April 29, 2025 • 34 mins
At one point in history, Christian radio was a local avenue for pastors, churches, and small ministries to be found. New and upcoming Christian artists also had a local platform to be discovered. If you scan the dial today, the Christian music scene is very different. What changed? Three little letters: EMF. Join Apostle Lee Ann Marino for a look at the modern Christian radio scene and what a little-known organization called the Educational Media Foundation has to do with it all. (Intro and Conclusion Track "Ready to Rock" by Yvgeniy Sorokin, https://pixabay.com/users/eugenemyers-40510887/. Righteous Pen Publications Track "Inspirational Background" by AudioCoffee, https://pixabay.com/music/corporate-inspirational-background-112290/.)
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Episode Transcript
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Are you a writer who wants to become an author?
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Welcome to Kingdom Now, the podcast featuring Faith with an Edge, as we celebrate the Kingdom
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of God within you.
I am your host, Dr. Lee Ann Marino, apostle, author, podcaster, professor, and theologian,
and founder of Spitfire Apostolic Ministries and all the works that go along with it.
I am excited to share this program with you as we explore the ins and outs of Counterculture
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And to learn more, visit my website at www.kingdompowernow.org.
And now, our program, which features a variety of formats here, just for you.
Interviews on a variety of relative topics, teaching and preaching proclaimed everywhere
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And powerful insights here for now as we turn the world upside down everywhere we go.
[Applause]
Well good morning, good afternoon, good evening, happy whatever time of day it is, wherever
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you are.
And to our listeners, in Kenya, we say, "Habari."
We hope that whatever time of day when you are listening that you were having a good
one.
And I welcome you to this edition of the Kingdom Now podcast.
And I am your host, Apostle Dr. Lee Ann Marino here as the Spitfire serving as the voice of
Counterculture Christianity, where we feature the theme of faith with an edge.
(02:19):
And if you'd like to learn more about the world of Counterculture Christianity, feel free
to visit my website at www.kingdompowernow.org, which there will be some amazing new updates
very soon.
So we're answering the question today, what happened to Christian Radio?
When I started my day job for the federal government, I suddenly found myself listening
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to a lot of radio, because I have to drive between locations, and sometimes it can be quite
a ways between places.
So that means I heard a lot of radio, especially in the beginning, now I have Spotify.
And as I scan the dial, I noticed a couple of things that made me curious to look further
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into what I found.
For one, the majority of the stations I found were Christian, which I assumed to be because
I'm in the South.
But I learned after doing a little bit of research, that's not why this is.
And there weren't a lot of secular stations playing any sort of music, only a very small handful
next to these Christian stations.
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The next issue was the Christian stations were all playing the same music.
I could scan from one station to the next, and they would be playing the same songs, sometimes
at the same time.
There was no variety present in the music.
It was as if the same station was duplicated a number of times over and over again on the
dial.
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So I was curious what was going on, and I did some research.
It turns out I did notice something, and I wasn't wrong.
There are two types of Christian radio stations today, and one is rapidly dying out.
But why?
If you've noticed the same, you're not alone.
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Something is definitely going on, and in this episode, we are going to talk about what
that it is.
When I was growing up, and this was back in the late 80s, early 90s, my mom listened to
Christian radio all the time.
Specifically, she listened to W.J.I.V., which was 101.9 FM on our dial, and it was a very
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local station.
They had a few major big-name preachers, and most of them were preachers who would become
bigger later, such as Joyce Meyer.
Most of them were people from that era who kind of had a moderate following.
Maybe they had more of a following than a local pastor.
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For example, Don Gossett was one who was on, and R.W. Schambach was one who was on, and Sid
Roth, I think that's where I first heard about Messianic Vision, and was on that radio station.
They weren't hugely big, and Joyce Meyer was certainly not the stature that she's become.
Most of them were kind of, you know, somewhere in the moderate range, and most of them were
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older preachers.
I went and actually looked up that radio station for this broadcast to see what kind of programming
they have today.
And it still has a similar format to what it had earlier in time, but it's an example of
the first kind of radio station, particularly Christian radio station that we see today.
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This station that I'm mentioning is owned by a small Christian broadcasting conglomerate
that also owns a few other stations in other states and is dedicated to maintaining a more
traditional ideal of Christian radio format, whether it's talk or teaching, most of the
live preachers they feature are no longer alive.
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Or maybe more traditional sounding music that's not sung in most modern churches today.
Now obviously these stations do exist, even though they're few and far between, and they
are shrinking rapidly due to the second type of Christian radio station.
And they are a little different than they used to be in that in days gone by radio stations
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used to be local enterprises, rather than big conglomerate extensions.
They would hire local people to introduce songs and read mail, engage with the people, engage
with the listeners, etc.
And with the conglomerate agencies taking over, that's often no longer the case.
But it's the second type of station that has changed the way everyone is handling Christian
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radio today, and it's extremely important.
And the answer lies in three little letters, EMF.
EMF stands for Educational Media Foundation.
This is the nonprofit organization that owns K-Love, WTA Media, Access More, and Air1
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across the country.
They own more than 1,000 radio signals in all 50 states, American Samoa, Puerto Rico,
and the District of Columbia.
They are one of the top 10 US audio streaming companies.
WTA Media focuses on faith-based films and publishing.
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Access More is a podcast network, and K-Love on demand is a free streaming platform, offering
live concerts, original programming, and other content.
But what they are best known for are K-Love and Air One, which if you listen at all to the
radio these days, it seems to be all that's available.
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So K-Love focuses on Christian Adult Contemporary Radio Programming, meaning they're looking
at and playing what's top on the Christian Adult Contemporary Charts.
We could say it's kind of a niche medium.
It's not necessarily really a genre that's very, very popular among the general populous,
and it's worth noting that these overlap often with Air1, which Air One is Christian
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Worship Music featuring songs popular in contemporary Christian worship services.
