KGNX

KGNX

City of license	Ballwin, Missouri
Broadcast area	St. Louis, Missouri
Branding	The Good News Voice
Frequency	89.7 MHz
First air date	c. 1978
Format	Religious
ERP	120 watts
HAAT	52 meters (171 feet)
Class	A
Facility ID	66671
Transmitter coordinates	38°37′23″N 90°32′01″W / 38.62306°N 90.53361°W / 38.62306; -90.53361
Former callsigns	KYMC
Affiliations	The Good News Voice Moody Broadcasting Network
Owner	Missouri River Christian Broadcasting, Inc.
Sister stations	KGNA-FM, KGNV, KGNN-FM
Website	goodnewsvoice.org

KGNX (89.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve Ballwin, Missouri, USA. The station is owned by Missouri River Christian Broadcasting, Inc., and airs religious programming as an affiliate of The Good News Voice and a member of the Moody Broadcasting Network.

Programming

KGNX airs a variety of Christian Talk and Teaching programs including; Back to the Bible, Focus on the Family, Grace to You with John MacArthur, Revive our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Insight for Living with Chuck Swindoll, Truth for Life with Alistair Begg, In the Market with Janet Parshall, Love Worth Finding with Adrian Rogers, Turning Point with David Jeremiah, Joni & Friends, and Unshackled!. KGNX also airs Christian music overnight.^[1]

The YMCA years

From the station's sign-on in 1978 until September 2008, this station was owned by West County Family YMCA, a branch of the YMCA of Greater St. Louis, and served the western St Louis, Missouri, area.^[2] The station was assigned the KYMC call letters by the Federal Communications Commission in 1978^[3] and was granted its initial license to cover on June 19, 1980.^[4] KYMC was the only radio station owned by a YMCA in the United States.^[5]

Programming

KYMC was the first alternative rock station in the St. Louis area and was a non-commercial station.^[5] In the 1990s many bands played their music live in the studio, including Everclear, Alanis Morissette and Live.

Former logo (2007)

At its peak in the Spring of 1992, KYMC was run by program director Glen Allen and music director Greg Berg. The station was officially managed by YMCA employee Ruth Ady. Under the leadership of Glen Allen, the station achieved tremendous success by streamlining the alternative rock music format for the Saint Louis audience, a first in the area.^[6] Incoming funding from pledge drives and sponsorships reached an all-time high for the station. The popularity of the alternative rock format on such a small station helped pave the way for viability of the format on a larger scale. KPNT-FM (105.7 The Point) began operation soon after that in March 1993. Greg Berg was one of the few KYMC DJs to be hired as on-air talent by The Point.

Controversy

During KYMC's peak in popularity in the Spring of 1992, general manager Ruth Ady used most of the station revenues for other YMCA programs, leaving the station's broadcasting equipment in a constant state of dysfunction. In May 1992, Ruth Ady fired Glen Allen, Greg Berg, and most of the DJ staff, with the intention of turning the station back into "kiddy radio camp" for the YMCA. Large protests were organized by Joey Jay and some of the remaining DJs, receiving front page coverage in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.^[6]

The station's popularity fell into decline as its content became more fragmented. Income from pledge drives and sponsorships waned. Under the leadership of General Manager, Natalie Hall, by the end of 2006, KYMC was beginning to regain notoriety. Re-branded with a new logo and website, revenue was steadily increasing. KYMC was running state of the art programming software and gaining additional sponsorships. By the end of the station's run, KYMC was on the brink of being streamed worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

Falling silent

"Effective Jan. 1, (2007) the station will go dark," said Denise Glass, executive director of the West County Family YMCA, "The YMCA of Greater St. Louis is a not-for-profit charitable organization.^[7] During our budget process for 2007, it was determined we would cease operations of the station due to budgetary constraints."

"Annual Campaign dollars were thought to have subsidized the operations of the radio station, regardless of dollars raised, the executive director and district vice president concluded campaign money was better spent in other areas", says former General Manager, Natalie Hall. "It is a sad day for all who devoted time and effort into making KYMC a great community outlet." ^[8]

After officially falling silent on January 8, 2007, the station applied to the FCC for special temporary authority to remain silent and authorization was granted on January 9, 2007.^[9] This authority was renewed by the FCC on January 30, 2008.^[10] This authority was set to expire on July 28, 2008. A grassroots movement to "save" KYMC sprung up but was ultimately unsuccessful.^[11]

New ownership

In July 2008 and with the final remain silent authority about to expire, the YMCA of Greater St. Louis reached an agreement to sell this station to Missouri River Christian Broadcasting, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 22, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on September 19, 2008.^[12] The new owners announced plans to return KYMC to the air with religious programming as a member of "The Good News Voice" network of stations, featuring some programming from the Moody Broadcasting Network. KGNX simulcasts the programming of KGNV in Washington, Missouri, KGNA-FM in Arnold, Missouri, and KGNN-FM in Cuba, Missouri. On October 30, 2008, KYMC was granted a main studio waiver allowing the station to be run from facilities outside the station's community of license.^[13] The station changed its call sign from KYMC to KGNX on August 28, 2009.

References

External links

• KGNX's website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KGNX
• Radio-Locator information on KGNX
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KGNX