K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
How about hypocrisy on their part?
What part of Christ's teaching applies to their wanting public radio to die for their own benefit?
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Religious Radio Organization Cheers Upcoming Opportunities to Acquire More Signals
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How about hypocrisy on their part?
What part of Christ's teaching applies to their wanting public radio to die for their own benefit?
Apples and oranges, in my view anyway.
If I am EMF or CSN or whomever, adding another station adds very little to the cost of doing business. You are running one or two music formats with whatever staff is needed, plus a ton of local contract engineers. That's it. Takes a great deal more money to support local news staffs in the places where public radio is most needed. It's not a generosity contest.
In fairness, the public file issues list isn't something that requires a lawyer. For a station like yours, you could create the list each quarter in no time at all just by keeping a running document of the local issues you discuss. And uploading it to the FCC site takes less than five minutes.
The FCC doesn't ever seem to care what's in the list, just that some list gets filed every quarter.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I think they became desensitized decades ago when shows like Viewpoints became barter syndicated to stations for their public affairs block. The syndicator reported a couple of months ago that they had over 1000 affiliates for that and the companion Radio Health Journal.
We run those on the Albuquerque stations I consult and program. They even provide a quarterly summary as a PDF, ready to be uploaded to the Public File.
You can say that about the tactics EMF has used playing the game in recent years of acquiring weaka*s underperforming stations that cater to a genre of music you might not hear anywhere else in the market, unless you're on a streaming music service. Postive, Encouraging, K-.....Whatever!!
Of course expenses are different between a network and a single station. Let's rephrase it this way...Big A I believe at one point said about 7% Public radio listeners donate to their station. How does that compare to the percentage of listeners who donate to K-LOVE for example (I don't honestly know). Obviously it's enough for them to keep purchasing signals. And now, with federal funding cuts, will more than 7% of Public radio folks value their programming to enough step up and donate more than they do currently? Just an honest question for discussion purposes.
I'm not aware of another format other than religion that can put the fear of God into potential donors.
Your mistake, my friend (if I may call you that), is assuming that there is a sense of shame to go along with the hypocrisy. Without that sense of shame, the hypocrite will keep on being a hypocrite.
No, the major Christian radio operators have about as much shame as the Soviet Union did in the late 1940s, and are equally committed to hegemony of belief. Instead of lending a helping hand, they want to exploit the weaknesses of organizations enfeebled by the attempted destruction of public broadcasting. Depeche Mode was right: Everything counts in large amounts.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Now how could I disagree with someone who can quote a Depeche Mode lyric in their reply?
It was not a mistake on my part, it was sarcasm followed by rhetoric. We have already seen so-called Christians who go against many of Christ's teachings ... against the Bible itself, even as they gleefully quote cherry-picked passages as ammunition against those who have committed no sin greater than having a lifestyle they disagree with.
Religious broadcasters, in my opinion, do little to counter that mindset. In the most extreme cases, they feed it instead. I have little respect for them and I wish the rules could be changed to eliminate the privileges they have exploited.
I believe that they should be required to maintain local offices and studios in every market where they operate stations. I believe that they should be required to pay the same regulatory fees as commercial broadcasters for stations they operate in the 92-108 MHz band. I believe that there should be a combined limit of the number of stations that all religious broadcasters operate in any given market, by percentage.
But I am a realist. If Jesus Christ came to earth Himself and told them they were spreading His word under false pretenses, that they were in effect taking His name in vain, none of them would change anything.
I take minor solace in knowing that the so-called Christians will never get what they really want -- a theocracy -- because they have put too much faith in those who are only in it for the power and the potential riches.
"Viewpoint diversity?" No, they'll be eliminating one viewpoint to promote (conservative) Jesus and the Holy Republican Party.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Both of which do not share a common vision.
