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[JACK FRENCH KILA], a non-commercial station, has been broadcasting The Word since 1972. Started by Jack French, who is general manager and heads the board of Faith Communications Corp., KILA does not accept commercials or conduct pledge drives, or "share-athons" as they're called by Christian broadcasters.
In 1971, French, who 45 years ago married his high school sweetheart and has five children, came to Las Vegas from Redding, Calif., and started KILA a year later at 95.5 on the dial, the current spot held by KWNR-FM. It was the first 100,000 watt FM station in Southern Nevada, and at first operated out of storefront offices in Henderson. Land in Las Vegas donated in 1978 provided a big step up for the station, which in 1985 sold its 95.5 channel and moved down the dial to its present position.
Despite KILA's existence, [BILL LEDBETTER] feels KKVV is necessary. "There was a definite need for a commercial Christian station," he said. "All these programs wanted to buy time, but Jack French doesn't sell time. Las Vegas was one of the largest markets without a commercial Christian station."
Graphic.
Photos. BILL LEDBETTER KKVV manager
JACK FRENCH KILA manager
A serene Jesus hovers in the clouds above a transmitter tower, radio waves dispersing in all directions. Below, people are peering up at the Messiah as if waiting for His Word.
If anything, the colorful mural on the wall over a door in the KILA-FM 90.5 building encapsulates what Christian radio stations in Las Vegas (which includes KKVV-AM 1060) are attempting to do _ get the religion's message out to the masses via a mass medium.
The message is basically the same, both station managers agree, but they have "a different format and a different approach," says KKVV's Bill Ledbetter.
"But the goal's the same," he says: To save souls.
Other than that, the two stations couldn't be more different.
KILA, a non-commercial station, has been broadcasting The Word since 1972. Started by Jack French, who is general manager and heads the board of Faith Communications Corp., KILA does not accept commercials or conduct pledge drives, or "share-athons" as they're called by Christian broadcasters.
The station has succeeded, thanks to its core audience of loyal listeners in its 25 to 54 target audience. KILA caters to its youthful listeners with contemporary Christian music. French estimates the programming mix to be 70 percent music, 30 percent talk.
KILA also can be heard simultaneously over KCIR in Twin Falls, Idaho, and KANN in the Salt Lake City area. Translators leap-frog the station's signal to five states, going as far east as Texas. Currently, French has plans to go on the air in Victorville, Calif.
In addition, KILA is broadcast over satellite, and can be picked up in all 50 states and Canada.
On the other hand KKVV is the new religious station in town. It began broadcasting a year ago in May and after a rocky start is operating in the black, according to Ledbetter.
KKVV concentrates on selling program time to evangelists and Bible scholars alike. It's Christian-talk radio, no music.
Both French and Ledbetter have spent most of their lives devoted to their cause.
French, interviewed in the station's modern offices on South Sixth Street, has been in broadcasting for 47 years. A professional musician who began playing the piano and accordion at age 6, French was a part-time announcer in East St. Louis, Ill., during World War II. When the war ended, the announcers came back, "so I couldn't get a full-time job," he said. "I sold my accordion and went to California."
His first full-time job was in Lodi in 1946, but the most significant change in his life occurred two years later while working at a station in Evansville, Ind. "I accepted the Lord as my savior, I committed my life to him," French said. And by 1959, he became involved with Christian radio with Family Stations, Inc. in Oakland.
In 1971, French, who 45 years ago married his high school sweetheart and has five children, came to Las Vegas from Redding, Calif., and started KILA a year later at 95.5 on the dial, the current spot held by KWNR-FM. It was the first 100,000 watt FM station in Southern Nevada, and at first operated out of storefront offices in Henderson. Land in Las Vegas donated in 1978 provided a big step up for the station, which in 1985 sold its 95.5 channel and moved down the dial to its present position.
Ask French about the differences between KILA and other commercial, secular stations, and he'll say there really isn't any.
