VCY America Purchases Large Black Hills FM Signal

Posted on by Jon Ellis

One of the largest FM signals in the Upper Midwest will continue to carry Christian programming after finding a new owner.

KTPT/97.9 (Rapid City) went off the air in April after Bethesda Christian Broadcasting sold its two former sister stations to Northwestern Media. KTPT has the near-maximum coverage area for an FM station with a 100kW/579m facility transmitting from Terry Peak plus a 3.9kW on-frequency booster in Rapid City.

Now, an asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC indicates VCY America will pay Bethesda $275,000 for the KTPT and KTPT-FM1 licenses and transmitter site equipment.

97.9 has carried Christian programming since it signed on in 1968 as KVSR-FM, which later became KLMP. It swapped formats and callsigns with KTPT/88.3 in 2007, with 97.9 adopting KTPT’s “Point” Christian Hits format. It changed to “The Breeze” in 2016.

VCY’s “Christian Information Radio” lineup includes teaching and preaching programs, conservative political talk, and easy listening music. It will be part of a crowded field of Christian Talk formats in the Black Hills that also includes the Faith Radio Network, Real Presence Radio, Bott Radio Network, and CSN Radio.

SEE ALSO: Rapid City Radio Stations

Milwaukee-based VCY owns dozens of stations around the country, including four full-power FM stations and four FM translators in eastern and central South Dakota. It does not have any other stations in western South Dakota, Wyoming, or Montana.

The sale will mark Bethesda Christian Broadcasting’s formal exit from broadcast ownership; besides the Rapid City stations, it also owned a pair of stations in Sturgeon Bay, WI, at one time.