KFUO (AM)
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Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Owned and operated by The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), KFUO-AM boasts an array of audio resources from worship services to inspirational music to in-depth study of God's Word through programs including "The Bible Study," "Ask the Pastor," "Studio A," and "Law & Gospel." KFUO also offers syndicated short-form programs like Dr.Paul Devantier's "By The Way," Dr. Mary Manz-Simon's "Front Porch Parenting," and Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary is located in Clayton, Missouri, an inner-ring suburb on the western border of St. Louis, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod . The current president of...
President Dr. Dale Meyer's "The Meyer Minute." KFUO also carries 30-minute programs each weekday from Focus on the Family.
History
Among those designated as founders of KFUO-AM were the Rev. Prof. J. H. C. Fritz, the Rev. Richard Kretzschmar and the Rev. Dr. Walter A. MaierWalter A. Maier
Walter A. Maier was a noted radio personality, public speaker, prolific author, university professor, scholar of ancient Semitic languages and culture, Lutheran theologian and editor...
. Other Lutheran Institutions connected to the start-up of the station included Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary is located in Clayton, Missouri, an inner-ring suburb on the western border of St. Louis, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod . The current president of...
, the Walther League, the Lutheran Laymen's League, and the St. Louis Lutheran Publicity Association. On October 26, 1924, KFUO went on the air for the first time, broadcasting to St. Louisans the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Clayton campus of Concordia Seminary, which would house the station's permanent studio. When KFUO-AM officially went on the air Dec. 14 of that year, the first broadcast originated from the attic of one of the seminary buildings. Three years later, on May 29, 1927, the studio was dedicated. A sister FM station, eventually to be known as "Classic 99," was added in 1948. KFUO-AM became a Synodical enterprise in 1927.
During the 1930's, when KFUO-AM and KSD (now KTRS (AM)
KTRS (AM)
KTRS, located at 550 kHz, is an AM radio station in Maryland Heights, Missouri that carries a News/Talk format and is owned by the St. Louis Cardinals and CH Radio Holdings. It broadcasts with 5,000 watts of power during the day and 5,000 watts at night. The call letters KTRS stand for K Talk...
) shared the 550 frequency, the stations became entangled with the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) in an effort to have a frequency to themselves. At that time, KFUO-AM was also making deals with the FCC to increase its transmitter power and hours of operation. As a result, the FCC moved KFUO-AM to the 830 kHz frequency in 1940, and then to its present 850 khz frequency a year later. The following September, the FCC increased the station's power to 5,000 watts from its previous 1,000 watts of power. During this time, KFUO-AM also began broadcasting The Lutheran Hour
The Lutheran Hour
The Lutheran Hour is a U.S. religious radio program that proclaims the message of Jesus Christ on nearly 800 stations throughout North American, as well as by weekly audiences on the American Forces Network and XM Satellite Radio FamilyTalk 170...
which is still heard on over 700 stations worldwide.
Digital age
KFUO-AM officially launched its Web site, http://www.kfuoam.org, in 1998, offering listeners a live audio stream of its broadcast. Program archives on the site were spotty until the station began formally archiving its programs in 2003. In 2004, KFUO-AM made another digital leap by launching its HD station, the first in Missouri.Awards
In 2000, KFUO won a "Gold Angel" award at the 23rd annual "International Angel Awards" ceremony held in Hollywood, California. The award is the highest honor bestowed by Excellence in Media, a Hollywood-based organization devoted to promoting morality in film, television, video, radio, and print.Cancellation of Issues, Etc.
During Holy Week 2008 (March 18) the theological talk show, Issues, Etc., was abruptly discontinued from KFUO-AM's program line-up after 15 years on the air. Issues Etc. was the most popular program produced by KFUO-AM and the only one with a national audience. The show was distributed to Christian radio stations across the U.S. In each city outside the St. Louis area the program was sponsored by local LCMS congregations, not by KFUO-AM or the national LCMS office. The producer and host of Issues, Etc. were fired with no explanation.Three weeks after the cancellation KFUO-AM management issued an official announcement citing programmatic and stewardship (business) reasons as the cause for cancellation. Management claimed that the station was running deficits into the hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, that Issues, Etc. (the most expensive program to produce at KFUO-AM) was contributing significantly to those deficits, and that the Synod no longer had the ability to subsidize or overcome these shortfalls. Unfortunately, there is no way to verify management's claims because KFUO-AM has never had a policy of making its financial information available to the public.
In the weeks following a group of some 50 to 60 people suspecting ulterior motives for the cancellation held a demonstration at the LCMS International Center (April 14, 2008) and an online petition to reinstate the show collected more than 7,000 signatures.
Issues Etc. resumed operations as an independent listener-supported broadcast on June 30, 2008 on another St. Louis radio station and through on-line internet streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
at http://issuesetc.org. Radio stations in five other states carry the program live and podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
downloads are distributed through the show's website. In February 2009 the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod officially gave up its legal claim to the trademark name "Issues Etc." which it had allowed to lapse in 1999. The trademark name is now owned by Lutheran Public Radio, the current production company of Issues. Etc.