K-Love in Indianapolis files to change sites

[MightyFrenchman]

What Indianapolis needs in a locally controlled commercial CCM station.

Indianapolis is not a viable market for local-commercial CCM. Unless your last name is Irsay or Simon, let it rest. Even if you had a big check ready, there are not even any viable signals for sale.

A couple of different subjects there.  WXIR was successful with a commercial CCM format from 1980 to 2003...over 22 years.  Subject number two though, yes, it would be difficult to be successful today because any station that's going to cover the entire market is going to be very, very expensive.  And with the realistic commercial rates one can get with a CCM format, especially one that's ministry-oriented, it would be very difficult.

[War Of Attrition]

WXIR was successful with a commercial CCM format from 1980 to 2003...over 22 years. 

You statement is completely dependent on how liberally you define success.

Subject number two though, yes, it would be difficult to be successful today because any station that's going to cover the entire market is going to be very, very expensive. 

Love 98 didn't even even come close to covering the whole market with a usable signal. It is more than just expensive. The group owners control all of the good chips and they are not going to dismantle their clusters because someone wants to put on a new format.

And with the realistic commercial rates one can get with a CCM format, especially one that's ministry-oriented, it would be very difficult.

I have not seen any evidence that a ministry-orriented focus would adversely effect ad rates. Perhaps you meant that it would result in turning down some wishful clients, which is certainly possible.

[MightyFrenchman]

WXIR was successful with a commercial CCM format from 1980 to 2003...over 22 years. 

You statement is completely dependent on how liberally you define success.

Love 98's owners never subscribed to the ratings service so at no time am I referring to ratings when I talk about success.  By success I'm talking about when our GM pledged to Compassion International that we'd find sponsors for 500 children at our Listener Appreciation Free Concert Night at Garfield Park during Labor Day weekend.  Our listeners chose to support nearly 600 children from around the world.  Success was the number of people who would respond to calls to come forward to give their lives to Jesus Christ at the conclusion of a concert at Christian Music Day at the State Fair or at one of the many concerts with the Ice hockey team.  Success was our advertisers who renewed year after year, not because of our ratings numbers, but because of the results they got.

Love 98 didn't even even come close to covering the whole market with a usable signal. It is more than just expensive. The group owners control all of the good chips and they are not going to dismantle their clusters because someone wants to put on a new format.

In the early days that was true.  However, in the last few years that changed.  Our GM Steve White had an engineering background and with the small budget he had for equipment and upgrades, we were able to get to the point where we reached 116th & I-69 from the transmitter in Avon.  I need to admit though, that that's in the car, not in the office.

And with the realistic commercial rates one can get with a CCM format, especially one that's ministry-oriented, it would be very difficult.

I have not seen any evidence that a ministry-orriented focus would adversely effect ad rates. Perhaps you meant that it would result in turning down some wishful clients, which is certainly possible.

I just meant that there must have been some higher-ups at Susquehanna that allowed their bias against Christians to establish some rule that said, "Thou shalt not say the name "Jesus" unless thou art backannouncing a song."  They played the music and that was it.  They must have been afraid that advertisers would object to it.  What they would have discovered is that their clients would have said, "Wow!  Those people who listen to your 93.9 station come in here and make a point of telling me that they heard my commercial!"

[ChiefEngineer]

WISG didn't talk about Jesus because this would expose them to lawsuits. Charlie Morgan said day one " "We are not a ministry."

If you are not a ministry and you use Christ to make money it sounds like...WXIR.  Non Christians who "love" money.

Using Jesus name under a false pretense is a con. That's why they didn't do it.

So was WXIR a CCM station or a ministry? This keeps changing.

I am so tired of hearing gripes about every new station because it doesn't have your approval.

[justalurker]

One can run a ministry and make money to support station operations without falling into the love of money trap. Even if the station has secular ownership and simply chose a format that they knew would be successful ministry can still happen ... it all depends on who you hire and if you allow them to do the ministry job as well as doing their radio job.