I would be surprised if more than 10% of its listeners actually donated to K-Love, and I suspect that the donation percentages are less for other religious outlets. I remember reading somewhere (the somewhere escapes my memory now) that most of the work done in volunteer membership organization is performed by 5% or less of the people involved with those organizations. I think that using studio waivers and other items not available to the commercial stations helps the K-Love network to keep its costs down.
The main studio rule was eliminated in 2017. I'm no fan of K-Love/Air 1, and I think their fundraising times are over the top and ridiculous. However...as with any type of non-commercial station there are some sincere and quality operators. It's also not fair in some of the posts above, to label all Christians the same, just as you would not do it for Buddhists, Jewish or Muslim folks. Why not then say all Muslims are jihadists and radicals because a portion of them are then, when they do indeed have theocratic governments and execute people with alternative lifestyles? I don't understand all the hate when Christian groups buy stations. No one is preventing anyone or any other group from buying these signals. The nature of the business today is that almost no other buyer is interested. So would you rather have the signals go dark if they aren't making any money? What's the future of broadcasting if that happens?
I agree. Compare K-Love with VCY or some of the Salem teaching stations. Very different. It's interesting to me that K-Love is getting better ratings than Salem got with The Fish in Atlanta. Of course K-Love is commercial free, and The Fish was not. VCY is the most political by far of any religious format I know. Relevant Radio is probably #2. With the recent supreme court decision, these stations will become more active in politics.
Again, I agree. There is no law preventing a group of people from pooling their money and buying a radio station and playing 50s/60s oldies or any format they like. I've read of a few people doing it with LPFMs or AMs, but so far not a major FM. Thankfully Stevie Wonder continues to own an FM in LA.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
And I objected to that then, and would support its reinstatement today.
Because many of those who call themselves Christians are Christians in name only. Their own actions show that, and if those who follow other religions similarly behaved in ways contrary to the tenets of their faith, I would call them out as well.
I have Jewish friends, one of my closest friends practices Buddhism, and I met many Muslims during my years as an appointed governing official for a public transportation agency because they happened to be employees. They all are sincere in their faith and I would have no reason to accuse them of not being so.
While some of the theocratic nations engage in behavior that personally offends me, I must respect that, no matter how difficult that is for me. I do not respect that behavior in our country.
I believe that EMF, et al, have made it easy with their piles of tax-free cash to make offers on stations that will take the money and run rather than try new programming ideas instead. A lot of people here complain about "cookie cutter formats". Those happen because without competition, there is less creativity.
I should point out that the primary reason NPR never bought any stations was because of the federal funding. Now that it's gone, it's possible for NPR to get into the station ownership business. Not that I think they would. The new CEO is far more interested in the digital product the company does. They'd also have to get the board to approve, and the board is made up of a lot of station GMs. But it would introduce a new player in the station ownership world.
The thing I'm objecting to the most is the glee with which the association of religious broadcasters is greeting the distress that public radio stations are facing, rather than expressing solidarity of any kind. "Tough s**t," Jesus never said...but these guys did. They've lost the plot and are worshiping growth for growth's sake.
Interesting. But as you say in the world of apps, podcasts, etc would NPR want to invest in brick and mortar FM? I honestly don't know why K-LOVE continues to purchase so many terrestrial signals either, since their predominantly younger skewing female audience has to be more interested in streaming and other digital choices than FM radio.
There is certainly room for interpretation of what "faith based" music is. It seems that one of the expressed goals of EMF is to provide an "atmosphere" of positive content.
A church holds picnics and social occasions. One large unaffiliated evangelical church I drive by often frequently has signs about things like a movie night, a swap meet, a farmer's market, nature walks and the like. I'm guessing that they consider that part of the brotherhood of believers in God and Jesus.
Given that EMF also has an outreach program where folks can get counseling with a Christian belief system and the fact that all their music is either directly faith driven or positive in outlook, that sounds a lot like what my church would call "Christian values".
OK, I have not talked about any of the funding cuts just because I don't want to get political (and we're not supposed to on R-D). I will probably get downvoted to oblivion for some of the things I say.
