KFSG (Los Angeles)

Last updated

KFSG was a Los Angeles AM radio station, founded in 1924. The station was non-commercial, and programming was primarily religious. It was deleted in July 1961, in order to allow its timeshare partner, KRKD, to expand to fulltime operation.

Contents

History

The station was originally located at the Angelus Temple, with the transmitting antenna strung between two towers constructed atop the building. KFSG Los Angeles (1925).jpg
The station was originally located at the Angelus Temple, with the transmitting antenna strung between two towers constructed atop the building.

KFSG was first licensed in January 1924 to the Echo Park Evangelistic Association at 1100 Glendale Blvd., for 500 watts at 1080 kHz. [2] The call letters were derived from "Four Square Gospel", and the person responsible for its establishment was evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson.

The station cost $25,000 to build, and featured a state-of-the-art 500 watt Western Electric transmitter. The transmitting antenna was strung between twin towers constructed on the roof of McPherson's Angelus Temple. A glass enclosed operating room, and Gray Room studio, were located beneath the towers on the building's top floor. [1] KFSG made its debut broadcast on February 6. [3]

In early 1925, KFSG was reassigned to 1090 kHz. [4] This was changed to 1190 kHz in early 1928. [5] With the November 11, 1928 implementation of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, it was assigned to 1120 kHz, sharing this frequency with KMIC in Inglewood. [6]

A 1931 review listed one of its slogans as the "Glory Station of the Pacific Coast", with a 41-hour weekly schedule. [7] In March 1941, the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement moved KFSG and its timesharing partner, now KRKD, to 1150 kHz. [8] After McPherson's death in 1944, Dr. Harld Wesley Jeffries was placed in charge of the radio station. [9]

In early 1961, ownership of KRKD was transferred to the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. [10] KFSG was deleted in July 1961, in order to allow fulltime operation by KRKD. [11]

"Minions of Satan" telegram

Radio in the United States was regulated by the Department of Commerce from 1912 until the formation of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927. Herbert Hoover was the Commerce secretary from 1921 until 1928. In a section of his memoirs, published in 1952, he recounted an anecdote about a telegram which was said to have been sent by McPherson, which was quoted as saying "Please order your minions of Satan to leave my station alone. You cannot expect the Almighty to abide by your wavelength nonsense. When I offer my prayers to Him I must fit into His wave reception. Open this station at once." [12]

However, the accuracy of this account has been questioned. Hoover's review does not include a copy of the telegram, and is undated. It states that McPherson's "small" station had a long history of operating outside of its assigned frequency, and the telegram was in response to the station being shut down by the local inspector. However, extensive research by Jim Hilliker was unable to verify any of Hoover's details, including no evidence that KFSG had ever operated outside of its assigned frequency, or had ever been shut down. [13]

Related Research Articles

WTVN – branded as "News Radio 610 WTVN" – is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Columbus, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the Columbus metro area. The WTVN studios area located in the McKinley Avenue Corridor northwest of Downtown Columbus, and its transmitter site is near Obetz. In addition to a standard analog transmission, the station simulcasts over the HD digital subchannel of co-owned 93.3 WODC, and streams online via iHeartRadio. WTVN began broadcasting in HD Radio in June 2005, but the in-band on-channel subcarrier was discontinued by 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFIL</span> Christian radio station in Philadelphia

WFIL is a radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a Christian radio format consisting of teaching and talk programs. Owned by Salem Media Group, studios and transmitter facilities are shared with co-owned WNTP in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXOL-FM</span> Spanish-language radio station in Los Angeles

KXOL-FM is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by the Spanish Broadcasting System and airs a Spanish CHR radio format. KXOL-FM's studios and offices are on West Pico Boulevard. The transmitter is located in the Verdugo Mountains, near Glendale, California. KXOL-FM is also heard on a 14-watt booster station in Santa Clarita, KXOL-FM-1 at 96.3 MHz.

WWL is an AM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by Audacy, Inc. WWL and 105.3 WWL-FM simulcast a news/talk format with sports talk at night. The studios are in the 400 Poydras Tower in the New Orleans Central Business District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTIC (AM)</span> Radio station in Connecticut, United States

WTIC is a commercial AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It airs a news/talk format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios and offices are on Executive Drive in Farmington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KQNT</span> Radio station in Spokane, Washington

KQNT is a commercial radio station licensed to Spokane, Washington. It is one of the oldest radio stations in Washington, going on the air in 1922 in Seattle. KQNT offers a news/talk format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on East Sprague Street in Spokane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelus Temple</span> Church in Los Angeles, United States

Angelus Temple is a Pentecostal megachurch in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923, it is considered the first U.S. megachurch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WILL (AM)</span> Radio station in Urbana, Illinois

