A public corporation, the Double Helix Foundation, was looking for a spot on the St. Louis FM dial to start a community radio station. Double Helix tried to work out a cooperative arrangement with the Clayton School District to share 88.1 FM, but the school district was unwilling to accept a frequency-sharing proposal. Eventually, Double Helix sued in federal court, resulting in a decision that broadcast stations had to "use it or lose it" with regard to frequencies. Stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission are required to broadcast a minimum number of hours each week. After that decision, the FCC revoked KHRU's license and awarded the frequency to Double Helix Corporation.
From that point, KDHX began broadcasting most hours of the day with non-commercial programs. A variety of musical genres and talk shows aired. Most of the staff were volunteers.
Decline, bankruptcy
In 2014, the station fell behind on payroll taxes due to expenses amassed from the construction of its new studios. In 2015, executive director Beverly Hacker was dismissed, and half of KDHX's board resigned. Hacker was replaced by station employee Kelly Wells. [4] By 2018, the station had amassed at least $2.3 million in debt. [5] In July 2019, Wells faced allegations of sexual harassment and of the mistreatment of African-American employees. [5] Station veterans also criticized her "top-down" management, a lack of input in its operations, and a large amount of staff turnover. [6] [7]
In February 2023, KDHX released several volunteer DJs, including long-time host Tom "Papa" Ray; he told the Riverfront Times that he had come into conflicts with management, stemming initially from the station's decision to not acknowledge the death of veteran personality John McHenry, and other issues such as its non-participation in the Music at the Intersection festival. Ray described the current management as being "180 degrees opposite of the intentions, desires and profile that the founders of this radio station wanted". [6] [4]
In September 2023, ten more DJs were controversially dismissed by the station, while two more resigned in solidarity. Wells publicly stated that most of the dismissals were of DJs who had objected to moves by KDHX to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in response to the prior harassment allegations. Some of the dismissed DJs accused KDHX of removing them for raising concerns regarding the station's management. This decision resulted in protests by other volunteers, associate members, and listeners, with many longtime donors withdrawing their financial support to the station. [8] [6]
In February 2024, over 450 local and national musicians signed a letter demanding the resignation of station leadership, citing that KDHX had "divorc[ed] itself from the St. Louis community" with its "poor management decisions". [9] [10] At that time, KDHX had lost nearly a third of its donors. [11] The 990 tax filing for the 2023 tax year stated that donations were $808,378, down from $1,314,351 brought in before the allegations against Wells began. [12] Following the legal agreement that seated two new board members, both were suspended during their first board meeting. A lawsuit was filed against the remaining members of the board for "gross abuses of authority". [13]
In December 2024, Double Helix reached an agreement to sell KDHX to Gateway Creative Broadcasting (owner of contemporary Christian music station KLJY) for $5.2 million. [14] On January 31, 2025, Double Helix Corporation dismissed all volunteer staff and ceased live broadcasts on KDHX, stating that the station would carry "previously recorded programming". Board president Gary Pierson attributed the cuts to "recent disparagement campaigns and senseless lawsuits" that have "severely impacted fundraising". [15]
Double Helix filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 10, 2025, revealing that KDHX only had about $7,000 in cash remaining. [16] [17] Due to expired insurance, employees could not enter KDHX's studios. [18] Double Helix requested the naming of K-Love Inc. (a subsidiary of the Educational Media Foundation (EMF)) as a debtor-in-possession creditor and negotiated a $400,000 loan. [19] [14]
On March 25, despite the previous Gateway deal, [14] the board of directors approved an agreement to sell KDHX's broadcast assets to EMF for $4.35 million, which would likely result in the station joining its K-Love Christian radio network. At the time, KDHX planned to continue operations on internet radio once the sale closed. St. Louis is one of the few markets where EMF does not currently have a station, with Radio Insight noting that the organization no longer avoided entering markets that already had established Christian music stations (in this case, KLJY). Double Helix stated that the sale would result in a cost savings of $500,000 in maintenance expenses. Double Helix declined an offer by the supporter group League of Volunteer Enthusiasts of KDHX (LOVE of KDHX), which consists of DJs and other staff who had been laid off by Double Helix, [14] to contribute $100,000 in funding to the station. [20] [18] [21]
On April 5, the station briefly carried K-Love programming. [22] On April 15, reports noted that Gateway made a $5.5 million counter-offer, and requested that the bankruptcy court launch a bidding process for the station. [19] On May 15, the bankruptcy court authorized an auction of the station and its assets for May 30. [14] Gateway won the auction with a bid of $8.75 million. LOVE of KDHX announced its intent to file an opposition to the sale. [23]
Near the beginning of September 2025, the KDHX signal went dark, both over-the-air and online. [24]
On October 1, the call letters of 88.1 FM were changed to KLJT (similar to future sister station KLJY), a sign that the sale of the station to Gateway was nearing completion. [25] On the same day, Double Helix posted a message on the homepage of the KDHX website that "KDHX, a program of Double Helix, has ceased operations". [26] KDHX's website now serves only as an archive of its history. It is possible that KDHX could resume broadcasting in the future on an HD Radio feed after the sale to Gateway Creative closes if Gateway upgraded 88.1 FM to allow for HD Radio broadcasts. However, KDHX and Double Helix currently have no specific plans to resume broadcasting on HD Radio. [27] [28]
Former DJs of KDHX formed a group called "Love of Community Radio STL" in the hopes of launching a new online community-based radio service for St. Louis. [24]
On October 2, 88.1 resumed broadcasting as a simulcast of KXBS-HD2's "Jams: The Rhythm of St. Louis", a Rhythmic AC format, which is a stunt until a new permanent station is launched once the sale of the station closes. [29] [28]
Due to limited services of the FCC as a result of the October 2025 U.S. government shutdown, it is unclear when the sale of 88.1 may close and when the new ownership group may launch a new permanent format.