Their broadcasts are samo-cast, meaning what you're hearing is from one central location,
not multiple.
There's no local DJs or local staff that are part of building the station up.
They operate as non-commercial educational radio stations, meaning they don't accept
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on-air advertisements.
Funding for the stations comes from listener support, mostly from pledge drives in the spring
and fall.
On the surface, they appear to just be a Christian organization playing Christian music.
But behind the scenes, there is a decidedly conservative agenda.
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So basically how these stations work is by changing and shaping the way Christians in
particular approach their everyday lives.
And it's another way that Christians are finding themselves as part of a subculture, rather
than a general incorporation into society.
There are no hard questions, there's no confrontation with spiritual issues or spiritual depth,
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there's no representation of other people, or those who maybe don't live by the surface
deep level Christianity, many of these stations espouse.
There's nothing but an encompassed life that encapsulates believers to stay exactly wherever
they are.
And someone might say, "Well, who cares, why does this matter?"
Well, there's a lot of reasons why we should care.
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And in an article by Rolling Stone magazine titled, "Why is the radio full of Christian
rock thank this nonprofit by Katie Thornton, which I definitely recommend reading, it outlines
the situation and very clearly what's going on?"
In addition to not featuring gospel or specifically black artists with the exception of Maverick
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City music, who didn't really make their mark there easily, and anyone who is not straight
or somebody who might be artistically divergent, it's also the story of the demise of
local radio stations.
Someone might say, "Well, why are local radio stations important?"
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They were long time sources for new music, artists who maybe didn't have the chance to break
it big on their own, local music scenes and even the forms of local political dialogue,
bringing daily commentary into the hands of local hosts and listeners on a regular basis.
So we could argue that radio was a very much community extension.
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And what this huge conglomerate does, even though it's non-profit, it acts much like a for-profit
corporation.
They come in and offer various community and conglomerate radio stations, smaller conglomerates,
a huge sum of money.
In one instance, they paid 21.5 million for the signal.
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They wipe out the local presence, including all those local jobs of hosts, people who run
the station, etc., and then they replace them with their transmitters, having their stations
therefore hurt across the country with almost no overhead.
And every ten days, they come together again to continue plotting how to grow further, looking
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for stations that might be vulnerable for a buyout.
Their finances are also another matter altogether.
According to the article I mentioned earlier found in Rolling Stone, EMF had about a billion
dollars in net assets in 2022, with their former CEO Bill Reeves making over $770,000 per
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year.
This is in contrast with NPR's net assets of less than 150 million.
97 cents of every dollar for EMF come from listener donations.
So maybe you've never heard of EMF and maybe you're wondering where the hell do these people
come from?
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So let's talk a little bit about their history.
So in 1978, a man named Anthony Fogel was a DJ at a top 40 San Francisco Rock Station,
and he recently converted to Christianity and like many people when they're kind of in
that position he started to feel unfulfilled.
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And his answer was to figure out a Christian radio station that could be much like the secular
station he worked for.
In an era where Christian radio was very much a fringe movement.
Most of the time at that particular point in history, if you were listening to something
that was a Christian radio station, it had mostly preachers and teachers on it.
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And some stations used to do it.
It used to be that from maybe 6 a.m. to noon on Sundays, time was usually reserved.
It was usually either free or it was inexpensive.
It was really, really hard to get.
And that was the kind of programming that purchase that had an investment in the community
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and they put them on air.
They would put excerpts from their sermons and their services on air for local people to
hear.
So two years later, Anthony set out to create the Educational Media Foundation, boring
name, right, with a whole lot of weight behind it, running ads in the local paper to generate
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interest in support.
And by 1982, the organization had enough money to buy an FM radio station, by which they
started soliciting donations and asking listeners to pray for the ability to purchase more frequencies.
An answer pop radio DJ Dick Jenkins, who became the general manager in 1986.
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Their main station was rebranded as positive and encouraging K-Love, and that is still
used to this very day.
And stations across California rebranded as K-Love, and then the movement started to spread
across the country.
And their identical stations grew throughout the 80s and 90s.
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So then the company incorporated as a nonprofit entity, which keeps them from having to
bake corporate business tax and allows donations from listeners and access to the lower FM band.
Now what we're referring to with that is the FCC has traditionally reserved on your dial
from 88.1 to 91.9 for non-commercial educational stations only.
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So this outfit being classified as such an entity has given them the option to eat up all
those stations, edging out other agencies that are actually educational in nature.
And while stations try to buy back frequencies or try to fight EMFs infiltration, they often
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find themselves unable to do much.
So this company is benefiting from rules implemented to help smaller nonprofit agencies, even though
it's become a total financial giant.
By the early 2000s, they'd continue expanding and they had over 50 radio stations and 25
million dollars in donations.
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In 2003, the FCC started setting aside a week for radio organizations to apply for radio
translators.
Translators are small repeat stations that broadcast a parent station in an area where an
original signal can't reach.
They're cheap and they're easily available for public radio stations, colleges and community
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or religious broadcasters.
And starting in 2003 EMF, which is the major filer of translators in the United States, started
applying for over 900 in a year and were approved for over 250.
By 2006, they'd quadrupled their assets and by the end of the year they were the world's
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largest broadcaster of contemporary Christian music.
They're also known to use technology that limits local broadcasters in their coverage, keeping
competing new stations from coming on the air.
And by burying agencies in paperwork and hoarding signals, they are preventing others from their
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access to media.
So as far as the specific sound goes because they definitely do have a sound, how does someone
get a song on one of these radio stations?
Well considering what we spoke of earlier, that there aren't any local radio stations anymore,
how does anyone even get noticed?
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You know, one of the major theories about the internet originally was, oh, it's really,
really easy to get noticed.
It's really, really easy to get a lot of attention.