WILL is a public broadcasting station owned by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States. It is operated by Illinois Public Media, with studios located at Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication on the university campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPRO (AM)</span> Radio station in Providence, Rhode Island

WPRO is a commercial AM radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. It is owned by Cumulus Media, broadcasting a news/talk radio format, which is simulcast in the Newport area on co-owned 99.7 WEAN-FM. The studios for WPRO and other Cumulus Providence stations are on Wampanoag Road in East Providence, at the Salty Brine Broadcast Center, named after WPRO's longtime morning host.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KGNC (AM)</span> Radio station in Amarillo, Texas

KGNC is an AM radio broadcast station in Amarillo, Texas, United States with a news/talk format. The station is owned by Alpha Media LLC. Studios for KGNC and its partners are located in southwest Amarillo near the former Western Plaza shopping center. KGNC's programming is also broadcast on 97.5 FM by translator K248DE in Amarillo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSAI</span> Radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio

WSAI is a radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, its studios, as well as those of iHeartMedia's other Cincinnati stations, are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwood section of Sycamore Township, and its transmitter site is in Mount Healthy.

WHAZ is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Troy, New York, and serving New York's Capital District. The station is locally owned by the Capital Media Corporation and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. National religious leaders heard on WHAZ include Jim Daly, Charles Stanley, Joyce Meyer, Chuck Swindoll and David Jeremiah.

WSBT is a commercial radio station in South Bend, Indiana, which airs a sports radio format. It is owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting, with studios and offices on East Monroe Street in downtown South Bend.

KYVL was a radio station licensed to Medford, Oregon, United States, and serving the Medford-Ashland area. The station was owned by Bicoastal Media. It was established in 1926 as the original home of KMED, whose programming moved to 106.3 FM in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDRC (AM)</span> News/talk radio station in Hartford, Connecticut

WDRC is a commercial AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It is owned by Full Power Radio and airs a conservative talk radio format. The studios and transmitter site are located on Blue Hill Avenue in Bloomfield, Connecticut, with other radio stations.

WJAZ was the call sign used from 1922 to 1931 by a series of four separate, but closely related, broadcasting stations located in Chicago, Illinois and operated by the Chicago Radio Laboratory/Zenith Radio Corporations.

KZM was an early radio broadcasting station, initially licensed to Preston D. Allen in Oakland, California. It was issued its first license in December 1921, moved to nearby Hayward, California in 1928, and was deleted in mid-1931.

KFKX was an AM radio station, first licensed in 1923 to the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company for operation in Hastings, Nebraska. It was initially used to test the practicality of linking together a national radio network using shortwave transmissions. This approach proved to be inferior to networking using specially prepared telephone lines, and the shortwave project was terminated in late 1926.

WLWL was a noncommercial radio station in New York City. It was operated by the Paulist Fathers, with its main goal being "the spread of Catholic truth and culture". WLWL began broadcasting in September 1925, and was sold in 1937, becoming WBIL. WBIL in turn was deleted in 1939, as part of a consolidation that resulted in an upgrade for station WOV.

KUSD was a non-commercial educational radio station in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, licensed to the University of South Dakota (USD) from 1922 until 1992. It was deleted two years later after the university decided not to replace a transmission tower that had fallen and shuttered the station. At the time of its deletion, KUSD was the oldest broadcasting station in the state of South Dakota; it was the predecessor to the present radio service of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

References

  1. 1 2 "Angelus Temple is Unique Among Broadcasters" by Dr. Ralph L. Power, Radio In The Home, January 1925, pages 24-25, 44.
  2. ↑ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, February 1, 1924, page 3.
  3. ↑ "Angelus Station Is Ready", Los Angeles Daily Times, February 5, 1925, Part II, page 16.
  4. ↑ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, May 1, 1925, page 8.
  5. ↑ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, February 29, 1928, page 6.
  6. ↑ "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time", Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928 to September 30, 1928, page 205.
  7. ↑ "Sister McPherson Broadcasting Salvation" by Edith M. Borkgren, Radio Doings, June 1931, pages 24-25, 45.
  8. ↑ "Arrangement between the United States of America, Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico, comprising recommendations of the North American Regional Radio-Engineering Meeting (supplemental to North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement", page 1429.
  9. ↑ "3 Co-Pastors Succeed Aimee", San Pedro News Pilot, October 30, 1944, page 3.
  10. ↑ "FCC History Cards for KEIB" (image #30)
  11. ↑ "For the Record: Actions of July 13 ", Broadcasting, July 24, 1961, page 83.
  12. ↑ McPherson telegram anecdote, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover (volume 2): The Cabinet and the Presidency 1920-1933, 1952, pages 142-143.
  13. ↑ "Time to Debunk a Myth From Radio's Infancy About Aimee Semple McPherson's 'Minions of Satan' Telegram to Hoover" by Jim Hilliker, June 25, 2012 (radioworld.com)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.