Starting Friday, three South Florida radio stations will stop broadcasting classical music.
Instead,
radios tuned in to WKCP 89.7 FM in Miami, WPBI 90.7 FM in West Palm
Beach or WNPS 88.7 FM in Southwest Florida will find Christian music.
Minneapolis-based
American Public Media Group sold the Classical South Florida stations
to Educational Media Foundation for $21.7 million on Thursday, according
Hadden & Associates Nationwide Media Brokers, which represented
both the buyer and seller in the transaction.
The deal is expected to close in September, but EMF, headquartered in
Rocklin, California, will implement its K-LOVE format this week. K-LOVE
stations broadcast in 135 other markets.
[My bold.]
-from today's Miami Herald
It is hard to believe that the very upsetting sale of WMCU, 89.7 FM, by Trinity International University to Public Media Group took place nearly eight years ago. But it has been that long. Since then, we have listened to K-LOVE over the internet, supporting the internet channel from time to time, and then to Pandora. There are some AM Christian radio stations here in Miami, but none of them have quite the pitch that WMCU captured - at least for us.
WMCU had been developed by Miami Christian College, a Bible college in Miami-Dade. After many years of service to Miami-Dade Christian young people. MCC gave itself, including the radio station, to what became Trinity International University, based in Deerfield, Illinois.
Several years later, after the president retired who was serving at the time of Trinity's acquisition of MCC and WMCU, Trinity sold WMCU to American Public Media Group for millions of dollars. In additon, it moved "Trinity South Florida" from Downtown Miami to a modest space in Broward, an environment probably more culturally-familiar to the Deerfield board than Miami-Dade.
Showing posts with label WMCU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WMCU. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Thursday, September 26, 2013
"For God's Sake, Would You Stop That Coughing!"
On my 10 minute drive to the Metrorail station in the mornings, I'm usually listening to Classical South Florida, 89.7 FM. The radio station is owned by the people who purchased WMCU from the rascals on the board of Trinity International University years ago, to the dismay of a large, South Florida evangelical audience that had supported the old station for many years, including myself. That being said, WKCP Miami has proven itself to be first rate.
As I was listening this morning, John Zech, who is tops as an announcer, presented a recording by Julian Bream, the lutist. It reminded me of a performance of his during my freshman year at Duke. He played in Page Auditorium, the main auditorium.
The large crowd consisted not predominantly of Duke undergraduates but people from the much wider Duke and Durham community. It was cold outside, and people came in bundled up.
Bream began to play beautifully, of course, gently and with great care. A sort of intimacy began to fall over the auditorium. But then someone coughed in the audience. As if that person gave others permission, coughing began to punctuate the performance. It would have been a different thing if the Philadelphia Symphony had been playing Beethoven, and you weren't sitting right by the hacker, but this was Julian Bream and his lute, all alone up there on the stage. It was bad.
Finally, Bream had enough. He stopped playing, looked at the audience, and said "For God's sake, would you stop that coughing!"
Absolute silence. Bream went back to his lute as if nothing had happened. Nobody moved. Nobody coughed. Nobody did anything but listen, and with a bit of apprehension. It was wonderful!
Every time I have attended a concert since then and heard the first cough, I think of Julian Bream and his lute. Until just a few years ago, he was still giving concerts and producing recordings. He certainly taught me something.
As I was listening this morning, John Zech, who is tops as an announcer, presented a recording by Julian Bream, the lutist. It reminded me of a performance of his during my freshman year at Duke. He played in Page Auditorium, the main auditorium.
The large crowd consisted not predominantly of Duke undergraduates but people from the much wider Duke and Durham community. It was cold outside, and people came in bundled up.
Bream began to play beautifully, of course, gently and with great care. A sort of intimacy began to fall over the auditorium. But then someone coughed in the audience. As if that person gave others permission, coughing began to punctuate the performance. It would have been a different thing if the Philadelphia Symphony had been playing Beethoven, and you weren't sitting right by the hacker, but this was Julian Bream and his lute, all alone up there on the stage. It was bad.
Finally, Bream had enough. He stopped playing, looked at the audience, and said "For God's sake, would you stop that coughing!"
Absolute silence. Bream went back to his lute as if nothing had happened. Nobody moved. Nobody coughed. Nobody did anything but listen, and with a bit of apprehension. It was wonderful!
Every time I have attended a concert since then and heard the first cough, I think of Julian Bream and his lute. Until just a few years ago, he was still giving concerts and producing recordings. He certainly taught me something.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
My Time on the Board of Trinity
Sean, in a comment he made on an earlier post, asked about my being on the board of Trinity College, Deerfield. This service was a privilege and a blessing.
