Who is BIBLE BROADCASTING NETWORK, INC. ?

[ToddStach]

This is on the Columbus thread:

Donated
SAGA COMMUNICATIONS (as FRANKLIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.) donates Classic Hits WQEL (Q92.7)/BUCYRUS, OH to BIBLE BROADCASTING NETWORK, INC.

The move is part of a station shuffle by SAGA that will result in WQEL moving to RICHWOOD, OH to replace Jazz WJZK, which is moving from RICHWOOD to GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS, OH, deeper into the COLUMBUS market. SAGA needs to spin off WQEL to comply with the multiple ownership rule in the COLUMBUS market.

 

[xmusicmatt]

http://www.bbnradio.org/WCM4/Default.aspx?alias=www.bbnradio.org/wcm4/english


That would be "Bible Broadcasting Network"

They run a very very very very very conservative Christian format featuring music and ministry. They are based out of Charlotte , NC most of their stations are automated sat-a-lators broadcasting their satellite feed from NC. Some do feature local content but most are 24/7 Network.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Christian Rock and CCM are NOT welcome on that network!

 

[R.D.P.]

Among other things.  This particular network caters to mostly "Fundamentalist" teaching and programming.  They're strickly KJV and Traditional Music only.

I'm able to hear their Columbus Georgia station, at 89.5, when the conditions are right. 

Like some of the songs they play but if I was living in that area, I wouldn't listen to them very often.  It would bore me to death.

Once Moody and their new WRNF station signs on at 89.5, from the beautiful community of Plantersville Alabama, that'll keep me from hearing them.

It won't be much to write home about but at least, they'll be providing the Selma area with another positive uplifting radio station.

American Family Radio is still here. They music playlist has changed though. I now get to hear their ecletic mix of Classic CCM, Southern Gospel and Traditional Hymns, courtesy of their Classic Christian Network.

For those wondering, Plantersville is located 18 miles north of Selma, on the Birmingham Highway. (Alabama Highway 22 East)

R.D.P. <><

 

[GaryTheThompson]

Look at the current coverage of that stick.

If they move it to Richwood, looks like it will be a rimshot at best with their current power and height.

Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[xmusicmatt]

Look at the current coverage of that stick.

If they move it to Richwood, looks like it will be a rimshot at best with their current power and height.

Maybe I'm missing something.

Under FCC ownership rules I guess it would be considered Columbus which is why saga is giving it away, but when it moves, It will be more of a Marion station then Columbus: see WQEL's new 60dbu coverage map http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/FM1167655.gif I dont see where WQEL 92.7 Richwood will play a roll in Columbus at all. Now saga is the one who gains by being able to turn 104.3 Richwood, into a central Columbus signal.

If anything I see Bible Broadcasting eventually selling the signal... this signal (92.7 Richwood) would be perfect fit for EMF to get K-Love into more of MidOhio as 98.7 K-Love Crestline/Mansfield does reach down to Marion.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I honestly wish that the station could have been donated to a group that would do a more youth oriented Christian format. I know Radio U is in the area, but how is their signal there? I may be wrong, but I'd guess there is probably already plenty traditional Christian radio in the area.

Somehow I doubt if BBN would sell to EMF or any other CCM group. From the times I've heard them on the translator in my area they aren't as bad as the station in the area that is blatantly KJV Only and anti-CCM, but they're still probably biased enough that they wouldn't sell to anyone that would do a CCM format. I'd guess if they sold the station it would be to someone who would still do some sort of a traditional format.

 

[ToddStach]

Maybe Saga donated the signal to a company who they thought wouldn't compete with any of their stations.

Radio U would've benefited from that as well as WVMC - a CHRSN affiliate. It's amazing all of the Christian stations in that area now (Mansfield, Ohio):

CHRSN affiliate 90.7
K-Love 98.7
AFR 88.3
Moody 103.3
BBN 92.7
The River 95.1

 

[74WIXYGrad]

Todd, Todd , Todd,

You forgot your old employer WFHM, which still comes in north of Mansfield. Southern part of town WHOK takes over the 95.5 frequency though.

But of course BBN gets a rousing yawn on this board since most of the posters would be too young to be in their demo. But then Jesus didn't say "go ye into the world and preach the gospel to all in the 18-45 demo."

When I'm in the Mansfield area, I listen to WLRD/96.9 Willard.

