The onetime home of live, local music and dozens of expertly curated radio shows hosted by St. Louisans will become the latest acquisition by a national chain of Christian music stations.
The leaders of KDHX 88.1 FM said in a Tuesday announcement they plan to sell the nonprofit community radio station’s FCC license and broadcast tower to K-LOVE, the second-largest national chain of radio stations playing contemporary Christian music. It is owned by the nonprofit Christian ministry Educational Media Foundation.
“This is devastating to to all of us who have put so much effort into this station over the years, and devastating to the entire St Louis music and arts community,” said Steve Pick, a former KDHX DJ who was on his way Tuesday evening to a strategy session with other members of the activist group LOVE of KDHX. “It's just unbelievable that something like this could happen despite all of the efforts that we made to try to get them to speak with us and work with us to make this not happen.”
K-LOVE stations play syndicated content and do not typically have local DJs, though the network produces reports on faith-based activities in its broadcast markets. Users can search for local churches on K-LOVE’s website.
KDHX leaders did not disclose the sale price but suggested it was at least $500,000 — the sale will save the station $500,000 in repairs that it can now redirect to “other projects,” the announcement states. The station’s lawyer said in court last month that KDHX had less than $7,000 in cash.
KDHX leaders did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their sale of the station’s broadcast license.
Board President Gary Pierson has not made himself, Executive Director Kelly Wells or any other station representative available to St. Louis Public Radio for an interview since October 2023.
Pierson and the KDHX board have communicated since then almost wholly through written statements distributed by a Brentwood public relations firm, even while presiding over the bankruptcy and planned sale of a nonprofit community asset that its supporters see as a vital piece of cultural life in the region. In the process, AHC Consulting became the financially imperilled station’s second-biggest creditor.
LOVE of KDHX recently offered KDHX $100,000 in donations and promised to collect another $100,000 in pledges — if the station would agree to change its leadership. The board of Double Helix Corp., the nonprofit that controls KDHX, declined to discuss the proposal or seek changes before rejecting it last month.
KDHX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization earlier this month and made K-LOVE its debtor-in-possession lender, a status that made the Christian radio chain KDHX’s chief creditor and put it in line to effect a takeover of KDHX’s broadcast license. U.S. Bankruptcy Court needs to approve any sale.
Court filings show that KDHX enters bankruptcy with at least $1 million in financial liabilities. Its largest outstanding debt is a $120,000 construction loan to former board member Mark Hamlin. Six of the largest creditors are staff members, including Wells, who is owed $73,381.
Station supporters are looking for ways to hold up the sale in court, Pick said.
KDHX was founded in 1987.