If secular ownership chooses a Christian format to make money why is it that one assumes that Christian ownership cannot make money? Are Christians stupid? Does God refuse to bless their efforts? No. But one possibility is that Christians are afraid of the appearance of making too much money ... those that do are just labeled "secular" by those who should probably be reciting the line "judge not, lest you be judged".

Suing a station for using the name of Jesus? No way. Listeners who found out that the station was using His name in vain might not listen any more but sue them? Nahhh. The more common excuse I hear for a "Christian" station not using the name of Jesus on the radio is that it might offend the listeners that don't want to hear the name of Christ on the radio. (Isn't that like a theoretical golf format radio station refusing to utter the name of Tiger Woods? People want to hear about those who they care the most about, whether they are God or not!) I don't want stations tossing His name around in vain but a complete ban? Might as well turn off the station if you can't mention Christ on a Christian station.

Anyways ... we're far beyond the basic topic, and before we are asked to "take it outside" I'll retire to other threads.

[anotherguy]

I believe that if a secular group were to start a CCM format and allow it to be run by the right people that it could be successful, and it may actually be happening somewhere. Unfortunately in the cases I've heard of the almighty dollar becones the main factor, and either the owners decide they can make more money doing another format and switch, or they sell to someone else that changes the format. That's why I've said before that secular owners can't be trusted to do a CCM format and stay with it. Even if the format runs several years it eventually happens in most cases.

[Just Another Idiot on the Radio]

I am never a proponent of "Missionary Dating"  (Christians dating non-Christians "to get them saved").  But I do know a guy who images a Christian station pretty well, despite not calling himself a believer at this time.  He's a good radio guy, simple as that.  And I think he's more open to faith after seeing the daily lives of the station's Christians.

Much more than career politicians, I prefer politicians who have succeeded in the business world before entering politics.  Similarly, while I don't want to be "unequally yoked,"  I have worked well with non-believers if we're on the same basic page about the product, success, and excellence.  I have been stretched and improved by my secular broadcasting peers.  Philippians 1:18 reads "But what does it matter?  The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached..." 

Unless falseness or compromise airs, then I am okay with good radio people at work in CCM regardless of their beliefs (over bad radio coming from well-meaning, nice Christians with less experience or talent).  Ideally, we'd probably all love to work a great-paying, uncompromisingly Christian-formatted station owned by honest, strong Christians.  But to assume we have nothing to learn from non-Christian broadcasters is erroneous, and sounds arrogant.

Formatically, the Christian audiences I've encountered spend less money than anyone short of Country music listeners.  So AC, CHR, etc. are attractive competion for station owners to choose over CCM, which depends on your market and competition to some degree.

Obviously, we can't compromise our faith.  But how cool will it be when all these real, flawed, honest, legitimate, hard-working Christians start to stand out to their secular co-workers with their everyday lives, even more than with their radio performance?  And how cool will it be if and when God uses the talents our non-Christian teammates received from the world for His glory?  And how cool will it be when they see something they like, misconceptions get righted, past hurts heal, and they open up to the great plans God has for them?

[gr8oldies]

There certainly wouldn't be a lawsuit about "saying Jesus" on the air. It's certainly legitimate to think that maybe some listeners to the station just like the music and don't want to be preached to and told their going to hell unless they change their religious, political and social beliefs immediately. It's really no different than telling the jock at the A/C station that he or she can't launch into a tirade about the Iraq war in the middle of "14 soft rock favorites in a row" As I've stated before, a secular company cannot require its DJs to sign a statement of faith, hold to a specific doctrine, promise not to have sex without a license or even attend church. If you allow one DJ to preach doctrine, what about the Catholic DJ who wants to give thanks to the Virgin Mary or St Jude. Some of you would have a knipshun fit if that happened on a CCM station. Since the secular company can't require discriminate in a way that church-backed or para-church stations can, its better to leave it as is.

[trey71]

Check out 98.7 FM WQME. It is a commercial CCM station that mainly serves Madison Country but has North Indy and Hamilton Country in their coverage area. It starts to get fuzzy towards South Indy during the green season. Not only do they play CCM but Christian CHR AND ROCK in the evenings for the kids.