 

[neutralobserver]

Odds of older people actually accepting Christ approach zero, so using a broadcast outlet for that purpose seems to be quite the waste of a talent. Programming like that reinforces the "joke" stereotypes and makes "going ye" : to those who have a possibility of accepting Christ a more difficult task, not a less.

 

[74WIXYGrad]

The joke is the "bless us four and no more mentality". Using your reasoning, you might as well not have hospice chaplains. What part of "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" is confusing to you?

I've seen more than my fair share of people outside of the "money demo" accept the Lord. The church I attend uses traditional, contemporary and southern gospel music.

 

[neutralobserver]

Using your reasoning, you might as well not have hospice chaplains.

Not on a broadcast outlet, no. Why would a hospice chaplain waste a broadcast outlet when he knows exactly where to find the people he's called to serve?

What part of "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" is confusing to you?

None at all. Now, please show me where it says "...using the oldest-targeted, least culturally-relevant, least palatable style possible on broadcast outlets where you're soooo much more likely to repulse 95+% of the people who can hear it."

I've seen more than my fair share of people outside of the "money demo" accept the Lord.

Fantastic...but what does that have to do with a broadcast outlet?

The church I attend uses traditional, contemporary and southern gospel music.

Fine, but churches that want more than 125 in attendance are really going to want to pick one.

I'm somewhat kidding, but those styles really can't effectively mix. They're not just different kinds of music; they're different kinds of people.

But that's really for some other forum. Let's stick to radio. And the same is true for radio.

 

[74WIXYGrad]

[
But that's really for some other forum. Let's stick to radio. And the same is true for radio.

Where I live the area is more than blanketed with one kind of CCM or another. So the "money demo" is more than served. But what about the retiree who is ministered with another kind of music. That's where BBN comes in.

To say that Christians who are of retirement age don't listen to radio, and wouldn't like to be "fed" by some sort of broadcast ministry is wrong. If you look at BBN's schedule of teaching programs you will see that a good portion of them aren't KJV only-If you would look you would see that "Insight for Living" is on the schedule, and I have never heard Chuck Swindoll use King James. Conservative yes. Fundamentalist, no.

 

[neutralobserver]

But what about the retiree who is ministered with another kind of music. That's where BBN comes in.

But weren't you framing it as a tool for evangelism? Here's what you first said:

But of course BBN gets a rousing yawn on this board since most of the posters would be too young to be in their demo. But then Jesus didn't say "go ye into the world and preach the gospel to all in the 18-45 demo."

Then, later,...

What part of "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" is confusing to you?

I've seen more than my fair share of people outside of the "money demo" accept the Lord.

See...that's different.


And, by the way, some might suggest that 65+ is the "money demo" for donor-dependent formats....

 

[74WIXYGrad]

neutralobserver,

I stand corrected. It's a slow day when you are the only one on this forum I can rile with this kind of posting. Have a great one and God Bless. ;D

 

[ChiefEngineer]

Hospice Chaplains? Good business because they are dealing with people who KNOW their time has come.

We hear this all the time when dealing with "format". What format does the best ? Any format appealing to 12 years and younger would be the evangelical answer. Get them by 12 and they are Christian for life says the research. Use the failed Radio Disney approach and play Kid Songs all day. I say failed because they are selling the network not because they had no audience.

Then deal with the listeners who love Southern Gospel. This is the money demo. Switch to SG and the listeners have the money opposed to CCM. Hint: "They have it because they don't spend it."

Does ccm do better or worse at reaching the unsaved than talk, SG, or other formats? Answers when you die I'm afraid to say.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Does ccm do better or worse at reaching the unsaved than talk, SG, or other formats? Answers when you die I'm afraid to say.

NO! The answer is in the phone log. The preaching and hymn station I worked at got maybe one call an hour at most during preaching and hymns and SG and whatever else they were playing. I went on with Hot AC and Christian rock - the phone lit up and stayed lit up as long as the show was on. Prayer requests, couseling, rededications, salvations, even prevented suicides. I still have thousands of phone slips archived. At the end of our show, phones went silent. I felt sorry for the other people on the air - nobody cared.

Oh - yes - there were 3 complaints mixed in with thousands of calls slip over the years. It would seem the anti-CCM crowd was extremely small.

