paperwork, the FCC rubber-stamps it, the deal goes through. I can't remember the last time I've seen approval stalled, unless there's a question about compliance with the multiple-ownership regulations. This deal doesn't come anywhere near breaking the ownership regulations. FWIW, the "paperwork" for the transfer of the KFNS-100.7 license was filed on July 6th of last year, and approved on August 26th. Transfer of two other FM licenses in Missouri took about six weeks (KRSS-93.5 Tarkio) and nine days. (KDKN-106.7 Ellington)

Judging from what I've read, the FCC prefers to let local(/state) courts hash out the kind of allegations you mentioned.

Normally, the Commission would have approved the transfer almost immediately upon submission of the "paper"work. (actually, it was filed electronically through the FCC website...) I'd be pretty confident the only reason it took six months to approve was as a courtesy to the St. Louis Congressional delegation. The FCC answers to Congress and cannot be seen to completely ignore inquiries from that body -- in turn, Congressmembers cannot be seen to completely ignore petitions signed by large numbers of voters.

You can find information on the transfer on http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1353716 .

 

[RubberShrapnel]

Fortunately, Classic99 is now Classic99.com. You can still listen via the web.
http://www.classic99.com/listenchoices.htm

But even better...
If you have an iPhone, you can listen wherever you are.
Get the KFUO app, and you have Classic99 back even better than before.
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=18285

The app is free. You can listen anywhere your iPhone has an internet connection, and it's HD radio. It sounds awesome plugged into my car as I tear across Seattle.

App developer's website:
http://www.bottledholiday.com/KFUO_app.html

-RS