But the problem is that there are so many other people out there, things easily get buried
and sounds get buried and songs get buried and perfectly good bands get buried because
there's so much competition, you have to rise to a certain level to get past some of
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it.
So the general guidelines are Christian songs for these stations can't be too heavy.
They need to be the right number of beats per minute, not too fast and not too slow.
And the more references to Jesus or him referring to Jesus, God and Father are all a part of
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the thing.
Courses must be repetitive so everyone can sing along by the second time around.
The guitar reverb must also be on point, all creating what we might classify as a singular
sound of Christian music.
And if we are to be honest, they very much change the sound of music to one particular
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method.
One sound that sounds like everything else without a whole lot of variety.
Now I'm not condemning Christian music because there's a lot of artists that follow and
this isn't to say their music is bad, but it is to say that what this station is doing
to music overall isn't good either.
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This one singular company is determining the careers of up and coming artists, not considering
quality or differences in sound or musical variety.
The sound as we call it is what we might call the sound of the mega church.
And it's for people who frequent or engage with such places, those who want something that
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doesn't challenge their comfortable borders.
A place where they don't have to hear about Black Lives Matter or police abuses or a huge
portion of the civilian workforce being laid off because of Elon Musk.
It's part of the world that's become contemporary Christian music.
It aims not to be overly theological or deep, and being constantly available on the radio
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draws listeners into the bigger picture of evangelical Christianity and what can sometimes
be behind it.
Now as someone who is a Christian and who doesn't feel there's anything wrong with evangelism,
I do think some methods leave much to be desired, and I might say that maybe my major issue
with what this corporation is doing is shady.
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It looks like one thing, but they are actually moving for something else, and that's not right.
What is behind this that's problematic across the board rates an answer?
For example, the station refuses to promote queer Christian artists.
Now someone might argue they have the right to promote whoever they want or not promote
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whoever they want, but by edging out every single competitor they aren't leaving room for
artists they might disagree with about something or might not like or might not play their
style or may not engage with whatever.
And they're not letting them find their own platform or avenue by which to expand, which
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to me that sounds like a bit of an agenda when you're just cutting everybody out.
Even singles that chart on iTunes or Spotify won't get on their radar if the artist is queer
no matter how perfect it might be for K-Love.
Others question the 'cause she lifestyles and fundraising practices of those within
the organization.
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For example, the article mentioned a time when a caller who was low on funds gave to K-Love
rather than paying a bill.
Or that they ask for $40 a month to keep K-Love on air in the area when that's not what
the money is used for.
It's used to buy new stations and to put K-Love in other areas because K-Love isn't even
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technically on air anywhere locally.
They also have a cruise you can take for the starting fee of $1,148 per person.
The company went through a huge boom during the COVID-19 pandemic because there was a huge
advertising decline in commercial radio stations.
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As a result, they bought out stations all over the country, including Memphis, Buffalo and
Atlantic City.
So they are finding the money means and expenditures to keep growing, even as smaller stations and
artists aren't finding venues to continue or grow.
And they continue to find loopholes.
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The FCC has laws which state it's illegal for anyone company to own more than 5 a.m. or
5 FM stations in a city.
But the law doesn't apply to nonprofits, which means the EMF is getting around the law.
There are some activists out there trying to fight the loop hole.
But the FCC is now more concerned about digital access and digital privacy.
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And we raise the issue that they don't play black artists as a rule or artists of color in
any semblance.
There isn't a whole lot of diversity in the songs or the languages of the songs.
So for example, they don't play songs that are in Spanish, not to mention an entire world
where they're finding all these different loopholes.
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Despite these facts, radio is still heard by more than 4 out of 5 daily.
So there is something to be said for the influence of EMF through these radio stations.
And I think the question we as Christians should ask is this the only example or idea of
Christianity that we want to present to the world?
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As I said earlier, I'm not saying God can't speak to someone through these stations or their
messages.
But I do believe Christianity needs more representation than just one mass agency duplicated several times
over.
So how should Christianity be represented in the media?
I know what I'm going to say is the little outdated, but I believe when it comes to media that
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we should have a variety of representations within media because that presents a few things.
And let me also say, I've been broadcasting on the internet since it was new.
I have been involved in radio.
I have been involved in television.
I've been doing all these different things which is very, very important, very much reflects
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the values that I have as a result of why I feel the way that I do.
I'm not just coming at this with Christian media from left field.
I've had a lot of experience in Christian media over the years.
So the first thing I would say is I feel we need a more balanced view of Christian belief
and understanding because it's not all vapid with no meaning.
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There's a lot of depth present in the Christian life and in Christian belief, but we often
don't see representations of that because as Minister Charlie Reep who's been a frequent
guest on this podcast over at beloved-not-broken.com has said, we often see
Christian groups cater to what we might consider the lowest common denominator, meaning they cater
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to groups that aren't looking to grow or who aren't really looking to invest much in their
Christian life, we might consider it as Christians who desire to kind of get by.
But there are plenty of people in this world who are Christians and don't want to live
their life of faith in that manner.
There are lots of Christians who want more of God, not just more benefits.
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Some of us love the glory of God and long to see it and experience it be long just knowing
God is around and making Himself manifest.
At some point in every Christian walk, we must confront the reality that God is an insecure
and He isn't going to constantly prove Himself to us by giving us what we feel we want all
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the time.
And just because we don't get what we want doesn't mean there's something wrong with our faith
either.
Sometimes we just don't get what we want because we don't get what we want and that's
the beginning and the ending of the whole thing.
So I think we need songs that reflect this expanse of Christian understanding.
We need songs that are energetic and simple.
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We need ones that are deeper and more complex, especially that express a range of different
experiences with and emotions with and toward God.
Songs that declare our intent and purpose before God and songs that exalt God for all He is
without it all being about us and what we're doing.
We really do need it all.
