VCY America, is a traditional,

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

ministry based in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The VCY America Radio Network maintains a format of Christian talk and teaching, as well as traditional

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

through its broadcast outlets.

History

Originally known as "Milwaukee

Youth For Christ Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenagers ...

," and later, "Greater Milwaukee Youth For Christ," it left the national YFC organization in 1973 and became known as the ''Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth'' (WVCY) until 1995, when it changed to its present name. Its

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

radio station in Milwaukee,

WVCY-FM WVCY-FM (107.7 FM) is a radio station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Owned by VCY America, WVCY-FM is the flagship affiliate of their Milwaukee-based Christian radio network. The station also has multiple translators within the state of Wiscon ...

, uses a

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

that stands for the original name "Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth."

Radio Network

The ministry operates 33 VCY America-owned

radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio signal, 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-b ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, and

. It also broadcasts over 25 low-power

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

s. VCY America radio also provides programming such as ''Crosstalk'', ''Worldview Weekend'', and ''Music 'til Dawn'' to stations throughout the country via satellite. Additionally, VCY has a

Christian bookstore A religious goods store, also known as a religious bookstore, religious gifts store or religious supplies shop, is a store specializing in supplying materials used in the practice of a particular religious tradition, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Chi ...

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Wauwatos ...

which is promoted on air and ships throughout the United States as an additional source of revenue. VCY attempted to expand into the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, and the

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

through the lease and attempted purchase of a group of three stations in a

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

cy action:

KFRH KFRH (104.3 FM) is a commercial radio station in North Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcasting to the Las Vegas, Nevada area. Its studios are in the unincorporated Clark County community of Enterprise and the transmitter is on Potosi Mountains west of ...

, KREV and

KRCK-FM KRCK-FM (97.7 MHz) is a radio station licensed to serve Mecca, California, broadcasting to the Coachella Valley area. The station's studios are in Palm Desert, while the transmitter is in a mountain range north of Bermuda Dunes. It is owned by ...

. In early 2022, the original owner sued successfully to nullify the bankruptcy action against them, and the bankruptcy

debtor in possession A debtor in possession or DIP in United States bankruptcy law is a person or corporation who has filed a bankruptcy petition, but remains in possession of property upon which a creditor has a lien or similar security interest. A debtor becomes the ...

and trustee was forced to return to the stations to them and nullify the VCY America leases. In December 2022,

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

announced it would sell 103.9

WFAS-FM WFAS-FM (103.9 MHz, branded as "Talk FM 103.9") is a radio station licensed to Bronxville, New York. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and features a conservative talk radio format in a simulcast with White Plains-licensed sister station ...

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, a ...

, to VCY America. The price tag is $7.25 million.RadioInsight.com "VCY America Enters New York City with WFAS-FM Purchase Dec. 8, 2022
/ref> This will give VCY America a station in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

and its first on the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

. WFAS-FM is a Class A station with its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

Programming

VCY America's radio programming includes Christian talk and teaching programming, among them: * ''Crosstalk'', hosted by Jim Schneider, with past

Vic Eliason Victor Carl "Vic" Eliason (May 14, 1936 – December 5, 2015) was an American evangelical clergyman who founded the VCY America Radio Network, a conservative Christian broadcasting ministry, based in Milwaukee, along with Milwaukee television st ...

-hosted episodes also aired * ''Worldview Weekend'' with Brannon Howse * ''Grace to You'' with John MacArthur * ''In Touch'' with

Charles Stanley Charles Frazier Stanley (born 1932) is Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, after serving as senior pastor for 49 years. He is the founder and president of In Touch Ministries, which widely broadcasts his sermons through te ...

* ''Love Worth Finding'' with Adrian Rogers * ''Revive Our Hearts'' with

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (born September 3, 1958), also known as Nancy Leigh DeMoss, is a bible teacher and public speaker. In 2015, DeMoss married best-selling author and a former president of Thomas Nelson Publishers Robert Wolgemuth. References ...

* ''The Alternative with Tony Evans'' * ''

Liberty Counsel Liberty Counsel is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt religious liberty organization that engages in litigation related to evangelical Christian values. Liberty Counsel was founded in 1989 by its chairman Mathew Staver and its president Anita L. Staver, who a ...

