And so ends the longest run of any FM format in Philly

[Nick]

Since 1968, 106.9 FM has been home to Family radio. It's stayed on the air through multiple end-of-world dates, yet the prediction of May 21 cost it dearly. Now, the longest running radio format is KYW

[John1]

KYW has been the longest running format anyway, they started in 1965. But the long run of WKDN goes back to when FM was just starting to come into its own. At the time among FM stations were WWDB was jazz, WFLN & WFIL-FM classical, WQAL, WDVR, WPBS, WSTW, WJBR, WFMZ & others beautiful music, WIFI & WIBF suburban mixed programming stations, & WRCP country in mono. Within a couple years WMMR would be progressive rock, WIFI 'Hit Parade' MOR then top 40, WQAL became WWSH, WDAS-FM Hyski's Underground...and soon FM was taking away the audience from AM.

[musichead1029]

And again, to keep this in perspective, Family Radio was a national religious mission, not a mass appeal audience-based format. KYW had to live and die by the local audience it attracted. Family Radio only needed to attract enough donations nationally to keep several transmitters warm and a home office financed. One of those relay transmitters happened to be in Philadelphia. Even in 2012, that's kind of like using a bazooka to kill a fly. Only extremely poor financial management brought down the system. Imagine the take if they'd sold their FM frequencies 10 years ago and gone exclusively to the internet or given away HD or SCA radios.

[jhguthlac]

In the 70's, I was a frequent listener to WKDN.  I always thought it strange that although the AM and FM were sold separately, they both went with a religious format.



WKDN ran a class act.  The preachers begging for money was edited out.  If you were out of the signal in any of their cities, you could hear it on short wave.
Of course, the nonce Camping was firmly in charge and it all fell apart.

[fmradio1]

I would assume that WMMR now has the longest running FM format in Philly....it's been some flavor of rock, AFAIK, since 1968....

[rtetro]

WKDN ran a class act.

Very, very true.  Apart from the end of the world debacle, Family Radio always played it straight.  I grew up in the WFME, Newark NJ, coverage area.  So, I was quite familiar with the programming before I moved to Philly and began listening on occasion to WKDN. 

Their theology was largely standard conservative Reformed faire, and their music always remained very straight laced, even when much of Christian radio in the northeast was moving in a contemporary direction.  I, for one, enjoyed the music.  It was a nice change of pace from what we played at WZZD in the 80s.   

Finding traditional Christian music in almost any media is becoming extremely difficult; so it is sad to lose this outlet.   

[DG02816]

Rene,
WKDN's music strongly reminded me of the Beautiful Music format I heard as a kid on what was then WLKW 990 Procidence RI.