The Song in Indy is Gone

[ChiefEngineer]

The listeners know any trust placed in The Song's owners was misplaced. Jocks too.

The jocks placed hope and trust in a corrupt leadership. They are looking for jobs and Indy welcomes Howard Stern wannabe Mancow.

Bottom line : This was always about money and the staff didn't know the plug would be puled so quick.

Moneychangers please leave the format!

 

[anotherguyTN]

I've always said I don't trust the secular owners of a Christian formatted station. Even if it lasts for several years, when their main goal is profit and the Christian format doesn't make enough money to suit them, it can end at any time. I may enjoy and listen to the station while they're on, but I know it can change. And to be honest some supposedly Christian owned stations can fall into the same category when profit comes before ministry. Christian owners should have higher standards, but it isn't always the case.

Which is actually worse, for a secular owned station with a CCM (Or other Christian) format to change to some secular format, or for a supposedly Christian owned station to change from CCM to dollar a holler type programming? In some cases I'd rather see the change to a secular format if it was clean than to dollar a holler.

Moneychangers please leave the format!

Amen to that, whether they are secular or Christian!

 

[neutralobserver]

There are certain consistent phrases and misspellings which are suggesting to me that a certain person keeps having a "conversation" with himself.

 

[radioelizabeth]

The listeners know any trust placed in The Song's owners was misplaced. Jocks too.

The jocks placed hope and trust in a corrupt leadership. They are looking for jobs and Indy welcomes Howard Stern wannabe Mancow.

Bottom line : This was always about money and the staff didn't know the plug would be puled so quick.

Moneychangers please leave the format!

Are you kidding me?

I'm sorry. But you obviously passed my previous post right by.

Moneychangers?

Seriously. Where are the lambs? Are you honestly suggesting that a radio station is the same as what was taking place in the temple that day?

Every single person in radio knows the industry is fluid. You want a job you can "trust"...build a funeral home.

To suggest a station should not be in business to make money is (and this is going to sound cruel, but please just know what the word means) ignorance. Businesses MUST make money. There is nothing evil or corrupt about making money and striving for a good bottom line.

And in response to the idea that ministry needs to always come first...let us not sell short our Lord God so quickly. He is on His throne and research shows religious programming growing at great rates. It also shows half of America choosing the format at some time or another, close to a third+ of listeners not believers.

To suggest ministry is not taking place ignores His ability to work through all things, all times, all people, all places...everyday, everywhere.

I repeat what I've said a thousand times before...you want to program differently with different goals and a different agenda...then start your own station. See how far you get before you realize money is part of the process of start, growth, and expansion...and yes...ministry.

 

[Shadow Catcher]

Ministry? If you want to minister (to quote Steve Camp) open a mission a yard from The Gates of Hell. It seems to me a more efficiant way to spred the Gosple than to broadcast to our collective .05 P1's. Let radio be radio and do it right and ministry will happen.

 

[tekwerx]

Hi all, Im new here, and came here by Googling for info on where The Song went. I know my wife is pretty upset by The Song getting The Boot. I agree though, with previous posters - what did we all expect? For secular people to all of a sudden begin behaving in a decent manner towards something "higher" as it were, and not thinking all about the money? I didnt like the Song much myself, as there wasn't much of a ministry in it (and again, after having read the above posts I now know why), but I do know it inspired and helped a lot of people who would otherwise have not listened to any Christian stations at all. I pointed a lot of new Christians to it and some non Christians as well...and it was always well recieved. Sort of a stepping stone to the faith, or as a tool to get them TO faith. I will now be sad to see it gone, as it had become a part of our families routine, and will pray for all those who worked there. My heart goes out to them right now. Especially in the holiday season. As a final thought, if you want much of the same music (although with a LOT of teaching and ministry in it as well), go to 97.9 WGNR, its owned by Moody, and wont go anywhere any time soon. God bless you all.

 

[MightyFrenchman]

The best choice for contemporary Christian music 24/7 in central Indiana is the K-Love station at 90.5 FM. No programs. All music. Noncommercial. Ministry-oriented.

Hi all, Im new here, and came here by Googling for info on where The Song went. if you want much of the same music (although with a LOT of teaching and ministry in it as well), go to 97.9 WGNR, its owned by Moody, and wont go anywhere any time soon.

 

[The RadioFan]

The best choice for contemporary Christian music 24/7 in central Indiana is the K-Love station at 90.5 FM. No programs. All music. Noncommercial. Ministry-oriented.

How well does WQME-FM 98.7 cover the central Indiana area? I noticed that they are mostly CCM.