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We need praise, we need worship and we need a sense of the way the two sometimes are separate
but also overlap.
I also feel we need more than just music on Christian radio stations.
I think preaching, teaching and discussion are also very vital to the Christian representation
as our sharing elements of Christian worship services.
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Some mix of spoken and music are a long held method in Christian radio and I don't think
it's necessarily that format that needs changing but maybe some of the content.
Why not add things like spoken word or podcasts or call in programs?
Why not diversify and allow others to share and experience the programming offered?
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And maybe there's even more to consider.
We shouldn't feel like everything we do is some sort of carbon copy method of something
else.
I also feel we shouldn't assume our listeners and fans aren't serious about their faith
or our mediocre somewhere along the way.
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We also shouldn't necessarily assume everyone is at an elementary level in their faith and
offer diversity in content style and sound.
It's also make sure diversity is part of our lineup.
Why not throw gospel and contemporary together?
Why not feature LGBTQ artists and discuss queer faith across a platform?
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Why not diversify style and sound across cultures and represent everything from gospel to contemporary
to modern songs that display a wide variety of faith experiences?
Why not throw some things in that are in a language other than English every now and then?
Why not assume that your listeners want to hear more rather than less?
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And yes, this obviously demands a little more of content creators for radio programming.
But isn't that what so much of this is supposed to be about?
Radio played a very, very important part in my own life.
In fact, when I was a kid and I kind of got past the fairy princess stage and the wanting to
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be a stand-up comedian phase and I started to really think about life and career I wanted
to be on radio.
And I came up in an era where AM radio was kind of hot at the time, particularly political
commentary.
And in saying all that, radio has always really been a key part of my life.
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And I've often said that I may not be on radio now, I'm on podcasting now and I really have
found love podcasting.
But it's a similar venue, it's a little bit different but it's similar in that we are getting
a message out.
And I'm also going to say that I would hate to see radio die, particularly Christian radio
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because we can't figure out a way to reformat it for modern society.
Whether we wind up with an internet radio station or broadcast stations across the country
or however you kind of want to put it, the message that we give matters.
And I think we need to remember that when it comes to something like this, that we should
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never just assume that because it's radio now it's not important.
But this is learning people into a certain state of understanding about our faith and it
needs to matter to us that it's not the faith or the way that we want the faith to be represented.
So yeah, maybe it's time for something different and maybe it's time for somebody to figure
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out how to do it.
I thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast today and a resource for you.
So I'm going to recommend my book with loving kindness, have I drawn the transforming evangelism
to discipleship.
That's with loving kindness, have I drawn the transforming evangelism to discipleship.
(30:24):
That particular version of the book is not going to be available much longer.
I have done an entire redo of it.
I'm very, very proud of the redo and it's going to be out in a few months.
So if you want the original because the original still stands, it's still solid and some people
prefer originals to reduce.
Go on Amazon.com or wherever books are so look me up, Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino and find your copy
(30:46):
of that book today or of any of my books that are available out there.
There's over 37 titles in total, something definitely for everyone go and get your copy
today.
Also, I recommend my pathos blog at patheos.com/blogs/leadershiponfire.
That's patheos.com/blogs/leadershiponfire.
(31:07):
That is a column devoted to all things related to leadership.
So if you're in leadership, interested in leadership, want to learn more about it, that is definitely
the column for you and you can sign up and you can follow me.
So definitely check that out at pathos.com today.
Also let's connect across social media @kingdompowernow.
(31:31):
That's @kingdompowernow.
I would love to hear from you.
And in saying that whether it's Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Blue Sky, WordPress
or beyond, that's @kingdompowernow.
Let's start that conversation and let's move along and let's have it so I can know what
you want to hear more of and how we can kind of continue on as we approach our seventh
(31:53):
season.
Also if you'd like to learn more about the world of counterculture, Christianity, feel
free to visit my website at kingdompowernow.org.
That's kingdompowernow.org.
And if you're interested in an entirely affordable seminary that you can do from home that is
donation based, check out apostolic covenant theological seminary that's acts for short at
acts176.org.
That's acts176.org.
(32:17):
And if you're in the Charlotte, North Carolina area and you are ready to launch into a true
community experience, that is growing.
We are growing and we are seeing incredible movements and incredible things that are going
on.
Check out sanctuary.
That's welcomeinthisplace.org.
That's welcomeinthisplace.org.
And if you have a question that is not answered on the site, feel free to reach out and we
(32:40):
will get back to you as soon as we can.
And in closing, this is Apostle Dr. Lee Ann Marino reminding you that the Christian representation
matters.
It's not just enough to say that there's a company out there that's Christian and that
will let them take care of the job of representing our faith.
We need to represent our faith for ourselves.
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And in saying that, let's be empowered believers who find a better way to get our message
out to the world.
Until next time, be blessed.
Thank you for joining us on the Kingdom Now podcast today.
I pray it is proven to be a blessing in your life.
(33:23):
To learn more about this work, ask a question, submit feedback, advertise with us,
be a guest, or donate to support this work.
As our podcast is sponsored by listeners like you, visit my website which contains essential
information, projects and looks for other points of contact around the web at kingdompowernow.org.
(33:48):
Also, if you are in our area and would like to visit Sanctuary International National Fellowship
Tabernacle, visit welcomeinthisplace.org.
Until next time, this is Apostle Dr. Lee Ann Marino reminding you that the Kingdom of
God is within you.
And that means the Kingdom is now.
(34:10):
[MUSIC]
Are you a writer who wants to become an author?
(00:06):
The righteous pen publications group is waiting for you with packages and options available
for every situation, including self and full publishing services and nine different
imprints, both religious and secular.
This company has the power to take your manuscript and turn it into the book you've always
(00:31):
wanted.
Visit their website at righteouspenpublications.com.
The righteous pen publications group, find your voice with us.