During the late 1970s and 1980s, I served on the board of a small Bible college known as Miami Christian College ("MCC"). It turned out some fine graduates and was a bright light in the fairly dark spiritual world of Miami-Dade. The college developed one of the finest Christian radio stations in the country, WMCU, and the radio station became an important center (if not the center) of evangelicalism in Greater Miami. That is, its Christ centered message cut across church lines and leaped over the ministerial ruling class, right into minds of both church-goers and non-church goers. (I remember from time-to-time hearing testimonies from people who said that, while listening to WMCU on their car radio, they had been moved to pull over to the side of the road, pour out their hearts to God, and accept his Son as Savior and Lord. It still gives me goosebumps.)
The college struggled financially during the years I was on the board. It was accredited by the Bible college accreditation agencies, but not by the agencies that accredit secular colleges. Nevertheless, the University of Florida accepted its credits for transfer, as did many other secular colleges and universities. Florida International University, however, a new and powerful kid on the block located in western Miami-Dade, emerged as the go-to state school for Latin kids who didn't want to go to UF or FSU. (It is now a huge school with a big-time football team.) Its founding president, a powerful, driving local Cuban-American politician, was not going to accept transfer credit from a tiny North-Dade Bible college whose mission he did not understand. That hurt the college. Furthermore, the neighborhood surrounding the 40 acre campus had become dangerous and uninviting.
By the late-1980s, MCC, was looking for a merger partner. Quite a few suitors showed up, but they all were really interested in the radio station, which by that time was worth millions of dollars. Our board, however, persisted in its view that WMCU was an adjunct to the central mission of the college, to offer a Christian liberal education to the young people of our region.
Finally, Dr. Kenneth M. Meyer, then president of Trinity Evangelical School and Trinity College came to see us. I have never met a more complete Christian leader, a visionary, a fine preacher, a hard-headed businessman, and a great educator. He understood the mission and he saw the radio station as a fit auxiliary to the college. The board simply gave the school and its radio station to him, that is to Trinity (but it was really to Ken).
As a result of that merger, MCC was renamed Trinity-South Florida and, instantly, gained Trinity's secular accreditation. Ken asked a couple of the MCC board members to come on the board of Trinity College, and I was one of them. A few years later, Trinity College and TEDS, which shared a campus near Deerfield, Illinois, merged officially and Ken asked me to serve on the board of Trinity International University ("TIU"). As I said, it was an honor to serve on those boards (as it was on the board of MCC) and, especially, to see how Ken exercised his marvelous leadership gifts and to learn from him.
I served until 1998. Ken retired about that time, and I had the sense that my time on the board had ended, so I left the board. During the first decade of this century, a new administration took control of TIU and a board with a profoundly inadequate institutional memory assumed control. It withdrew Trinity-South Florida's presence from Miami-Dade to a small refuge in Broward County and sold the radio station for many millions of dollars, taking the money back to Deerfield. What a hurtful chapter in the history of that fine institution. But that's another story.
(Sean will be interested in this article about Leslie Frazier's connection with Trinity and Ken.)
During the late 1970s and 1980s, I served on the board of a small Bible college known as Miami Christian College ("MCC"). It turned out some fine graduates and was a bright light in the fairly dark spiritual world of Miami-Dade. The college developed one of the finest Christian radio stations in the country, WMCU, and the radio station became an important center (if not the center) of evangelicalism in Greater Miami. That is, its Christ centered message cut across church lines and leaped over the ministerial ruling class, right into minds of both church-goers and non-church goers. (I remember from time-to-time hearing testimonies from people who said that, while listening to WMCU on their car radio, they had been moved to pull over to the side of the road, pour out their hearts to God, and accept his Son as Savior and Lord. It still gives me goosebumps.)
The college struggled financially during the years I was on the board. It was accredited by the Bible college accreditation agencies, but not by the agencies that accredit secular colleges. Nevertheless, the University of Florida accepted its credits for transfer, as did many other secular colleges and universities. Florida International University, however, a new and powerful kid on the block located in western Miami-Dade, emerged as the go-to state school for Latin kids who didn't want to go to UF or FSU. (It is now a huge school with a big-time football team.) Its founding president, a powerful, driving local Cuban-American politician, was not going to accept transfer credit from a tiny North-Dade Bible college whose mission he did not understand. That hurt the college. Furthermore, the neighborhood surrounding the 40 acre campus had become dangerous and uninviting.
By the late-1980s, MCC, was looking for a merger partner. Quite a few suitors showed up, but they all were really interested in the radio station, which by that time was worth millions of dollars. Our board, however, persisted in its view that WMCU was an adjunct to the central mission of the college, to offer a Christian liberal education to the young people of our region.
