KDHX's status as a "community" radio station is one of its most prized assets, earned through years of working closely with the local art and music scene. Its DJs — all unpaid volunteers — frequently play music from St. Louis artists who wouldn't otherwise see airplay, alongside more established national acts. Since the station is a non-profit, its staffers earn less money than they'd pull in at a commercial station. Even Hacker was making less than $100,000 a year, according to KDHX's tax returns.
DJs theoretically have the freedom to play whatever music they wish without anyone exerting control over content. The lack of corporate ties also allows the station to be more nimble. Simply put, no one is telling KDHX how to run itself.
But lately things have gotten more complicated. In 2010, the station launched an ambitious new marketing campaign ("independent music plays here") and a striking new red-dot logo. A marketing director was hired for the first time, with the hope surely that revenue would follow.
Yet the money that came in was never enough for the station's new ambitions.
Tax returns show increasing budget deficits. KDHX went from eking out slight profits in 2011 and 2012 to shortfalls of $99,000 in 2013 to $460,000 in 2014. In 2014, the most recent year in which detailed financial records are available, it wasted $12,676 on bank overdraft fees.
In its financially motivated bid for "stationwide appeal," too, the music has begun to represent a lot less diversity. Hard-edged or abrasive music such as punk rock or metal has largely disappeared from the station's programming in favor of blues or banjo-driven folk – or, at best, has been quarantined within late-night hours.
And in May, all of KDHX's talk radio programs — long-time favorites Earthworms, Literature for the Halibut, Collateral Damage and Collector's Edition — were converted to podcasts as the station moved toward a music-only format. That maneuver raised some controversy of its own, with dozens of programmers signing a petition against it.
See also: KDHX Takes Talk Shows Off the Air; To Be Podcasts Only
But Ward doesn't get into any of that. He only notices that as soon as Acquisto says "pornography" on air, the phones light up. In response, Ward screams the word at the top of his lungs four more times.
He reads comments from those donating money as well.
One comes from Katie in Pocahontas, Illinois. "I'm a young dairy farmer on the other side of the river," she writes. "Without KDHX I would be forced to listen to obnoxious commercials, Maroon 5 and Three Doors Down all day. I am grateful every day I don't have to put myself through that, and stick to KDHX... We sell a colt cow every week — maybe I'll pull some strings and send a livestock check your way. Full-grown colt cows go one grand, easy. I know that. I am from a farm. I know it sounds creepy knowing a dead cow might save you guys, but it's also sort of biblical or something."
Ward replies with a rambling rant about his own (possibly fictional) farm upbringing — involving his mom popping the eyes out of frogs with a pocketknife and saving them in a drawer, and his uncle throwing bags full of cats into the river — before abruptly teeing a befuddled Acquisto up for another plea. ("Wow. That's a tough one to follow" is Acquisto's immediate response.)
"Please, please, for the love of God, save us from corporate radio," reads another from a listener named Lonnie.
"Lonnie, we're trying," Ward responds. "Love you, buddy."
"Thank you, Chris, for honoring Bob Reuter's important work," Tim from St. Louis writes. "Radio is for more than just playing records."
"Bob is here. I can't stress this enough, guys — he is in the walls," Ward says to Tim. "His physical ashes are in these walls. Therefore this building is important to me. So no matter what you think of the situation or what's going on, we owe a debt to Bob."
Reuter's ashes are indeed in the walls. When he died in 2013, KDHX was at work rehabbing its new headquarters. A small group placed some of Reuter's remains into the walls of the air room.
"We gotta keep doing this thing," Ward continues. "I don't care where we do it. I don't care if we are in a bakery; I don't care if we're in a big building with shiny things. This is important, what we're doing. I believe it."
In many ways, Ward and loudQUIETloud are Reuter's natural heirs. Ward's show made its debut on March 10, 2014; Reuter's last show aired in August 2013. Ward's irreverent and manic approach helps to fill the gap Reuter's departure left on the airwaves. Ward is passionate and fearless and a little crazy as well, and he just may represent KDHX at its off-the-wall creative best.
The situation that forced the urgent drive, meanwhile, may represent the station at its bureaucratic worst.
In August 2015, Hacker published a letter on the Riverfront Times website revealing that she'd just been fired from KDHX. It was both a way to break the news and a canny way to take control of the narrative – and it was widely read across St. Louis.
But the letter was more than just an acknowledgment of her own departure. In it, Hacker publicly outlined for the first time the station's financial troubles.
Hacker described the decision to move to Grand Center as a "leap of faith." The problem, she acknowledged, is that the station leapt without all the financing for the move in place — and after the move, major donations stalled. Bills began to pile up.
"Changes had to be made, and I made them — open staff positions were not filled, other staff positions were cut, important equipment purchases were delayed, marketing efforts were cut back, and I made daily decisions on who got paid first," she wrote. "Payroll, artists, critical utilities, equipment leases and local businesses made the first cut. Many others have had to wait, and in some cases, are still waiting."
Perhaps most troubling: After the station fell behind on payroll taxes, Hacker entered into an agreement with the IRS to take on personal responsibility if back taxes were not paid. (The IRS declined comment on any matters affecting any individual organization or entity.) Hacker only informed the board after the fact — leading to a mass exodus of board members.