 

[MightyFrenchman]

WQME's signal covers most of Indianapolis but starts to fade out after one drives past the airport on I-70. Southward it almost reaches Greenwood. I don't know how their signal does north & east. The music they play is Christian AC but they also have a number of programs through the day. It's not music 24/7.

The best choice for contemporary Christian music 24/7 in central Indiana is the K-Love station at 90.5 FM. No programs. All music. Noncommercial. Ministry-oriented.

How well does WQME-FM 98.7 cover the central Indiana area? I noticed that they are mostly CCM.

 

[audiophile.]

The IBOC signal on Plainfield station (Radio Disney) wipes it out on the SW side.

 

[neutralobserver]

For secular people to all of a sudden begin behaving in a decent manner towards something "higher" as it were, and not thinking all about the money?

At the time Cumulus decided to kill it (on the takeover, not just recently), the station was #1 right in the middle of Women 25-54. Monetizing the station, especially in combination with WFMS (commercials on co-owned stations are very frequently sold together in packages when co-owned stations deliver similar audiences that an advertiser would be interested in), should not have been any problem, whatsoever.

I didnt like the Song much myself, as there wasn't much of a ministry in it (and again, after having read the above posts I now know why), but I do know it inspired and helped a lot of people who would otherwise have not listened to any Christian stations at all.

Please don't limit the definition of "ministry" to spoken words.

As a final thought, if you want much of the same music (although with a LOT of teaching and ministry in it as well), go to 97.9 WGNR, its owned by Moody, and wont go anywhere any time soon.

I'm sorry, but you're not going to get anywhere near the same music on a Moody station. For the typical person, that is a drastically different -- and repulsive -- format offering.

The best choice for contemporary Christian music 24/7 in central Indiana is the K-Love station...Ministry-oriented.

Given the right-on-time presence of the (despite-what-is-said-about-"shortfall"-and-"need-it-to-stay-on-the-air") pure-profit fundraiser, you're killin' me, Frenchman. In my opinion, I'm not sure there's any company more money-oriented, and I hypothesize they'll talk the talk you like so much if that's what research shows will prompt the most to open up their wallets.

Have you not noticed that what you call "ministry" (the miscellaneous, "heartfelt," "touching" Jesus talk and scripture-quoting) shows up and ramps up as each sharathon draws near and virtually vanishes soon after? You know, just like how "More music" gradually switches to "Listener-supported."

You probably haven't. You will, now, though. Unless they react to this post, as they have past posts, and change it. (It's fascinating for one little message board poster to know he or she is being read by those on whom he or she is commenting.)

By the way, using the money they're gaining from on-air misrepresentation of their financial condition, I have reason to believe they're about to attack yet another existing, successful, local station elsewhere in the United States simply because it's a market of considerable financial means with a history of high CCM usage and consumption. Will you be for killing that one and all its on-air and off-air local efforts, too, for the sake of you hearing trite, contrived jock talk you perceive as "ministering?"

 

[MightyFrenchman]

Given the bitter nature of your responses (neutral???) observer, I assume you must have worked at The Song and have been fired and that you've applied for a job with EMF and they won't hire you. Tell me, did you feel bad for the people at Love 98 who lost their jobs when it became Radio Disney? And I highly doubt that anyone at EMF is looking to your posts to get some free consultation advice. Neutral? Hardly.

 

[gr8oldies]

Frenchman, your issue with ths Song was that the jocks didn't say Jesus 17 times an hour, or launch into preaching on a whim. What the jocks were to do is what they do on any format, follow it and bring an audience. I could be a jock on B105.7 and feel strongly about pulling troops out of Iraq and that my audience must know how I feel about it now. You know that if I come out of a break doing a diatribe I'm fired, because that's not the format.

I mentioned before that a commercial business cannot demand that their employees follow a specific doctrine, or even be Christians for that matter. They only must follow the format and gain, or not lose, an audience.

What if one of the Song's jocks was Catholic. Did a great job with the format, knew and loved the music and got great ratings. Then he or she shared how prayers to St. Jude were answered, how praying the rosary helped get him or her through the day, and was uplifted at Mass. You would be having a fit and going ballistic "how dare they let that Catholic do that, we know the Catholics are wrong and only certain branches of protestantism are right".

Seems as though you got your wish and they're gone.

 

[MightyFrenchman]

What if one of the Song's jocks was Catholic. Did a great job with the format, knew and loved the music and got great ratings. Then he or she shared how prayers to St. Jude were answered, how praying the rosary helped get him or her through the day, and was uplifted at Mass. You would be having a fit and going ballistic "how dare they let that Catholic do that, we know the Catholics are wrong and only certain branches of protestantism are right".

