KDHX (88.1
FM) is a
non-commercial
A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...
radio station in
St. Louis. Owned by Double Helix Corporation, the station primarily airs
adult album alternative music. It broadcasts from studios on 3524 Washington Blvd. in the
Grand Center Arts District, while its
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is located on Fairfax Avenue in
Arnold, Missouri.
The station previously aired an array of
community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting.
Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...
shows, including specialty music, cultural and
public affairs programming. KDHX's operations began to decline in the 2020s, following accusations of mismanagement by current and former volunteers of the station, and a resulting decline in revenue from donations. Amid these issues, the station laid off all its volunteer staff in January 2025 and filed for bankruptcy in March, with the station having since been broadcasting on an
automated basis with no live programming. After a bidding war between two
Christian radio broadcasters, Gateway Creative Broadcasting was awarded the right to purchase the station in an auction conducted by the bankruptcy court.
Programming
The music heard on KDHX is primarily a roots-based AAA format. Other musical genres include
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
,
bluegrass,
soul,
folk,
Americana,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
,
world music
"World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
,
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
and
hip hop. Also heard are
public affairs programs one evening a week and short-form features throughout the broadcast schedule. The on-air
DJs were all volunteers chosen by an elected program committee and trained by station staff.
In addition to its on-air activities, KDHX Community Media previously produced a variety of music-oriented events such as Midwest Mayhem and Art Attack as well as collaborations with other community organizations. They included Harvest Sessions at the
Tower Grove Farmers Market; Thursdays at the Intersection in
Grand Center; the Sheldon Sessions with the
Sheldon Concert Hall and SoundWaves with the
Pulitzer Arts Foundation. Most of these events halted around 2015, largely due to the resignation of station management.
History
The station
signed on the air on . At the time of KDHX's founding, the frequency 88.1 MHz was occupied by 10-watt,
Class D station KHRU-FM, operated by
Clayton High School in
Clayton, Missouri. It began broadcasting in 1968. KHRU-FM was on the air from 5 to 8 o'clock only on weeknights and only during the school year. The frequency was silent the rest of the week and all summer.
A public corporation, the Double Helix Foundation, was looking for a spot on the St. Louis FM dial to start a
community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting.
Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...
station. Double Helix tried to work out a cooperative arrangement with the Clayton School District to share 88.1 FM, but the school district was unwilling to accept a frequency-sharing proposal. Eventually, Double Helix sued in federal court, resulting in a decision that broadcast stations had to "use it or lose it" with regard to frequencies. Stations licensed by the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
are required to broadcast a minimum number of hours each week. After that decision, the FCC revoked KHRU's license and awarded the frequency to the Double Helix Corporation.
From that point, KDHX began broadcasting most hours of the day with non-commercial programs. A variety of musical genres and talk shows aired. Most of the staff were volunteers.
In 2013, KDHX relocated from its original studios on Magnolia Avenue to a renovated building in the
Grand Center Arts District, which would house a coffee shop and 125-seat concert venue on its ground floor. It was christened the Larry J. Weir Center for Independent Media in honor of the station's former operations manager, who had died in 2010.
Decline, bankruptcy
In 2014, the station fell behind on its payroll taxes due to expenses amassed from the construction of its new studios. In 2015, executive director Beverly Hacker was dismissed, and half of KDHX's board resigned. At this time, Hacker was succeeded by station employee Kelly Wells.
By 2018, the station had amassed at least $2.3 million in debt.
In July 2019, Wells faced allegations of sexual harassment, and of the mistreatment of African-American employees.
Station veterans had also criticized her "top-down" management, a lack of input in its operations, and a large amount of staff turnover.
In February 2023, KDHX released several volunteer DJs, including long-time host Tom "Papa" Ray; he told the ''
Riverfront Times'' that he had come into conflicts with management, stemming initially from the station's decision to not acknowledge the death of veteran personality John McHenry, and other issues such as its non-participation in the Music at the Intersection festival. Ray described the current management as being "180 degrees opposite of the intentions, desires and profile that the founders of this radio station wanted".
