KVPC is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

, United States. The license is owned by

VCY America, Inc. VCY America, is a traditional, Evangelicalism, evangelical, Christian conservative Christianity, Christian ministry based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The VCY America Radio Network maintains a format of Christian Radio, Christian talk and teaching, a ...

The station began broadcasting in 1968 as KVSR and is the oldest FM station in the city. It has offered religious programming for more than 50 years under various owners.

History

On May 31, 1967, John W. Larson, a rancher from

Kiron, Iowa Kiron is a town in Crawford County, Iowa, United States. The population was 267 at the time of the 2020 census. History Kiron was platted in 1899. It was supposedly named after a place in China. Another popular etymology is that the town was ...

, with no prior radio experience, filed with the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) to build a new FM radio station in Rapid City. A construction permit was issued on December 7 of that year, and KVSR, Rapid City's "Voice of Sacred Radio", made its debut on November 7, 1968, as the only FM outlet in Rapid City, offering sacred and classical music as well as news and Bible features. Studios were co-located with the tower on Skyline Drive, a ridge offering good coverage of the area. Six months after signing on, Larson leased the station to Don Swanson, another Iowan who had started KTFC, a similar station in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

. Larson sold KVSR outright to Swanson in 1973, a deal that received FCC approval the next year. The broadcast day gradually extended until 24-hour programming began in 1985. Swanson sold KVSR after 23 years of involvement to Fischer Broadcasting Partners, owned by a husband and wife, in 1992. Fischer changed the call letters to KLMP. Four years later, Fischer sold the station to Bethesda Christian Broadcasting, owner of Christian station KSLT in

Spearfish Spearfish may refer to: Places *Spearfish, South Dakota, United States * North Spearfish, South Dakota, United States * Spearfish Formation, a geologic formation in the United States Biology * ''Tetrapturus'', a genus of marlin containing spe ...

; upon the new owners taking control, they temporarily pulled programming and played versions of the hymn " Amazing Grace". KSLT would move its studios from Spearfish to Rapid City in 1998, joining its sister station; KLMP also moved its transmitter to its present

Terry Peak per yr --> , snowmaking = , nightskiing = , external_linkterrypeak.com } Terry Peak is a mountain and ski area in the west central United States, in the Black Hills of South Dakota outside of Lead. With an elevation of above sea level, it is ...

site, improving coverage. Bethesda expanded to a third station, this time in the noncommercial reserved band, when KTPT (88.3 FM) debuted in February 2005 as a Christian contemporary hit radio station known as "The Point". On April 28, 2007, Bethesda switched KLMP to 88.3 and KTPT to 97.9; a booster was also added to improve coverage in Rapid City proper. On January 4, 2016, KTPT flipped to contemporary worship music and re-branded itself as "97.9 The Breeze", in response to the rising popularity of worship music and the failure of The Point to catch on with its target audience of people 18–34. Bethesda began to exit broadcasting in 2021 when it announced the sale of KLMP and KSLT, as well as two high-power repeaters of KSLT and two translators, to

Northwestern Media Northwestern Media is the Christian radio ministry of the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, an evangelical university in Roseville, Minnesota. Northwestern Media operates two radio networks serving listeners primarily in the Midwestern Un ...

for $249,000. When Northwestern closed on that purchase in February 2022, Bethesda announced it would sell KTPT. In an announcement, Bethesda noted, "It was a difficult decision that was ultimately out of our control. But we know we serve a God who is never taken off guard." On April 14, 2022, an equipment failure took KTPT off the air. Bethesda filed with the FCC on November 9, 2022, to sell KTPT to VCY America for $275,000. The sale was consummated on February 14, 2023, with the call sign changing simultaneously to KVPC.

References

External links

{{coord, 44.328, N, 103.835, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title VPC Radio stations established in 1969 1969 establishments in South Dakota VCY America stations Christian radio stations in South Dakota