"It's all communication. It's no different than secular broadcasting. We have a different message, that's all. They sell merchandise. Our bottom line is to help people, to change lives."
The station, French says, is non-denominational, pushing no particular Protestant version of Christianity. "We try to be a unifying station for the Christian community. Some churches put us in their budget for donations, but there are no strings attached to that."
KILA doesn't broadcast any Roman Catholic or Mormon programs.
"We lift up Christ 24 hours a day," French said. "We're aimed mainly at Protestants. But we have a lot of Catholic listeners. I was born and raised Catholic, so I'm sensitive to that."
French also says KILA has a lot of Mormon listeners. "We don't preach against any religion," he said. One program, however, the Bible Answer Man from the Christian Research Institute in California, sometimes takes shots at Mormonism.
"They (the program producers) are very vocal in their teachings, so it definitely is a very unusual program for us. I have thought about taking it off from time to time, but the good they do outweighs the controversial. We're not here to bomb the Mormons or the Catholics. We're not here to prove anybody wrong."
Its mix of contemporary Christian music is "on target" to the station's audience, French said. "We try to reach the yuppie, the music's designed for that group. But we have old ladies in nursing homes who love the music, while others don't. We're on the air to reach the most people.
"My marching orders from the Lord are to sow the seed for those who don't know the Lord, and to feed the sheep after they find the Lord."
KILA has a staff of 15 employees, including 13 full-timers. French continues to keep the station donor-supported. "I want nothing to do with anything commercial. I've been there, but this is better."
Commercials and paid programming keeps KKVV operating, however. It sells its air time to a broad spectrum of Protestant and Catholic program producers, and also airs commercials from local businesses.
It's one of six stations in an ownership group that began 25 years ago. Carl Auel, who is part owner of Family Stations, Inc., heads the group.
Broadcast from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on 5,000 watts of power from studios in storefront offices on South Highland Drive, KKVV covers a 100-mile radius, according to station manager Ledbetter.
Despite KILA's existence, Ledbetter feels KKVV is necessary. "There was a definite need for a commercial Christian station," he said. "All these programs wanted to buy time, but Jack French doesn't sell time. Las Vegas was one of the largest markets without a commercial Christian station."
Ledbetter was 7 years old living in Peoria, Ill., when he knew he wanted to work in radio. "It was my dream. I was listening to an on-the-spot broadcast of a Catholic Church burning down. I can still hear how the roof was falling in."
Raised a Protestant, Ledbetter went on to be part-owner of six radio stations, and calls himself a missionary "in the sense that we have helped start Christian radio where it has not been proclaimed."
KKVV has four part-time and two full-time employees, including Rod Douglas, former commercial producer and disc jockey at KUDA-FM 107.5, the oldies station.
"We have two purposes: To reach the unsaved with the gospel, and to educate and train Christians in the Christian way," Ledbetter said, adding that 45 percent of Christian radio listeners are "unsaved."
"I've often said that by listening to our station you can obtain the equivalent of a Bible school education. Most of our programs are by Bible school teachers."
Some aim for controversy too, especially the "Talk-Back" program with host Bob Larson. Airing two hours a day, five days a week, Larson will take on any subject, from teen sex and AIDS to witchcraft and pornography.
"It's a controversial program, but controversy enlarges our audience," Ledbetter said. "It's unorthodox religious programming but it undeniably reaches people. We haven't turned down anyone who wants to put a program on the station. As long as they preach the gospel we have no hesitation accepting them. We have a wide variety of doctrines on the air. Some I can't agree with, but their basic doctrines are straight."
Christian stations tend not to be high ratings grabbers, and KKVV has yet to achieve a measurable audience in Arbitron's radio surveys, but Ledbetter says KKVV "serves its purpose and has a loyal audience."
Future plans include staying on the air 24 hours a day. But the format will stay the same, Ledbetter said.
"There's no chance we'll change formats. Some stations across the country changed to Christian programs thinking they would make money. They weren't successful.
For us, stability is an important thing."
(Copyright 1991)