KFUO Sale Draws Three Petitions To Deny

Sale Being Contested

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH columnist SARAH BRYAN MILLER reports that "at least" three groups have filed petitions with the FCC to deny the sale of Classical KFUO/ST. LOUIS by LUTHERAN CHURCH-MISSOURI SYNOD to Christian station operator GATEWAY CREATIVE BROADCASTING, which plans to flip the station's format to Contemporary Christian.

Among the petitions are filings by the "COMMITTEE TO SAVE KFUO-FM," a group of members of the synod; the RADIO ARTS FOUNDATION, a new entity formed by the former RADIO ARTS BOARD, which tried to buy the station itself to preserve the Classical format; and a group called "CITIZENS OF METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS AND CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." The former two petitions question GATEWAY's financial qualifications and procedural issues.

The $18 million sale of KFUO has been controversial, with claims that the church, through OMAHA politician/lawyer, board member and spokesman KERMIT BRASHEAR, resisted plans to sell the station to either another Lutheran organization or a citizens group dedicated to saving the station's Classical format. The FCC does not reject station sales on grounds of format changes.

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