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Family Radio is a non-profit Christian radio network based in Franklin, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1959, Family Radio airs Calvinist teaching and Christian music. The network is most widely known for its false 2011 end times predictions. At one time the 19th largest broadcaster in the United States, with 216 radio stations, the number of stations in the network has dropped drastically following their failed end times predictions.

Programming

One of Family Radio's oldest broadcasts was a telephone-talk program called ''Open Forum'' in which Harold Camping, the network's co-founder, president and general manager, responded to callers' questions and comments, as they relate to the Bible, and used the platform to promote his various end-time predictions. The program was finally cancelled not long after Camping's third failed "rapture-less" prediction and a stroke which he suffered in June 2011. Other programs that have aired on Family Radio over the years include the morning programs ''Rise and Rejoice'' and ''The Christian Home''; ''Family Bible Reading Fellowship'', a half-hour Bible reading program; ''Radio Reading Circle'', featuring readings of Christian books; the overnight program ''Nightwatch''; ''Echoes'', which features recordings of sermons delivered by pastors from churches around the world); ''Music to Live By'', an afternoon program; the nighttime program ''The Quiet Hours''; ''Family Bible Study''; and ''Beyond Intelligent Design''. Outside programming broadcast over the Family Radio network was limited as Camping considered the organized church apostate, and therefore devoid of God's Spirit and under Satan's control.

History

Originally founded by Richard H. Palmquist, with the assistance of Harold Camping and Lloyd Lindquist as fellow members of the initial Board of Directors, Family Radio began obtaining FM broadcasting licenses on commercial frequencies in 1959, and by 2006, was ranked 19th among top broadcast companies in number of radio stations owned. Its first radio station, KEAR in San Francisco, California, then at 97.3 MHz, came on the air on Wednesday, February 4, 1959.

In 1992, Family Radio began teaching that the Great Tribulation began in May 1988, and that the rapture would occur on September 6, 1994, later adjusting the predicted date to between September 15 and 27, 1994, and telling listeners not to make any long term plans. The network's promotion of these predictions caused some nations in Asia to prevent Family Radio from commencing operations in their countries.

Beginning in the late 1990s, Family Radio began gradually dropping outside ministries because of doctrinal changes in the network. As board members left the organization, they were not being replaced. Harold Camping's controversial teachings, as they were changing, became the focus of the entire network. Up until the late 1980s, Family Radio endorsed local church attendance but once Camping stated that the church age was over and that Satan had taken over the churches, he went on to say that people could no longer be saved within churches and that Christians should not be members or attend church services of any type.Christian Radio Host Says to Abandon Church
, ''Los Angeles Times''. January 25, 2003. Retrieved August 30, 2024. His actions led to mounting criticism from former supporters and led some Family Radio staff members to resign, as well as prompting some outside ministries to leave the network. The loss of these programs from the Family Radio schedule gave Camping more airtime to express his teachings. Around this time, former Family Radio employees, pastors, cult specialists, and others, began to publicly describe Family Radio as a cult.

Failed 2011 end times prediction

Leading up to May 2011, Family Radio spent in the vicinity of $100 million to advertise the now-discredited 2011 end times prediction. In the lead up to the predicted day of the rapture, many followers of Family Radio's teachings spent their life savings to donate to Family Radio or personally advertise the predicted rapture date.Sehgal, Ujala.
The Sad Stories of Believers Disappointed by Non-Apocalypse
, ''The Atlantic''. May 22, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2024. Others quit their jobs, sold their homes, and went into debt, relying on Camping's predictions. Several suicides were attributed to the station's apocalyptic teachings, and a woman in California tried to kill her two daughters and herself, believing that she was sparing them the tribulation that would occur following the rapture predicted by the station.

The network's apocalyptic predictions, and its followers reactions to them, led to media descriptions of the network as a doomsday cult. Scholars of apocalyptic groups found the various responses among Family Radio's followers to be consistent with what they expected to see among members of a cult, with disillusioned followers concurring that Family Radio is a cult.