Finally, Dr. Kenneth M. Meyer, then president of Trinity Evangelical School and Trinity College came to see us. I have never met a more complete Christian leader, a visionary, a fine preacher, a hard-headed businessman, and a great educator. He understood the mission and he saw the radio station as a fit auxiliary to the college. The board simply gave the school and its radio station to him, that is to Trinity (but it was really to Ken).
As a result of that merger, MCC was renamed Trinity-South Florida and, instantly, gained Trinity's secular accreditation. Ken asked a couple of the MCC board members to come on the board of Trinity College, and I was one of them. A few years later, Trinity College and TEDS, which shared a campus near Deerfield, Illinois, merged officially and Ken asked me to serve on the board of Trinity International University ("TIU"). As I said, it was an honor to serve on those boards (as it was on the board of MCC) and, especially, to see how Ken exercised his marvelous leadership gifts and to learn from him.
I served until 1998. Ken retired about that time, and I had the sense that my time on the board had ended, so I left the board. During the first decade of this century, a new administration took control of TIU and a board with a profoundly inadequate institutional memory assumed control. It withdrew Trinity-South Florida's presence from Miami-Dade to a small refuge in Broward County and sold the radio station for many millions of dollars, taking the money back to Deerfield. What a hurtful chapter in the history of that fine institution. But that's another story.
(Sean will be interested in this article about Leslie Frazier's connection with Trinity and Ken.)
Thursday, October 04, 2007
The Trinity International Foundation Replies
This came in an email to our home in response to Carol's email to TIF that protests the sale:
Dear partners in ministry,
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us on the Spirit FM
web site. We are encouraged to hear how God has greatly blessed so many lives
through the ministry of Spirit FM. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that
some reactions have been strong in response to the announcement to sell Spirit
FM. We respect your comments and are addressing in this email the principal
concerns expressed.
In recent years, Trinity International University received several unsolicited
offers to buy the radio station. As a result of these offers and in order to
fulfill their fiduciary responsibility, the Board of Regents engaged a brokerage
firm in 2006. The broker began a process of assessing the value of the station
and determining the level of interest in the market. This process was a quiet
one because the outcome was uncertain and we did not want to interrupt the radio
ministry of Spirit FM. We saw no wisdom in making this professional inquiry
public and thereby open the door to questions the station staff could not answer about a topic under
exploration by the board.
We are extremely grateful to the thousands of listeners who have supported
Spirit FM financially and in prayer for so many years. We believe that God
places people in leadership in specific situations at specific times. Those
leaders are sometimes called upon to make tough decisions. Trinity’s board takes
seriously its responsibility as stewards of the resources of Trinity
International University and approached this decision with much deliberation and
prayer. In the end the board believed, before God, that this was the best
decision.
Many of the matters involved in the board’s inquiry and ultimate decision are
sensitive and confidential. However, we do want you to know that our desire was
to sell to a Christian organization, and we attempted without success to do so
with several different organizations.
A significant portion of the proceeds will be
placed in the TIU endowment. The endowment is like a long-term savings account that cannot be spent without action from the
board. The annual interest from endowment will be used to further the mission of
the university. Trinity College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Trinity
Graduate School, and Trinity Law School make a huge impact on our culture for
Christ. The board’s vision is to do more through the educational programs these
schools offer, including our programs in South Florida.
We believe that we are blessed with some of the most talented radio staff in the
nation. These faithful servants were informed of the process several weeks
prior to the signing of the Purchase Agreement on September 24, 2007. In spite
of this news, they continued to minister in a professional and effective manner.
After September 24 all parties agreed that it would be impossible for the Spirit
FM staff to continue their on-air duties as usual. Generous severance and
placement assistance for
the staff are being provided.
We ask you to join us in prayer that:
1. The sovereign Lord will pour out His Spirit on South Florida in order to
fill any void that may be left by closing Spirit FM
2. A strengthened unity in Christ will be demonstrated among churches and
believers with a shared purpose of reaching the lost in South Florida
3. The staff of Spirit FM will be sustained by God’s grace as they seek the
Lord’s will for future ministry.
One of the listeners responded as follows:
"...I am encouraged in my heart to pray for your ministry as a Christian entity
of education. I pray that the next Billy Graham will come from your school. I
pray that the seed that is now being sowed with tears by our community grows and
develops into a life-giving tree that will touch, not just the thousands the
radio touched here in South Florida, but the millions that are hungry and in
need of the love of God."
We join in these sentiments with this listener and ask you to join us in this
prayer.
Seeking God in all things,
Trinity International Foundation Board
As even a first year law student would say, res ipsa loquitur.
