Joy FM just hit the air at 7AM this morning...New call letters are KLJY.
Meanwhile, the former Classic 99 employees were hit with one final kick in the teeth - in order to recieve severence pay, they must not work ANYWHERE, or even apply for work.
From Charles Jaco at Fox 2 KTVI:
ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - After 62 years, St. Louis' only classical music radio station has gone off the air. KFOU FM, also known as Classic 99, was sold by the Lutheran Church to a contemporary Christian music station. The Lutheran Church forced all Classic 99 employees to sign an agreement that is at the least questionable under Missouri and federal labor law. It states that if employees want six months severance pay they can not work for anyone, at any job, anywhere, for those 6 months.
KFOU FM was 1 of only 16 commercial classical music stations left in the United States. It had been a mainstay of classical music and the arts in St. Louis since 1948. A vigil tonight at the station expressed mostly sadness at the loss of classical music on the radio. And some anger at the Lutheran Church's out of town board of directors, which engineered the sale under secretive and questionable circumstances. The vigil was organized by an 18 year old from Webster Groves, who says he'll major in music at college because of Classic 99.
"I started listening to KFUO and that fostered an interest in classical music. It's why I got into the youth orchestra and from there everything just took off," said Alex Blanc.
"We don't have any other classical station in the St. Louis area and so that is a large problem but also because it brings such joy and so many things to our community," said Diana Haskell of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Labor attorneys say that agreement seems to be illegal. It's a sad and many say unnecessary end for a station voted the best classical music station in America just four years ago.
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