Two days after the forecast "Rapture" failed to happen, A Bible Answer, a Bible teaching ministry who had been tired of the "Rapture" predictions, offered to buy 66 full-powered radio stations from Family Radio founder Harold Camping in an effort to get him to resign from preaching this doctrine. The offer came with a catch – they were not to take possession of the stations until October 22, the day after Camping's revised set-date for the end of the world. A Bible Answer's website called for Camping to resign from the Family Radio board, citing "the self-proclaimed expert on the Bible has brought reproach upon Christ, the Bible, and the church," and added "After taking the money of his supporters, let Harold give up all he has, to show he believes what he is preaching. He does not or else he would sell. It is time to get new leadership at Family Radio."

Aftermath

On August 3, 2011, the radio industry website Radio-Info.com reported that Family Radio was putting two of its full-powered FM stations up for sale. These stations were: WKDN in Camden, New Jersey (covering Philadelphia), and WFSI in Annapolis, Maryland (covering Baltimore and Washington, D.C.). The article indicated that the network may have sold the stations to pay off "operating deficits accumulated over the last several years". WFSI would be purchased in November 2011 by CBS Radio, which converted the station to a Spanish language dance music format under the WLZL call sign. Merlin Media, LLC struck a deal in December 2011 to acquire WKDN, which was relaunched with a talk format under the WWIQ call sign. WWIQ was later sold to Educational Media Foundation in late 2013, and became WKVP, a K-Love affiliate station.

In January 2012, Family Radio applied to the FCC to change the license of station WFME in Newark, New Jersey, near New York City, from non-commercial to commercial. The application quickly prompted conjecture from radio industry monitors that the station would soon be sold. The application was approved in February. Those rumors were confirmed on October 16, 2012, when it was announced that Family Stations would sell WFME to Atlanta-based Cumulus Media for an undisclosed price. A November message from Camping posted on the Family Radio website admitted, "Either we sell WFME or go off the air completely." The 94.7 signal would be relaunched as country-formatted station, WNSH. Concurrent with 94.7's sale to Cumulus, Family Radio purchased FM station WDVY in Mount Kisco, New York from Cumulus, which would soon after adopt Family Radio's programming and the WFME-FM callsign.

After 40 years on the air, WYFR, Family Radio's shortwave station located in Okeechobee, Florida, ceased operations on July 1, 2013. In December 2013, Radio Miami International, purchased the shortwave transmission complex and began broadcasting from there; the complex now operates under the WRMI call letters.

Harold Camping died from a fall on December 15, 2013, in his home in Alameda, California. His death was confirmed by an employee of the network. Following Camping's death, the network reaffirmed its commitment to his teachings, specifically the belief that all churches had become apostate, and that true Christians should not attend church.

On November 21, 2014, The Walt Disney Company announced it would sell WQEW in New York City to Family Radio for $12.95 million, part of Disney's decision to end terrestrial distribution of the Radio Disney format. The sale was approved on February 10, 2015, and the station returned on the air on February 27 as the new WFME (AM), thus giving Family Radio full coverage of the New York City metropolitan area for the first time in two years. Concurrent with the sale, the FCC converted WFME's broadcasting status from commercial to non-commercial. WFME has since been taken off the air, following Family Radio's sale of its transmitter site.

During 2016, Family Radio moved its corporate offices and main studios from Oakland, where it had been based since the network's inception, to the adjacent East Bay city of Alameda.

In September 2018, Family Radio announced it would no longer air programs featuring the voice of Harold Camping, and would no longer distribute literature of Camping's teachings. The decision was made as part of an effort to both move away from Camping's theology, and to reintroduce programs from outside ministries into the network's schedule. The changes went into effect on October 8, 2018.

In 2019, Family Radio announced that it would be moving its headquarters from Alameda, California to Franklin, Tennessee.

Finances

In 1994, Family Radio owned forty radio stations nationwide. The listenership of Family Radio understandably declined after the failed 1994 rapture prediction, but before long the organization was again growing at a fast rate. By the time of his second campaign, the organization boasted 216 AM and FM radio stations, along with two television channels.