In September 2023, 10 more DJs were controversially dismissed by the station, while two more stepped down in solidarity. Wells publicly stated that most of the dismissals were of DJs who had objected to moves by KDHX to adopt
diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in response to the prior harassment allegations. Some of the dismissed DJs accused KDHX of having actually removed them for raising concerns regarding the station's management. This decision resulted in protests by other volunteers, associate members, and listeners, with many longtime donors withdrawing their financial support to the station.
In February 2024, over 450 local and national musicians signed a letter demanding the resignation of station leadership, citing that KDHX had "divorc
ditself from the St. Louis community" with its "poor management decisions". At that time, KDHX had lost nearly a third of its donors. The 990 tax filing for the 2023 tax year stated that donations were $808,378, which was down from the $1,314,351 brought in before the allegations against Wells began. Following the legal agreement that seated two new board members, both were suspended during their first board meeting. After this, and an analysis of financial records, a lawsuit was filed against the remaining members of the board for "gross abuses of authority".
Amidst the ongoing issues with the current board, in December 2024 Double Helix reached an agreement to sell KDHX to Gateway Creative Broadcasting—owner of
contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as 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 Christianity, Chri ...
station
KLJY—for $5.2 million.
On January 31, 2025, Double Helix Corporation laid off all volunteer staff and ceased live programming on KDHX, stating that the station would carry "previously recorded programming". Board president Gary Pierson attributed the cuts to "recent disparagement campaigns and senseless lawsuits" that have "severely impacted fundraising".
Double Helix filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 10, 2025, revealing that KDHX only had about $7,000 in cash remaining. Due to expired insurance, employees could not enter KDHX's studios.
Double Helix requested the naming of K-Love Inc.—a subsidiary of the
Educational Media Foundation (EMF)—as a debtor in possession creditor, and negotiated a $400,000 loan.
On March 25, 2025, despite the previous Gateway deal,
the board of directors approved an agreement to sell KDHX's broadcast facilities to EMF for $4.35 million, which would result in the station most likely joining its
K-Love Christian radio network. KDHX planned to continue operations as an
internet radio
Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...
station afterward. St. Louis is one of the few markets where the EMF does not currently have a station, with ''Radio Insight'' noting that the organization no longer avoided entering markets that already had established Christian music stations (in this case, KLJY). Double Helix stated that the sale would also result in a cost savings of $500,000 in maintenance expenses. Double Helix declined an offer by the supporter group League of Volunteer Enthusiasts of KDHX (LOVE of KDHX)—which consists of DJs and other staff who had been laid off by Double Helix
—to contribute $100,000 in funding to the station.
On April 5, 2025, the station briefly carried K-Love programming. On April 15, 2025, it was reported that Gateway had made a $5.5 million counter-offer, and requested that the bankruptcy court launch a bidding process for the station.
On May 15, 2025, the bankruptcy court authorized an auction of the station and its assets, scheduled for May 30.
The auction would be won by Gateway with a bid of $8.75 million. LOVE of KDHX announced its intent to file an opposition to the sale.
Double Helix Corporation
Double Helix Corporation is a
community media organization governed by a 15-member
Board of Directors
A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency.
The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
. It is a 501(c)3
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
arts and educational organization with a mission to create community through media. The Double Helix Corporation was formed after the demise of
KDNA, a
countercultural community-radio station that operated in St. Louis's
Gaslight Square district in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The KDHX offices and studios are located at 3524 Washington Avenue in
Grand Center.
its tower is located in the northern part of
Jefferson County.
The corporation is independent of any
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
al entity, and is not affiliated with any
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
or
educational organization.
Prior to December 31, 2011, when statewide
video
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
franchise legislation
sunsetted the city's
cable franchise ordinance, Double Helix Corporation managed the
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
and community access
television stations
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
for the
City of St. Louis.
See also
*
Grand Boulevard (St. Louis)
*
List of community radio stations in the United States
References
External links
Official KDHX websiteKDHX Collection Finding Aidat th
St. Louis Public Library
KDHX- Myspace.com page.
STLradio.com Contains many articles on the history of St. Louis radio broadcasting including one on the history of KDNA under "Call Letter History". Originally from ''St. Louis Journalism Review''.
* KDNA and KDH
an
at the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection.
* KDNA and KDH
at the Saint Louis Public Library.
{{coord, 38.417, N, 90.433, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
DHX
DHX
Community radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1976
1976 establishments in Missouri
Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025