For immediate release
March 12, 2025. St. Louis, MO. On March 10, 2025, the Board of Directors of 88.1 FM KDHX, the cherished community radio station in St. Louis, announced that it had filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
Board President Gary Pierson claimed that doing so was in the best interest of KDHX and its stakeholders. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Seeking to reorganize under bankruptcy protection means one thing and one thing only: the Board of KDHX, which views itself as accountable to no one, intends to dispose of its most valuable assets – including its 42,000 watt FM license – to pay off mounting debts.
Those debts have exploded without a repayment strategy under the management of Executive Director Kelly Wells and the failed governance of President Gary Pierson, Vice President Paul Dever, Treasurer Ray Finney, Secretary Joan Bray, and the rest of the board: Jeffrey Fernhoff, Franc Flotron, and Caryn Haddix.
These debts are serious, but they are a direct result of the failed policies of this board, especially over the last two years. And while serious, these debts (amounting to approximately $700,000 unsecured) are not insurmountable.
LOVE of KDHX, along with the whole community of St. Louis, has been warning the board for years that its actions would bring calamity – and now the station is one step closer to the unthinkable: the termination of community radio in St. Louis.
Just three weeks ago, LOVE of KDHX offered the KDHX board another path: a new approach that unleashes the power of volunteerism, balances its budget, infuses the station with $200,000 cash to stabilize finances, maps out a strategy for long-term solvency, and protects the station’s raison d’etre – its FM broadcast license.
The board only needed to step aside and let new leadership revive KDHX – and they refused to do so.
Finally, much remains unknown about KDHX’s action – a wholly voluntary one – especially regarding the over 40 creditors listed on the initial bankruptcy petition. Some of those creditors should set off alarm bells.
One creditor, K-Love, Inc. (represented by Andrew Magdy of St. Louis law firm Summers Compton Wells), is a massive corporate network of contemporary Christian music broadcasters. It is owned by parent company Educational Media Foundation based out of Franklin, TN.
K-Love has scores of FM radio stations around the country, including in Missouri but none in St. Louis.
Every concerned citizen of St. Louis should be asking themselves: Why is KDHX in debt to a massive, religious media corporation? What are the details of this arrangement and how long has it been in place?
The community remains united in opposing any attempt, through bankruptcy or otherwise, to sell the KDHX FM license to any entity that does not uphold the values on which KDHX was founded. Those values are local, independent, secular, democratic, and non-partisan.
This bankruptcy action is unnecessary. There is another way forward. Once again, we entreat the board: Work with the whole community. Do not betray KDHX, a treasure of truly independent, non-corporate, community broadcasting in St. Louis.
For more information, contact: loveofkdhx@gmail.com.
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