 

[radioelizabeth]

We hear this all the time when dealing with "format". What format does the best ? Any format appealing to 12 years and younger would be the evangelical answer. Get them by 12 and they are Christian for life says the research.
Does ccm do better or worse at reaching the unsaved than talk, SG, or other formats?

Has anyone considered the fact that when an AC outlet that is carrying CCM ministers to their target demo they are actually assisting in faciliating an environment in the home that does have impact on the youth and those older?

Seems to make perfect sense to me. Try to target for evangelism only and you end up excluding huge portions of the potential field.

If the purpose is to reach the lost (which doesn't seem realistic to begin with considering it's 1/3 of the listeners that are), then achieving that through encouragement, edification, and entertainment to those who are living day to day, moment by moment with the lost (2/3 of the audience born again), seems a pretty logical approach.

 

[justalurker]

Find a format that sounds like the popular secular station in the market. Seekers won't immediately reject the station because it sounds too Christian. Let the music minister with light focusing of the message during the talk sets and be available for those phone calls.

Some stations are so religious that one feels like they must be saved to listen. Those are the kinds that seekers will spin right past. You're not talking their language. I'm not saying that a station has to be 100% "seeker friendly" and never say anything that may offend (yes, you can say the name!), but a thick religious format will limit your audience to just that kind of listener.

Personally I love Southern Gospel ... it is more aimed at those who are well on their way but could also catch the ear of a country music fan and bring them the Gospel. There are a lot of fun songs in SG and a heavy focus on the real future (some place called Heaven? ). Being in an area where country does well and there are a decent number of older people who are being abandoned by stations targeting younger audience I believe a SG format would do well. A good platform to bring people back to God.

But something more broad is needed (unless one has a market with multiple religious stations to serve the multiple stages of life and Christian life). Which is why looking at the top station in the market and copying it (except for having better lyrics and likely cleaner DJs) would be a good way of pulling seeking radio listeners over to the Light side.

 

[anotherguyTN]

This discussion made me do some searching to see what Lowell Davey of BBN's attitude toward CCM was. I had the impression that he was probably against it, but I didn't know how much until I did a search and found this article at http://danburrell.com/?m=200604. I won't post the whole article, but it tells how Davey dropped David Jeremiah's program because the music in it supposedly crossed the line into CCM, at least according to Davey. I will post this part of the article which quotes Davey though:

"We at BBN know that you are concerned about this radio ministry, (sic) we wanted to pass along to you a copy of the enclosed letter [Referring to the letter to David Jeremiah which is also printed in the article] so you will understand why we have made such a very tough decision. [Dropping Jeremiah's Pprogram] This is a decision you hope you never to make however, we have no question but that it was the right thing to do. Over the past 35 years, BBN has made some tough decisions in regards to programming and music, however, we have carefully monitored the results, knowing of all the implications both physically and spiritually that are involved. I, along with the staff, am confident these decisions have all been the right moves for BBN.

We believe the “Contemporary Christian Music” would better be referred to as the “Contemporary Religious Rock” music. It will prove itself a major devastation, not only to many great churches in America, but to many homes. Many church members who sacrificed and prayed to build their church will see it destroyed right before their eyes. We have received hundreds of phone calls and letters telling us the tragic demise of their church because of this rock music. One lady wrote this week saying, “Our church bought into the CCM/User Friendly movement. It really worked. We lost half of our congregation.” You seldom hear this side of the story, it is happening more than they want to admit.

We at BBN are committed to use this tool of radio. First to teach the Bible and also share great music that edifies the believers and glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ. It is this music that ministers to the hearts of people and evangelizes the areas where God allows us to broadcast.

I have said, enough, the decision has been made. Please pray for BBN as we are at the crossroads of many lives each day around the world, no wonder we fight the battles – but we will obey Eph. 6:10-18.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support that allows us to daily “Give theWinds the Bible Voice.”

Because of Calvary,

Dr. Lowell Davey
President"

Dan Burrell does an excellent job of responding to Davey in his blog.

Also, here is a link to a page at BBN's website concerning their attitude toward CCM: http://www.bbnradio.org/wcm4/english/tabid/728/Default.aspx

In looking at BBN's schedule, they do have several good programs, and they don't appear to go into KJV Onlyism, but with Davey's attitude toward CCM I know after reading this that BBN will never get any support from me.