K297BI (107.3 MHz) (Classic 107.3) is an FM radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, branded as "Classic 107.3" and owned and operated by the nonprofit Radio Arts Foundation–St. Louis. The station's studios are located in Clayton, Missouri.[1]
RAF STL logo used until rebranding to Classic 107.3
KFUO-FM 99.1, which had broadcast classical music to St. Louis since 1948, was owned by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and became available for sale in 2009.[3] In the name of the Radio Arts Foundation, Jim Connett, program director at KFUO,[4] and Michael Neidorff, CEO of the Centene Corporation, made a purchase proposal for KFUO that was rejected by the synod board member and paid negotiator Kermit Brashear.[3] The foundation immediately began plans for a new classical station, even before the Classic 99 format ceased analog operations and became available by webstream only.[3][4]
KFUO was sold to Gateway Creative Broadcasting in March 2010, as approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in May. After announcing that the station would broadcast contemporary Christian music and be branded as Joy FM, Classic 99 ended its 62-year classical music format at 10 p.m. on July 6, 2010 after playing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. St. Louis was without a full-time classical station from 2010 to 2013.[1]
The Centene Charitable Foundation provided the Radio Arts Foundation a $1 million startup grant for the new station,[2][3] and FCC Form 350 was filed for the translator station February 1, 2013, which was to be owned and operated by the Radio Arts Foundation–St. Louis, with Connett as general manager.[5] Approval was announced March 7, 2013.[6]
After a week of signal testing, RAF-STL Classical debuted on 107.3 K297BI and 96.3 KIHT-HD2 at 10 a.m. on April 8, 2013, with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Connett remarked, "This is truly a dream come true.... Building this new station from the ground up has been a labor of love."[1]
The station features classical programming such as Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin, Concierto, and Classics 4 Kids. It obtained a significant music collection by partnering to download the libraries of KFUO and of WRR-FM, Dallas Classical 101.1.[1]
On-air staffedit
An experienced staff of former KFUO Classic 99 employees and other radio industry professionals manage the day-to-day operations of RAF-STL.[2]
Kathy Lawton Brown
Gavriel Savit
Julie Schuster
Tom Sudholt
Referencesedit
^ abcdradioINSIGHT (8 Apr 2013). "Classical Coming Back to St. Louis". RadioBB Networks. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^ abc"Our Story". Radio Arts Foundation. 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^ abcdMiller, Sarah Bryan (4 Apr 2012). "Classical music radio may soon return to St. Louis". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^ ab"RAF Team". Radio Arts Foundation. 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^Hare, Kristen (5 Feb 2013). . St. Louis Beacon. Archived from the original on 20 July 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^Miller, Sarah Bryan (7 Mar 2013). "Radio Arts Foundation has start date for new classical music station". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
k297bi, classic, radio, station, louis, missouri, branded, classic, owned, operated, nonprofit, radio, arts, foundation, louis, station, studios, located, clayton, missouri, relays, wfun, louisst, louis, missouriunited, statesbroadcast, areagreater, louisfrequ. K297BI 107 3 MHz Classic 107 3 is an FM radio station in St Louis Missouri branded as Classic 107 3 and owned and operated by the nonprofit Radio Arts Foundation St Louis The station s studios are located in Clayton Missouri 1 K297BIRelays WFUN HD2 St LouisSt Louis MissouriUnited StatesBroadcast areaGreater St LouisFrequency107 3 MHz FM or 96 3 HD2 MHz HD Radio BrandingClassic 107 3ProgrammingFormatClassical musicOwnershipOwnerRadio Arts Foundation Saint LouisSister stationsWFUN FMHistoryFirst air dateApril 8 2013 2013 04 08 Technical informationFacility ID139987ClassDERP250 wattsHAAT139 meters 456 ft Transmitter coordinates38 36 47 N 90 20 09 W 38 61306 N 90 33583 W 38 61306 90 33583LinksWebcastclassic1073 wbr orgWebsiteclassic1073 wbr org The station is dedicated to the classical music format and its hosts include Gavriel Savit Kathy Lawton Brown Tom Sudholt and Julie Schuster 2 Classical programming on K297BI is also broadcast on the HD Radio channel 96 3 WFUN FM HD2 also operated by the Radio Arts Foundation Contents 1 History 2 On air staff 3 References 4 External linksHistory edit nbsp RAF STL logo used until rebranding to Classic 107 3 KFUO FM 99 1 which had broadcast classical music to St Louis since 1948 was owned by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and became available for sale in 2009 3 In the name of the Radio Arts Foundation Jim Connett program director at KFUO 4 and Michael Neidorff CEO of the Centene Corporation made a purchase proposal for KFUO that was rejected by the synod board member and paid negotiator Kermit Brashear 3 The foundation immediately began plans for a new classical station even before the Classic 99 format ceased analog operations and became available by webstream only 3 4 KFUO was sold to Gateway Creative Broadcasting in March 2010 as approved by the Federal Communications Commission FCC in May After announcing that the station would broadcast contemporary Christian music and be branded as Joy FM Classic 99 ended its 62 year classical music format at 10 p m on July 6 2010 after playing Beethoven s Ninth Symphony St Louis was without a full time classical station from 2010 to 2013 1 The Centene Charitable Foundation provided the Radio Arts Foundation a 1 million startup grant for the new station 2 3 and FCC Form 350 was filed for the translator station February 1 2013 which was to be owned and operated by the Radio Arts Foundation St Louis with Connett as general manager 5 Approval was announced March 7 2013 6 After a week of signal testing RAF STL Classical debuted on 107 3 K297BI and 96 3 KIHT HD2 at 10 a m on April 8 2013 with Beethoven s Ninth Symphony Connett remarked This is truly a dream come true Building this new station from the ground up has been a labor of love 1 The station features classical programming such as Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin Concierto and Classics 4 Kids It obtained a significant music collection by partnering to download the libraries of KFUO and of WRR FM Dallas Classical 101 1 1 On air staff editAn experienced staff of former KFUO Classic 99 employees and other radio industry professionals manage the day to day operations of RAF STL 2 Kathy Lawton Brown Gavriel Savit Julie Schuster Tom SudholtReferences edit a b c d radioINSIGHT 8 Apr 2013 Classical Coming Back to St Louis RadioBB Networks Retrieved 17 May 2014 a b c Our Story Radio Arts Foundation 2014 Retrieved 17 May 2014 a b c d Miller Sarah Bryan 4 Apr 2012 Classical music radio may soon return to St Louis St Louis Post Dispatch Retrieved 17 May 2014 a b RAF Team Radio Arts Foundation 2014 Retrieved 17 May 2014 Hare Kristen 5 Feb 2013 Update Classical music set to return to analog radio with RAF STL St Louis Beacon Archived from the original on 20 July 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2014 Miller Sarah Bryan 7 Mar 2013 Radio Arts Foundation has start date for new classical music station St Louis Post Dispatch Retrieved 17 May 2014 External links editClassic 107 3 official website K297BI in the FCC FM station database K297BI at FCCdata org Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title K297BI amp oldid 1171036793, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
