The Sad Ending of a St. Louis Tradition

In the next few days, in spite of all efforts to the contrary, one of the great institutions of St. Louis will cease to exist. I speak of our award winning classical music radio station, KFUO. Since 1948, KFUO has broadcast its 100,000 watt signal filled with wonderful sounds of classical music throughout the St. Louis area. It has won many awards and is among the highest rated classical music radio stations in the nation.

However, its ownership, the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, decided it was loosing money on the station and decided to sell it a couple of years ago. When the news came out, a group of listeners decided to put up the money to buy the station from its owners. However, the church was determined to adhere to its political and religious agenda rather than the loyalty of the listeners who had supported the station for years. It negotiated a deal with an organization called Joy FM which ALREADY owns and operates TWO stations in the area, broadcasting a so-called "Contemporary Christian" format to purchase the station. The deal may end up breaking the Lutheran Church here, but at least they had their way.

Local leaders petitioned the FCC contending that the deal or the transfer was not open to competitive bidding or taking the public good into account. However, the FCC apparently was not listening and the transfer was approved on or about May 7th. So, within a week, the station will be transferred and will cease broadcasting.its present format and broadcast its new format. The institutions which broadcast on KFUO, such as the St. Louis Symphony and local High School and College Symphony Orchestras, will have to look elsewhere in order to have their music go out to the public.

Again, the fundies have removed another symbol of art in their inane pursuit of spreading the Gospel.