Welcome to Kingdom Now, the podcast featuring Faith with an Edge, as we celebrate the Kingdom
(00:53):
of God within you.
I am your host, Dr. Lee Ann Marino, apostle, author, podcaster, professor, and theologian,
and founder of Spitfire Apostolic Ministries and all the works that go along with it.
I am excited to share this program with you as we explore the ins and outs of Counterculture
(01:13):
Christianity Press as you live out the Kingdom of God in your everyday life.
And to learn more, visit my website at www.kingdompowernow.org.
And now, our program, which features a variety of formats here, just for you.
Interviews on a variety of relative topics, teaching and preaching proclaimed everywhere
(01:35):
from my North Carolina studio to Sanctuary and Beyond.
And powerful insights here for now as we turn the world upside down everywhere we go.
[Applause]
Well good morning, good afternoon, good evening, happy whatever time of day it is, wherever
(01:58):
you are.
And to our listeners, in Kenya, we say, "Habari."
We hope that whatever time of day when you are listening that you were having a good
one.
And I welcome you to this edition of the Kingdom Now podcast.
And I am your host, Apostle Dr. Lee Ann Marino here as the Spitfire serving as the voice of
Counterculture Christianity, where we feature the theme of faith with an edge.
(02:19):
And if you'd like to learn more about the world of Counterculture Christianity, feel free
to visit my website at www.kingdompowernow.org, which there will be some amazing new updates
very soon.
So we're answering the question today, what happened to Christian Radio?
When I started my day job for the federal government, I suddenly found myself listening
(02:39):
to a lot of radio, because I have to drive between locations, and sometimes it can be quite
a ways between places.
So that means I heard a lot of radio, especially in the beginning, now I have Spotify.
And as I scan the dial, I noticed a couple of things that made me curious to look further
(03:01):
into what I found.
For one, the majority of the stations I found were Christian, which I assumed to be because
I'm in the South.
But I learned after doing a little bit of research, that's not why this is.
And there weren't a lot of secular stations playing any sort of music, only a very small handful
next to these Christian stations.
(03:25):
The next issue was the Christian stations were all playing the same music.
I could scan from one station to the next, and they would be playing the same songs, sometimes
at the same time.
There was no variety present in the music.
It was as if the same station was duplicated a number of times over and over again on the
dial.
(03:47):
So I was curious what was going on, and I did some research.
It turns out I did notice something, and I wasn't wrong.
There are two types of Christian radio stations today, and one is rapidly dying out.
But why?
If you've noticed the same, you're not alone.
(04:08):
Something is definitely going on, and in this episode, we are going to talk about what
that it is.
When I was growing up, and this was back in the late 80s, early 90s, my mom listened to
Christian radio all the time.
Specifically, she listened to W.J.I.V., which was 101.9 FM on our dial, and it was a very
(04:31):
local station.
They had a few major big-name preachers, and most of them were preachers who would become
bigger later, such as Joyce Meyer.
Most of them were people from that era who kind of had a moderate following.
Maybe they had more of a following than a local pastor.
(04:53):
For example, Don Gossett was one who was on, and R.W. Schambach was one who was on, and Sid
Roth, I think that's where I first heard about Messianic Vision, and was on that radio station.
They weren't hugely big, and Joyce Meyer was certainly not the stature that she's become.
Most of them were kind of, you know, somewhere in the moderate range, and most of them were
(05:16):
older preachers.
I went and actually looked up that radio station for this broadcast to see what kind of programming
they have today.
And it still has a similar format to what it had earlier in time, but it's an example of
the first kind of radio station, particularly Christian radio station that we see today.
(05:37):
This station that I'm mentioning is owned by a small Christian broadcasting conglomerate
that also owns a few other stations in other states and is dedicated to maintaining a more
traditional ideal of Christian radio format, whether it's talk or teaching, most of the
live preachers they feature are no longer alive.
(05:59):
Or maybe more traditional sounding music that's not sung in most modern churches today.
Now obviously these stations do exist, even though they're few and far between, and they
are shrinking rapidly due to the second type of Christian radio station.
And they are a little different than they used to be in that in days gone by radio stations
(06:22):
used to be local enterprises, rather than big conglomerate extensions.
They would hire local people to introduce songs and read mail, engage with the people, engage
with the listeners, etc.
And with the conglomerate agencies taking over, that's often no longer the case.
But it's the second type of station that has changed the way everyone is handling Christian
(06:44):
radio today, and it's extremely important.
And the answer lies in three little letters, EMF.
EMF stands for Educational Media Foundation.
This is the nonprofit organization that owns K-Love, WTA Media, Access More, and Air1
(07:06):
across the country.
They own more than 1,000 radio signals in all 50 states, American Samoa, Puerto Rico,
and the District of Columbia.
They are one of the top 10 US audio streaming companies.
WTA Media focuses on faith-based films and publishing.
(07:26):
Access More is a podcast network, and K-Love on demand is a free streaming platform, offering
live concerts, original programming, and other content.
But what they are best known for are K-Love and Air One, which if you listen at all to the
radio these days, it seems to be all that's available.
(07:49):
So K-Love focuses on Christian Adult Contemporary Radio Programming, meaning they're looking
at and playing what's top on the Christian Adult Contemporary Charts.
We could say it's kind of a niche medium.
It's not necessarily really a genre that's very, very popular among the general populous,
and it's worth noting that these overlap often with Air1, which Air One is Christian
(08:15):
Worship Music featuring songs popular in contemporary Christian worship services.
Their broadcasts are samo-cast, meaning what you're hearing is from one central location,
not multiple.
There's no local DJs or local staff that are part of building the station up.
They operate as non-commercial educational radio stations, meaning they don't accept
(08:40):
on-air advertisements.
Funding for the stations comes from listener support, mostly from pledge drives in the spring
and fall.
