(RNS) — Faith Radio president Scott Beigle’s quest for Christian radio started with 1070AM, a former CNN news station in Tallahassee, Florida.
After moving from northern Alabama to the Florida Panhandle with his wife and three kids, Beigle, who is Baptist, noted the lack of Christian radio stations in the area and felt compelled to change that. Months later, on Oct. 6, 1997, that calling became a reality as the Faith Radio Network’s blend of evangelical Christian music and teachings hit the airwaves on 1070AM.
Nearly three decades later, the nonprofit network has grown to include 12 other Christian radio stations. Their flagship station, 1070AM, has been converted to a Spanish-language Christian station to meet the needs of Latino Christians in the region — “there was no one doing that in our area,” Beigle told RNS.
But in recent years, the future of 1070AM has become uncertain, even as Beigle said its message has become more vital.
Scott Beigle. (Photo courtesy of Faith Radio)
“A lot of them, especially now with the immigration and all, they’re scared,” Beigle said of 1070AM’s Spanish-speaking listeners. “And we understand they’re scared to go out — but they’re not scared to listen, to turn that AM radio on to hear their language, and to hear how God can change their life.”
In recent decades, AM radio, known especially for talk radio, has faded in popularity with the arrival of the clearer but more limited reach of FM signals, in addition to streaming and satellite radio. A 2025 survey from Barna Group and the National Religious Broadcasters found listeners access Christian radio from multiple sources, with 68% saying they listen to FM stations, 57% a website or app, 38% satellite radio and 37% AM stations.
While AM stations remain a smaller but consequential part of America’s radio landscape — the National Association of Broadcasters reports 80 millio …