NRB has a point. They want to spread the Gospel into other parts of the country that do not have a religious FM station. However, there needs to be a balance between the non-commercial religious FMs vs. secular and public FMs that serve communities.
If NRB supports VCY, AFR and others buying up NPR stations in the dozens and piping in a satellite format, I'm NOT supporting that. I do support local voices that spread the love of Jesus Christ in their communities through the radio. Shut-ins and those "on the fence", those that want to go all in with God but are on the kiddie end of the pool, really need to have a friendly voice from their hometown (or nearby) that can reach them. VCY IS NOT A LOCAL VOICE, NOR IS K-LOVE. Sorry. The pet peeve I have about Christian radio is how many LOCAL voices we are losing. Salem sold their Christian Contemporary stations to K-LOVE, and that meant several markets lost their hometown Christian station to a national satellite-caster. I'll use this analogy.
Would you rather go to a local congregation on Sunday morning that goes out in the community, helps at food banks and soup kitchens, cleans parks and community spaces, and does special events benefitting non-profit organizations? This is what KTSY (Boise), Positive Life Radio (eastern WA and OR), Shine 104.9 (Spokane), etc. are.
Or would you rather have a Lakewood Church in every town...except that it's just an auditorium, a satellite dish, and Joel Osteen on a giant screen. That's K-LOVE, AFR, VCY, BBN.
Churches could work up some time, prayers, and money to start their own radio ministry if they so choose. Some already do.
As for NPR, I can understand why the cuts happened (Republicans claim they have biased reporting). One thing I will say is that I don't really care for NPR's news programming. I haven't listened for years. HOWEVER...I'm not anti-NPR...their music programming is excellent. I really hope there are enough supporters of Jazz Night in America, Mountain Stage with Kathy Mattea, and the PubJazz service (heard locally on KBSK McCall) to keep them going for the foreseeable future. NPR does an excellent job with the music programming, and commercial FMs can't come close.
I'll stop for now.
NRB has a point. They want to spread the Gospel into other parts of the country that do not have a religious FM station. However, there needs to be a balance between the non-commercial religious FMs vs. secular and public FMs that serve communities.
If NRB supports VCY, AFR and others buying up NPR stations in the dozens and piping in a satellite format, I'm NOT supporting that. I do support local voices that spread the love of Jesus Christ in their communities through the radio. Shut-ins and those "on the fence", those that want to go all in with God but are on the kiddie end of the pool, really need to have a friendly voice from their hometown (or nearby) that can reach them. VCY IS NOT A LOCAL VOICE, NOR IS K-LOVE. Sorry. The pet peeve I have about Christian radio is how many LOCAL voices we are losing. Salem sold their Christian Contemporary stations to K-LOVE, and that meant several markets lost their hometown Christian station to a national satellite-caster. I'll use this analogy.
Would you rather go to a local congregation on Sunday morning that goes out in the community, helps at food banks and soup kitchens, cleans parks and community spaces, and does special events benefitting non-profit organizations? This is what KTSY (Boise), Positive Life Radio (eastern WA and OR), Shine 104.9 (Spokane), etc. are.
Or would you rather have a Lakewood Church in every town...except that it's just an auditorium, a satellite dish, and Joel Osteen on a giant screen. That's K-LOVE, AFR, VCY, BBN.
Churches could work up some time, prayers, and money to start their own radio ministry if they so choose. Some already do.
As for NPR, I can understand why the cuts happened (Republicans claim they have biased reporting). One thing I will say is that I don't really care for NPR's news programming. I haven't listened for years. HOWEVER...I'm not anti-NPR...their music programming is excellent. I really hope there are enough supporters of Jazz Night in America, Mountain Stage with Kathy Mattea, and the PubJazz service (heard locally on KBSK McCall) to keep them going for the foreseeable future. NPR does an excellent job with the music programming, and commercial FMs can't come close.
I'll stop for now.