Financial strength hit a peak in 2007 when Family Radio reported $135 million in assets. As net assets declined from that point forward, listener contributions steadily increased. Upon the outset of the second campaign, the organizations assets dropped while contributions simultaneously rose indicating an increased level of spending by the organization, far surpassing the increase in income. In 2008, total contributions were well over $15 million. 2009 saw an annual budget of $36.7 million with $117 million in assets and $18.4 million in contributions. IRS records also indicate that Family Radio employed 348 persons in 2009. In 2010 assets were down to $110 million while contributions rose to $18.7 million while the station maintained 346 employees. In 2011 contributions fell to $17.2 million and assets dropped to $87.6 million, while the organization also lost 26 employees. By the end of 2011 the organizations assets had dropped to $29.2 million, and the next year was forced to take out a $30 million loan.

Ideology and teachings

Central to Camping's teaching was the belief that each sentence in the Bible is not to be understood only literally, but rather conveys multiple levels of cryptic meanings. In Camping's words, "the Bible is an earthly story with a Heavenly meaning." In Camping's publication, "We are Almost There!", he stated that certain Biblical passages pointed unquestionably to May 21, 2011, as the date of "Rapture", and pointed to October 21, 2011, as the end of the world. This event did not occur on May 21 or October 21 of that year, and no acknowledgment of false teaching has yet been offered concerning the October 21 event.

As a result of spending millions of dollars to promote his "end of the world" theory, many people sold everything they owned and donated it to Family Radio, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The California Attorney General's office has been asked by the Freedom from Religion Foundation to investigate Camping and Family Stations, Inc. for "Fraud and Deceit".

After leaving the Christian Reformed Church in 1987, Camping taught doctrines that largely conflicted with traditional Christian teaching. The principles of Biblical hermeneutics upon which Camping framed his present teachings are:

# The Bible alone is the Word of God, and anyone who believes that God has spoken to them through a dream, vision, or spoke in tongues, is adding to the Bible and is damned to hell.
# Every Biblical passage must be interpreted in the light of the Bible as a whole, and red letter editions of the Bible should not be used.
# The Bible normally conveys multiple levels of meaning or significance, and those who do not believe in all of the multiple cryptic meanings are likewise damned to hell.
# Numerology should be applied to numbers in the Bible, but only when following the meaning Camping applies to the number.
# That salvation is unmerited and cannot be achieved by good works, prayer, belief or acceptance. It is a pure act of God's grace and that those to be saved were chosen "before the foundation of the world". Camping also taught that all churches had become apostate and were under Satan's control, and that people could not be saved within churches.

Following Camping's death, the network reaffirmed its commitment to his teachings, specifically the belief that all churches had become apostate, and that true Christians should not attend church. For several years after Camping's death in 2013, Family Radio continued to air some of his past broadcasts and distribute his literature. But in October 2018, Family Radio discontinued using any of Camping's commentary and content, after outside ministries expressed a reluctance to allow their shows on the network while Camping's programs aired, stating "so much of it still contains elements that are very difficult."

Stations

The flagship station for the network of both full-power and low-power translator stations is KEAR in San Francisco. With the sale of KEAR-FM to CBS Radio in 2005, broadcasts from San Francisco moved to an AM radio frequency. Due to FCC rules regarding translator stations, the legal primary station for the translators was changed to KEAR-FM in Sacramento, after the former primary FM station in San Francisco was sold to CBS Radio.

Notes:

In addition to its full-powered stations, Family Radio is relayed by an additional 20 FM translators:

Television

* WNYJ-TV, West Milford – Newark, New Jersey – New York (Now defunct, previously broadcast religious programming as WFME-TV)

References

External links

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{{American broadcast radio

American radio networks

Christian radio stations in the United States
Christian mass media companies
Radio broadcasting companies of the United States
Radio stations established in 1959
1959 establishments in California
Religious scandals
Religious controversies in the United States
Apocalyptic groups