Network of Glory throws in the towel

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A non-profit religious radio group that had tried and failed to receive FCC approval to sell advertising on a limited basis has decided to sell its stations. It did a good job of getting them started, but was unable to sustain them. Five stations are licensed and silent; five more are CPs. American Family Association is the buyer.


Network of Glory is headed by Lola Richey. Signing off on the deal for AFA is Timothy Wildmon.

NoG will pick up $100K cash from AFA, and will also have a number of bills paid. $8,114.30 will go to a menu of specific liabilities for a wide variety of expense categories. AFA is also picking up recurring monthly expense, mostly in the form of tower rental fees, that work out to $2,644.97/per month, and which go back between one and four months. RBR-TVBR calculates that as of the end of January, the total would have been $7,069.52, bringing the total value of this deal to about $115K give or take and will likely take it to about $120K by the time the deal receives FCC approval.

AFA will LMA the stations until closing, and the two parties have begun the process of applying for main studio waivers so AFA can install its network programming on them.

In its FCC request, Network of Glory said it serves low-income rural populations and is unable to collect enough in donations to keep its stations operating. It asked for permission to sell “…limited commercial announcements under three conditions: (1) commercial advertisements will be run only at the top of the broadcast hour; (2) commercial advertisements will not interrupt regular station programming; and (3) any commercial announcements and their scheduling will be retained in the Stations’ public inspection files for public review and scrutiny.” However, the FCC said it simply lacked the authority to counter the rules and could not grant the request even if it wanted to.

The five licensed but silent stations include:
WGBQ-FM Lynchburg TN, a Class A on 91.9 with 900 W @ 351’
WAKP-FM Smithboro GA, a Class A on 89.1 with 2.9 kW @ 220’
KEJA-FM Cale AR, a Class A on 91.7 with 3 kW @ 446’
KEIS-FM York NE, a Class A on 90.3 with 1.6 kW @ 217’
KJOG-FM Cleveland OK, a Class C3 on 91.1 with 25 kW @ 276′

The five FM CPs include:
WJGS-FM CP Norwood GA, a Class A on 91.5 with 3 kW @ 230’
WJRJ-FM CP Montreat NC, a Class A on 90.9 with 100 W @ 3,058’
KGMJ-FM CP Spring Valley WI, a Class C3 on 90.1 with 16 kW @ 290’
KLJG-FM CP Simmesport LA, a Class A on 90.1 with 3.7 kW @ 387’
KJGC-FM CP Clinton MO, a Class C2 on 90.5 with 15 kW @ 479’