You may be surprised at how I respond to your statement here. I think it's unfortunate that there are stations considered legalistic Protestants, or liberal Protestants, or Catholic, or come up with some other label. Christian radio shouldn't be about any of these names we give ourselves or give others, it's about Jesus. If the jock on a CCM station is Catholic & briefly into or out of a stop set shares how his/her faith in Jesus helps with daily challenges, I think that's a benefit to the listeners and as a consequence, to the radio station.

Seems as though you got your wish and they're gone.
[/quote]

I did not wish for The Song to be gone with the resultant loss of jobs. For me the choice was very easy, I simply didn't listen to the station after the first couple of months. If I want to listen to CCM I either tune in K-Love or WQME. Most of the time I listen to my mp3 in the car.

 

[ChiefEngineer]

The Song indicted on their website it was a business plan that failed not a ministry plan that failed.

The personnel did a good job given the limitations. The reason Christ wasn't mentioned is the sticky business of being a business or a ministry and confusion. This is a liability issue.

It is hard to have radio geeks who work at the other stations talking about Jesus cause they try to ad lib and this is where the problems started. Not enough ministry staff to be relatable.

Better ratings of any commercial christian station, miller kaplan had it at highest billing ever, and increasing.

The current lineup on 93.9 is awful. I still hear Dobson on Mancow. Neat to hear Mancow threaten to string someone up by his er privates then hear a family Minute. Kind of evens things out.

I hear a station with a formerly slick presentation sounding like a train wreck. This has nothing to do with Jesus, it just sounds like the other place. This is the sad part.

I heard on the air WXIR leased the station and lost their lease. I don't remember this being the truth. It did keep all the radical christians from killing the Disney deal though, which is what the staff was instructed to say on air. They could say Jesus.

The K Love stories are hilarious. K Love was off the air after a power outage and I had a lady tell me they must not have met their pledge drive amount and now she had to look for another station.

Telling listeners they need money is one thing. telling them they are close to going off the air but not telling listeners of the 40 million dollar surplus is another. But wait, no local jocks, just california jocks. No local events no local involvement except a used car salesman asking for money. They can say Jesus.

Increasingly K love appears to be a model for great ratings and many listeners but simply another Robert Tilton type money source.

Stations left are many:

88.1 Morristown WJCF
89.1 Cloverdale WSPM Catholic Radio
90.5 Greencastle WIKL
93.9 New Castle / and Mt Carmel IL WJCF
97.9 Anderson WGNR
98.7 Anderson WQME
101.7 Muncie WJCF
104.5 Connersville WJCF
104.9 Rushville WJCF
105.3 Anderson/Pendleton WJCF
107.1 Connersville WJCF

After listening to you on the air for years I can't believe you aren't on the air locally. Many would love to have your talent or have your involvement with their station.

 

[Onesimus]

The staff and managment of 93-9 The Song gave the format EVERYTHING they had. They were men and women who loved the Lord and were excited to come to work every day. It remains to be seen which business model is best for the CCM format. The listener-supported non-comm model has many advantages, but some would argue that it takes money away from other ministries. You'd be amazed how many dollars commercial stations have to turn down because the agency spots are even mildly offensive. I think Christian broadcasters who do run their business as a ministry should re-read James 3:1. It says that those who teach will be judged more strictly on judgment day. I think gr8oldies made an excellent point about denominational polarization. I will sometimes listen to Moody's 97.9, but I get turned off by their views on "the rapture" (they're in agreement with the "Left Behind" series). I personally feel this is dangerously FALSE doctrine (though I love and respect those who believe it...I subscribe to the amillenial view). Sometimes it's great to hear a station play Christian music without a denominational slant. Thanks to chiefengineer for the list of stations!

 

[MightyFrenchman]

Take WJCF out of the list and it's a good list of stations. Add Spirit 95 out of Bloomington to the list, too. I can't remember its call letters or exact dial position.

Thanks to chiefengineer for the list of stations!

 

[brian.marchand]

Why do you say take WJCF out of the list?

Spirit 95 is WVNI 95.1.

 

[brian.marchand]

Because WJCF can't be picked up in Indianapolis? Coverage maps shows a weak signal that most will not be able to get.

 

[ginkgotree]

weak signal and weak operation on WJCF...seems there's
a bad history here too...with wanting to take over high
school fm opportunities... courts etc etc...do on to others?