Christian Broadcaster VCY Buys Des Moines-Area Station

Milwaukee-based Christian broadcaster VCY America is buying an FM station in the Des Moines market.

An asset purchase agreement filed Tuesday with the FCC says VCY will pay Truth Broadcasting $825,000 for KTIA-FM/99.3 (Huxley-Des Moines). KTIA rimshots Des Moines with a 5.3kW/95m (class A) signal transmitting from north of the capital city.

KTIA and its predecessor KFGQ-FM/99.3 (Boone) have carried Christian formats for 70 years. North Carolina-based Truth Broadcasting bought the station in 2011 and moved it closer to Des Moines with the community of license change to Huxley, operating it commercially.

VCY plans to convert KTIA to non-commercial status. The network’s schedule includes traditional teaching and preaching programs, conservative political talk, and traditional music overnight.

VCY’s only other station in Iowa is KVCI/89.7 (Montezuma), which upgraded to a 100kW facility serving an area southeast of Des Moines earlier this year.

RadioInsight notes that VCY has been on a recent buying spree, including station purchases in the San Francisco and Las Vegas markets.