On the surface, they appear to just be a Christian organization playing Christian music.
But behind the scenes, there is a decidedly conservative agenda.
(09:02):
So basically how these stations work is by changing and shaping the way Christians in
particular approach their everyday lives.
And it's another way that Christians are finding themselves as part of a subculture, rather
than a general incorporation into society.
There are no hard questions, there's no confrontation with spiritual issues or spiritual depth,
(09:26):
there's no representation of other people, or those who maybe don't live by the surface
deep level Christianity, many of these stations espouse.
There's nothing but an encompassed life that encapsulates believers to stay exactly wherever
they are.
And someone might say, "Well, who cares, why does this matter?"
Well, there's a lot of reasons why we should care.
(09:47):
And in an article by Rolling Stone magazine titled, "Why is the radio full of Christian
rock thank this nonprofit by Katie Thornton, which I definitely recommend reading, it outlines
the situation and very clearly what's going on?"
In addition to not featuring gospel or specifically black artists with the exception of Maverick
(10:10):
City music, who didn't really make their mark there easily, and anyone who is not straight
or somebody who might be artistically divergent, it's also the story of the demise of
local radio stations.
Someone might say, "Well, why are local radio stations important?"
(10:32):
They were long time sources for new music, artists who maybe didn't have the chance to break
it big on their own, local music scenes and even the forms of local political dialogue,
bringing daily commentary into the hands of local hosts and listeners on a regular basis.
So we could argue that radio was a very much community extension.
(10:55):
And what this huge conglomerate does, even though it's non-profit, it acts much like a for-profit
corporation.
They come in and offer various community and conglomerate radio stations, smaller conglomerates,
a huge sum of money.
In one instance, they paid 21.5 million for the signal.
(11:17):
They wipe out the local presence, including all those local jobs of hosts, people who run
the station, etc., and then they replace them with their transmitters, having their stations
therefore hurt across the country with almost no overhead.
And every ten days, they come together again to continue plotting how to grow further, looking
(11:39):
for stations that might be vulnerable for a buyout.
Their finances are also another matter altogether.
According to the article I mentioned earlier found in Rolling Stone, EMF had about a billion
dollars in net assets in 2022, with their former CEO Bill Reeves making over $770,000 per
(12:02):
year.
This is in contrast with NPR's net assets of less than 150 million.
97 cents of every dollar for EMF come from listener donations.
So maybe you've never heard of EMF and maybe you're wondering where the hell do these people
come from?
(12:22):
So let's talk a little bit about their history.
So in 1978, a man named Anthony Fogel was a DJ at a top 40 San Francisco Rock Station,
and he recently converted to Christianity and like many people when they're kind of in
that position he started to feel unfulfilled.
(12:43):
And his answer was to figure out a Christian radio station that could be much like the secular
station he worked for.
In an era where Christian radio was very much a fringe movement.
Most of the time at that particular point in history, if you were listening to something
that was a Christian radio station, it had mostly preachers and teachers on it.
(13:06):
And some stations used to do it.
It used to be that from maybe 6 a.m. to noon on Sundays, time was usually reserved.
It was usually either free or it was inexpensive.
It was really, really hard to get.
And that was the kind of programming that purchase that had an investment in the community
(13:30):
and they put them on air.
They would put excerpts from their sermons and their services on air for local people to
hear.
So two years later, Anthony set out to create the Educational Media Foundation, boring
name, right, with a whole lot of weight behind it, running ads in the local paper to generate
(13:50):
interest in support.
And by 1982, the organization had enough money to buy an FM radio station, by which they
started soliciting donations and asking listeners to pray for the ability to purchase more frequencies.
An answer pop radio DJ Dick Jenkins, who became the general manager in 1986.
(14:14):
Their main station was rebranded as positive and encouraging K-Love, and that is still
used to this very day.
And stations across California rebranded as K-Love, and then the movement started to spread
across the country.
And their identical stations grew throughout the 80s and 90s.
(14:36):
So then the company incorporated as a nonprofit entity, which keeps them from having to
bake corporate business tax and allows donations from listeners and access to the lower FM band.
Now what we're referring to with that is the FCC has traditionally reserved on your dial
from 88.1 to 91.9 for non-commercial educational stations only.
(15:05):
So this outfit being classified as such an entity has given them the option to eat up all
those stations, edging out other agencies that are actually educational in nature.
And while stations try to buy back frequencies or try to fight EMFs infiltration, they often
(15:25):
find themselves unable to do much.
So this company is benefiting from rules implemented to help smaller nonprofit agencies, even though
it's become a total financial giant.
By the early 2000s, they'd continue expanding and they had over 50 radio stations and 25
million dollars in donations.
(15:50):
In 2003, the FCC started setting aside a week for radio organizations to apply for radio
translators.
Translators are small repeat stations that broadcast a parent station in an area where an
original signal can't reach.
They're cheap and they're easily available for public radio stations, colleges and community
(16:14):
or religious broadcasters.
And starting in 2003 EMF, which is the major filer of translators in the United States, started
applying for over 900 in a year and were approved for over 250.
By 2006, they'd quadrupled their assets and by the end of the year they were the world's
(16:37):
largest broadcaster of contemporary Christian music.
They're also known to use technology that limits local broadcasters in their coverage, keeping
competing new stations from coming on the air.
And by burying agencies in paperwork and hoarding signals, they are preventing others from their
(16:58):
access to media.
So as far as the specific sound goes because they definitely do have a sound, how does someone
get a song on one of these radio stations?
Well considering what we spoke of earlier, that there aren't any local radio stations anymore,
how does anyone even get noticed?
(17:20):
You know, one of the major theories about the internet originally was, oh, it's really,
really easy to get noticed.
It's really, really easy to get a lot of attention.