's Faith and Freedom Report'' * ''Thru the Bible'' with

J. Vernon McGee John Vernon McGee (June 17, 1904 – December 1, 1988) was an American ordained Presbyterian minister, pastor, Bible teacher, theologian, and radio minister. Biography Childhood, education, and early ministry McGee was born in Hillsboro, Tex ...

* ''Joni and Friends'' with

Joni Eareckson Tada Joni Eareckson Tada (born October 15, 1949) is an evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community". Early life Joni Eareckson was b ...

* ''

Unshackled! ''Unshackled!'' is a radio drama series produced by Pacific Garden Mission, in Chicago, Illinois, that first aired on September 23, 1950. It is one of the longest-running radio dramas in history and one of a very few still in production in the Un ...

'' *

Moody Radio Moody Radio is one of the largest Christian radio networks in the United States. Located in downtown Chicago, Moody Radio has 71 owned and operated stations

's ''Stories of Great Christians''VCY America Central Time Schedule
VCY America. Retrieved July 4, 2019. VCY America also airs a variety of vocal and instrumental traditional Christian music, as well as children's programming such as ''

Ranger Bill ''Ranger Bill'' is a Christian radio program from the 1950s, produced by Moody Radio. With over 200 episodes produced, Ranger Bill stars Miron Canaday as the title character and Stumpy Jenkins and Ed Ronne, Sr as Grey Wolf. The main character, Ra ...

''. Notably, the network (including WVCY-TV) eschews any programs featuring

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

, and has dropped programming which has switched to it in any form, including as theme music.

Television

The network also runs

WVCY-TV WVCY-TV (channel 30) is a religious independent television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, owned by locally based VCY America, Inc. The station's studios are located on West Vliet Street in Milwaukee. Through a channel sharing a ...

(Channel 30) in Milwaukee, which holds a commercial license but is completely viewer supported. As of January 2018, it is carried under a channel share agreement with commercial station

WITI Witiness Chimoio João Quembo (born 26 August 1996), known as Witi, is a Mozambican professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club C.D. Nacional as a winger. Club career Born in Beira, Witi began his career with Sporting Club da Be ...

, owned by

Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...

. It vacated its former independent frequency in the FCC's spectrum repack auction, the proceeds of which ($76.3 million, plus donations and bookstore purchases since) have been utilized to expand VCY's radio network. WVCY is also carried in the Wausau

television market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

via translator W26EE-D in

Wittenburg Wittenburg () is a town in the district Ludwigslust-Parchim in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Population 6,092, area 80.0 km². Wittenburg has been the seat of the Amt of Wittenburg since January 2004. It is in the west of Mecklenburg-V ...

. In 1994, WVCY-TV rejected an offer to be purchased by the

CBS Corporation The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...

to become the market's

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

station in the wake of WITI's switch in affiliation to

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Other efforts

The ministry also operates a summer camp, near

Hillsboro, Wisconsin Hillsboro is a city in Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,397 at the 2020 Census. The city is located within the Town of Hillsboro. Hillsboro is known as the Czech Capital of Wisconsin. Geography Hillsboro is located ...

, called, "Trail Ridge Camp"Trail Ridge Camp
Trail Ridge Camp. Retrieved July 4, 2019. as well as its

religious bookstore A religious goods store, also known as a religious bookstore, religious gifts store or religious supplies shop, is a store specializing in supplying materials used in the practice of a particular religious tradition, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Chi ...

, with a physical location in

Wauwatosa Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 census. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, and is a pa ...

, a suburb of Milwaukee, and it
online presence

Leadership

The ministry is run by a team formerly headed by the late

, a former Youth for Christ worker,

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

Christian minister and a recipient of an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from

Bob Jones University , motto_lang = Latin , mottoeng = We seek, we trust , top_free_label = , top_free = , type = Private university , established = , closed = , f ...

, in 2001. Jim Schneider is the current Executive Director.Jim Schneider, Executive Director
, VCY America. Retrieved April 22, 2021.

List of stations

Notes:

References

External links

* {{American broadcast radio American radio networks Christian radio stations in the United States Radio broadcasting companies of the United States VCY America stations