Dear partners in ministry,
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us on the Spirit FM
web site. We are encouraged to hear how God has greatly blessed so many lives
through the ministry of Spirit FM. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that
some reactions have been strong in response to the announcement to sell Spirit
FM. We respect your comments and are addressing in this email the principal
concerns expressed.
In recent years, Trinity International University received several unsolicited
offers to buy the radio station. As a result of these offers and in order to
fulfill their fiduciary responsibility, the Board of Regents engaged a brokerage
firm in 2006. The broker began a process of assessing the value of the station
and determining the level of interest in the market. This process was a quiet
one because the outcome was uncertain and we did not want to interrupt the radio
ministry of Spirit FM. We saw no wisdom in making this professional inquiry
public and thereby open the door to questions the station staff could not answer about a topic under
exploration by the board.
We are extremely grateful to the thousands of listeners who have supported
Spirit FM financially and in prayer for so many years. We believe that God
places people in leadership in specific situations at specific times. Those
leaders are sometimes called upon to make tough decisions. Trinity’s board takes
seriously its responsibility as stewards of the resources of Trinity
International University and approached this decision with much deliberation and
prayer. In the end the board believed, before God, that this was the best
decision.
Many of the matters involved in the board’s inquiry and ultimate decision are
sensitive and confidential. However, we do want you to know that our desire was
to sell to a Christian organization, and we attempted without success to do so
with several different organizations.
A significant portion of the proceeds will be
placed in the TIU endowment. The endowment is like a long-term savings account that cannot be spent without action from the
board. The annual interest from endowment will be used to further the mission of
the university. Trinity College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Trinity
Graduate School, and Trinity Law School make a huge impact on our culture for
Christ. The board’s vision is to do more through the educational programs these
schools offer, including our programs in South Florida.
We believe that we are blessed with some of the most talented radio staff in the
nation. These faithful servants were informed of the process several weeks
prior to the signing of the Purchase Agreement on September 24, 2007. In spite
of this news, they continued to minister in a professional and effective manner.
After September 24 all parties agreed that it would be impossible for the Spirit
FM staff to continue their on-air duties as usual. Generous severance and
placement assistance for
the staff are being provided.
We ask you to join us in prayer that:
1. The sovereign Lord will pour out His Spirit on South Florida in order to
fill any void that may be left by closing Spirit FM
2. A strengthened unity in Christ will be demonstrated among churches and
believers with a shared purpose of reaching the lost in South Florida
3. The staff of Spirit FM will be sustained by God’s grace as they seek the
Lord’s will for future ministry.
One of the listeners responded as follows:
"...I am encouraged in my heart to pray for your ministry as a Christian entity
of education. I pray that the next Billy Graham will come from your school. I
pray that the seed that is now being sowed with tears by our community grows and
develops into a life-giving tree that will touch, not just the thousands the
radio touched here in South Florida, but the millions that are hungry and in
need of the love of God."
We join in these sentiments with this listener and ask you to join us in this
prayer.
Seeking God in all things,
Trinity International Foundation Board
As even a first year law student would say, res ipsa loquitur.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
WMCU Update
Two very fine litigators called me today, both Christian, one a solo personal injury lawyer and the other a partner in the largest firm in Florida, and both determined either to stop the WMCU acquisition or claim the proceeds of the sale for the South Florida Chrisitan Community.
This is going to be interesting.
This is going to be interesting.
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.
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.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
WMCU Going Out of Business
Radio Station WMCU, Spirit Radio, 89.7 FM, is on all the time at our house. It is owned by Trinity International University, based in Deerfield, IL. Under the TIU umbrella is also, for example, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School ("TEDS"), a famous place in certain Evangelical circles. On Tuesday morning, a recorded announcement on WMCU said that the "Trinity International University Foundation" had sold the radio station. In the Miami Herald that same day, an article appeared indicating that a national non-profit had purchased the station for $20,000,000 and intended to establish a classical music radio station at 89.7, of which there has been none in the South Florida area for several years.
It is definitely a reverse for South Florida to have the radio station close down. There are so few unifying institutions in our part of the Christian world, the community here is so riven with the disarray that comes from exotic cultures washing up against each other, that closing WMCU seems contrary to what one would think God's will would be.
Because of my position on the board of a foundation that supports TIU here in South Florida, I may be able to find out the "inside" story on this event. There may be good reasons for the decision. I would be interested in knowing what they are.
It is definitely a reverse for South Florida to have the radio station close down. There are so few unifying institutions in our part of the Christian world, the community here is so riven with the disarray that comes from exotic cultures washing up against each other, that closing WMCU seems contrary to what one would think God's will would be.
Because of my position on the board of a foundation that supports TIU here in South Florida, I may be able to find out the "inside" story on this event. There may be good reasons for the decision. I would be interested in knowing what they are.
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