But the problem is that there are so many other people out there, things easily get buried
and sounds get buried and songs get buried and perfectly good bands get buried because
there's so much competition, you have to rise to a certain level to get past some of
(17:43):
it.
So the general guidelines are Christian songs for these stations can't be too heavy.
They need to be the right number of beats per minute, not too fast and not too slow.
And the more references to Jesus or him referring to Jesus, God and Father are all a part of
(18:03):
the thing.
Courses must be repetitive so everyone can sing along by the second time around.
The guitar reverb must also be on point, all creating what we might classify as a singular
sound of Christian music.
And if we are to be honest, they very much change the sound of music to one particular
(18:24):
method.
One sound that sounds like everything else without a whole lot of variety.
Now I'm not condemning Christian music because there's a lot of artists that follow and
this isn't to say their music is bad, but it is to say that what this station is doing
to music overall isn't good either.
(18:46):
This one singular company is determining the careers of up and coming artists, not considering
quality or differences in sound or musical variety.
The sound as we call it is what we might call the sound of the mega church.
And it's for people who frequent or engage with such places, those who want something that
(19:10):
doesn't challenge their comfortable borders.
A place where they don't have to hear about Black Lives Matter or police abuses or a huge
portion of the civilian workforce being laid off because of Elon Musk.
It's part of the world that's become contemporary Christian music.
It aims not to be overly theological or deep, and being constantly available on the radio
(19:35):
draws listeners into the bigger picture of evangelical Christianity and what can sometimes
be behind it.
Now as someone who is a Christian and who doesn't feel there's anything wrong with evangelism,
I do think some methods leave much to be desired, and I might say that maybe my major issue
with what this corporation is doing is shady.
(19:58):
It looks like one thing, but they are actually moving for something else, and that's not right.
What is behind this that's problematic across the board rates an answer?
For example, the station refuses to promote queer Christian artists.
Now someone might argue they have the right to promote whoever they want or not promote
(20:19):
whoever they want, but by edging out every single competitor they aren't leaving room for
artists they might disagree with about something or might not like or might not play their
style or may not engage with whatever.
And they're not letting them find their own platform or avenue by which to expand, which
(20:40):
to me that sounds like a bit of an agenda when you're just cutting everybody out.
Even singles that chart on iTunes or Spotify won't get on their radar if the artist is queer
no matter how perfect it might be for K-Love.
Others question the 'cause she lifestyles and fundraising practices of those within
the organization.
(21:01):
For example, the article mentioned a time when a caller who was low on funds gave to K-Love
rather than paying a bill.
Or that they ask for $40 a month to keep K-Love on air in the area when that's not what
the money is used for.
It's used to buy new stations and to put K-Love in other areas because K-Love isn't even
(21:22):
technically on air anywhere locally.
They also have a cruise you can take for the starting fee of $1,148 per person.
The company went through a huge boom during the COVID-19 pandemic because there was a huge
advertising decline in commercial radio stations.
(21:45):
As a result, they bought out stations all over the country, including Memphis, Buffalo and
Atlantic City.
So they are finding the money means and expenditures to keep growing, even as smaller stations and
artists aren't finding venues to continue or grow.
And they continue to find loopholes.
(22:07):
The FCC has laws which state it's illegal for anyone company to own more than 5 a.m. or
5 FM stations in a city.
But the law doesn't apply to nonprofits, which means the EMF is getting around the law.
There are some activists out there trying to fight the loop hole.
But the FCC is now more concerned about digital access and digital privacy.
(22:34):
And we raise the issue that they don't play black artists as a rule or artists of color in
any semblance.
There isn't a whole lot of diversity in the songs or the languages of the songs.
So for example, they don't play songs that are in Spanish, not to mention an entire world
where they're finding all these different loopholes.
(22:56):
Despite these facts, radio is still heard by more than 4 out of 5 daily.
So there is something to be said for the influence of EMF through these radio stations.
And I think the question we as Christians should ask is this the only example or idea of
Christianity that we want to present to the world?
(23:17):
As I said earlier, I'm not saying God can't speak to someone through these stations or their
messages.
But I do believe Christianity needs more representation than just one mass agency duplicated several times
over.
So how should Christianity be represented in the media?
I know what I'm going to say is the little outdated, but I believe when it comes to media that
(23:40):
we should have a variety of representations within media because that presents a few things.
And let me also say, I've been broadcasting on the internet since it was new.
I have been involved in radio.
I have been involved in television.
I've been doing all these different things which is very, very important, very much reflects
(24:01):
the values that I have as a result of why I feel the way that I do.
I'm not just coming at this with Christian media from left field.
I've had a lot of experience in Christian media over the years.
So the first thing I would say is I feel we need a more balanced view of Christian belief
and understanding because it's not all vapid with no meaning.
(24:22):
There's a lot of depth present in the Christian life and in Christian belief, but we often
don't see representations of that because as Minister Charlie Reep who's been a frequent
guest on this podcast over at beloved-not-broken.com has said, we often see
Christian groups cater to what we might consider the lowest common denominator, meaning they cater
(24:44):
to groups that aren't looking to grow or who aren't really looking to invest much in their
Christian life, we might consider it as Christians who desire to kind of get by.
But there are plenty of people in this world who are Christians and don't want to live
their life of faith in that manner.
There are lots of Christians who want more of God, not just more benefits.
(25:08):
Some of us love the glory of God and long to see it and experience it be long just knowing
God is around and making Himself manifest.
At some point in every Christian walk, we must confront the reality that God is an insecure
and He isn't going to constantly prove Himself to us by giving us what we feel we want all
(25:28):
the time.
And just because we don't get what we want doesn't mean there's something wrong with our faith
either.
Sometimes we just don't get what we want because we don't get what we want and that's
the beginning and the ending of the whole thing.
So I think we need songs that reflect this expanse of Christian understanding.
We need songs that are energetic and simple.
