Monday, October 01, 2007

The Post-WMCU World in S. FL is NOT one without Christian Radio

I emailed Rob Robbins, the President of CallFM, and asked him his view of the world in South Florida after WMCU. Here is his response:

The two priorities for The CALL right now are program development and expansion. Ultimately the goal is a full-time live staffed operation 24/7, reaching lost and unchurched teens and young adults between the ages of 13 and 25.

1) We are currently expanding in Naples and Bonita Springs (as far north as Estero, FL) with new translator stations that are installed and waiting on some county permits. The translator coverage, by FCC rule, will rebroadcast the WMKL programming.

2) WMKL is working to relocate to a tall tower out on US-41 as early as next month to increase the audience by another 70%. There is an FCC filing freeze in effect until October 19th which is delaying the grant of the construction permit until later this month. The current WMKL broadcast is at less than 50% power under special temporary authority because we decided not to replace the existing antenna that is designed for 91.7 instead of
91.9 MHz.

3) Later this year/early 2008 we will be building and operating a new full-power station in Palm Beach County.

4) We are pursuing a potential opportunity to broadcast in Highlands County, FL within the next year as well.

We have absolutely no plans to change or modify The CALL's programming in the future. It has been more than thirteen years of a journey to get to this point, and I am truley excited about the opportunities for growth that God has brought us over the past year and for what the coming months will bring for our ability to impact more young adults, and to develop the programming to make it most effective.

In terms of the loss of WMCU, it is a real travesty. The only potential response that we might consider as we prepare for expansion is the potential to build the new WMKL facility and the WPSF facility as digital (HD) stations. HD Radio consists of the normal analog signal and first HD-1 digital channel required to contain the programming of the analog signal, and then an HD-2 and HD-3 channel each with unique CD-quality programming.

This would allow us options to lease the 2 extra channels to other Christian broadcasters for addition program revenue or to program ourselves with adult contempory Christian music or preaching/teaching format (which really isn't our mission as an organization). You can see more information at www.hdradio.com, and a working example of WPOZ, Orlando (www.zradio.com).

Just think, God used myself and several guys in their early 20's to put this radio station on the air, against everyone's advice that it was impossible.
I can speak from first-hand experience what it is like to wait night after night for 5-6 years pursuing a calling on nothing more than faith and prayer, and to see God accomplish his purposes. I am confident that God is able to bring that type of Christian radio ministry back to Miami if He chooses. It will not be easy, and probably not overnight unless a Christian radio network finds the opportunity to move into Miami.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some other options...

1) WRMB - 89.3 FM - Moody Radio from Boynton Beach. I actually prefer the music to what WMCU usually played. More worship songs. This station is hard to get below North Miami-Dade county but hopefully they might be able to expand.

2) 1360 WKAT - talk radio on AM. Stev e James (formerly with WMCU) is programming this station now.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately we get hardly any reception for other Christian radio stations at our house.

Anonymous said...

The fact is WMCU can still possibly be "saved". I encourage people to go to the site:
churchwebsites.com/wmcu
to get additional info.
On that site, we list virtually all of the other stations in the area (including The Call, WRMB, WAFG, WKAT, etc.) We are in this together. I call on The Call and other stations to support our efforts to keep as much Christian programming as possible in our area. There are many that can ONLY receive the WMCU signal (including those in prison!). Each station is unique with its set of programs and vision. WMCU served a specific purpose. What happened was a rip off for the S FL community since the money for the station came from our area, and yet the $20 million sale price went to TIU in Deerfield, IL! I am all for supporting the other stations -- but I urge folks to band together to still fight for WMCU. Don't rejoice because the "competition" has fallen. Do unto others what you would want them to do for you! Many are burdened to take action! Please pray for this effort.
Stan

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, Stan. I felt sure there must be many other people feeling the same loss for our community that I've been feeling. I definitely think we need to join together to do what we can to save WMCU.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know about the 'charitable trust' angle? The FCC cares about these things.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if the "Post-WMCU" world will show how much people really care about what happened to WMCU?

Its a tough call. I thought about having thousands out there on Sunday night holding a candle vigil of some sort. (People have done this for art deco buildings on South Beach — before planned demolitions). But then ... how would that look in the eyes of the world? Christians fighting Christians!

This whole affair not so much about the music style — apparently both Moody Radio and Call FM have better music (as per one's personal taste). Anyway ... really in large part about the Christian presence in this City via both whatever good music and sound teaching WMCU offered.

Now we have one less major influence in an area with Santeria, the 'antiChrist' holding meetings in Doral, churches with so-called apostles leading people into error, and all manner of multi-cultural sin and prejudice.

I wonder how much we will really care abou the loss of WMCU. Or will it = out of earshot ... out of mind?