(25:50):
We need ones that are deeper and more complex, especially that express a range of different
experiences with and emotions with and toward God.
Songs that declare our intent and purpose before God and songs that exalt God for all He is
without it all being about us and what we're doing.
We really do need it all.
(26:12):
We need praise, we need worship and we need a sense of the way the two sometimes are separate
but also overlap.
I also feel we need more than just music on Christian radio stations.
I think preaching, teaching and discussion are also very vital to the Christian representation
as our sharing elements of Christian worship services.
(26:36):
Some mix of spoken and music are a long held method in Christian radio and I don't think
it's necessarily that format that needs changing but maybe some of the content.
Why not add things like spoken word or podcasts or call in programs?
Why not diversify and allow others to share and experience the programming offered?
(27:01):
And maybe there's even more to consider.
We shouldn't feel like everything we do is some sort of carbon copy method of something
else.
I also feel we shouldn't assume our listeners and fans aren't serious about their faith
or our mediocre somewhere along the way.
(27:24):
We also shouldn't necessarily assume everyone is at an elementary level in their faith and
offer diversity in content style and sound.
It's also make sure diversity is part of our lineup.
Why not throw gospel and contemporary together?
Why not feature LGBTQ artists and discuss queer faith across a platform?
(27:47):
Why not diversify style and sound across cultures and represent everything from gospel to contemporary
to modern songs that display a wide variety of faith experiences?
Why not throw some things in that are in a language other than English every now and then?
Why not assume that your listeners want to hear more rather than less?
(28:11):
And yes, this obviously demands a little more of content creators for radio programming.
But isn't that what so much of this is supposed to be about?
Radio played a very, very important part in my own life.
In fact, when I was a kid and I kind of got past the fairy princess stage and the wanting to
(28:35):
be a stand-up comedian phase and I started to really think about life and career I wanted
to be on radio.
And I came up in an era where AM radio was kind of hot at the time, particularly political
commentary.
And in saying all that, radio has always really been a key part of my life.
(28:58):
And I've often said that I may not be on radio now, I'm on podcasting now and I really have
found love podcasting.
But it's a similar venue, it's a little bit different but it's similar in that we are getting
a message out.
And I'm also going to say that I would hate to see radio die, particularly Christian radio
(29:20):
because we can't figure out a way to reformat it for modern society.
Whether we wind up with an internet radio station or broadcast stations across the country
or however you kind of want to put it, the message that we give matters.
And I think we need to remember that when it comes to something like this, that we should
(29:42):
never just assume that because it's radio now it's not important.
But this is learning people into a certain state of understanding about our faith and it
needs to matter to us that it's not the faith or the way that we want the faith to be represented.
So yeah, maybe it's time for something different and maybe it's time for somebody to figure
(30:04):
out how to do it.
I thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast today and a resource for you.
So I'm going to recommend my book with loving kindness, have I drawn the transforming evangelism
to discipleship.
That's with loving kindness, have I drawn the transforming evangelism to discipleship.
(30:24):
That particular version of the book is not going to be available much longer.
I have done an entire redo of it.
I'm very, very proud of the redo and it's going to be out in a few months.
So if you want the original because the original still stands, it's still solid and some people
prefer originals to reduce.
Go on Amazon.com or wherever books are so look me up, Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino and find your copy
(30:46):
of that book today or of any of my books that are available out there.
There's over 37 titles in total, something definitely for everyone go and get your copy
today.
Also, I recommend my pathos blog at patheos.com/blogs/leadershiponfire.
That's patheos.com/blogs/leadershiponfire.
(31:07):
That is a column devoted to all things related to leadership.
So if you're in leadership, interested in leadership, want to learn more about it, that is definitely
the column for you and you can sign up and you can follow me.
So definitely check that out at pathos.com today.
Also let's connect across social media @kingdompowernow.
(31:31):
That's @kingdompowernow.
I would love to hear from you.
And in saying that whether it's Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Blue Sky, WordPress
or beyond, that's @kingdompowernow.
Let's start that conversation and let's move along and let's have it so I can know what
you want to hear more of and how we can kind of continue on as we approach our seventh
(31:53):
season.
Also if you'd like to learn more about the world of counterculture, Christianity, feel
free to visit my website at kingdompowernow.org.
That's kingdompowernow.org.
And if you're interested in an entirely affordable seminary that you can do from home that is
donation based, check out apostolic covenant theological seminary that's acts for short at
acts176.org.
That's acts176.org.
(32:17):
And if you're in the Charlotte, North Carolina area and you are ready to launch into a true
community experience, that is growing.
We are growing and we are seeing incredible movements and incredible things that are going
on.
Check out sanctuary.
That's welcomeinthisplace.org.
That's welcomeinthisplace.org.
And if you have a question that is not answered on the site, feel free to reach out and we
(32:40):
will get back to you as soon as we can.
And in closing, this is Apostle Dr. Lee Ann Marino reminding you that the Christian representation
matters.
It's not just enough to say that there's a company out there that's Christian and that
will let them take care of the job of representing our faith.
We need to represent our faith for ourselves.
(33:02):
And in saying that, let's be empowered believers who find a better way to get our message
out to the world.
Until next time, be blessed.
Thank you for joining us on the Kingdom Now podcast today.
I pray it is proven to be a blessing in your life.
(33:23):
To learn more about this work, ask a question, submit feedback, advertise with us,
be a guest, or donate to support this work.
As our podcast is sponsored by listeners like you, visit my website which contains essential
information, projects and looks for other points of contact around the web at kingdompowernow.org.
(33:48):
Also, if you are in our area and would like to visit Sanctuary International National Fellowship
Tabernacle, visit welcomeinthisplace.org.
Until next time, this is Apostle Dr. Lee Ann Marino reminding you that the Kingdom of
God is within you.
And that means the Kingdom is now.
(34:10):
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