Austin Has 'Spirit' In The Sky

It's like no other station in Austin.

And that's exactly what staffers were aiming for when Spirit 105.9 FM KFMK  made its debut on Austin's airwaves just less than a year ago.

The station offers contemporary Christian music, reaching an estimated 170,000 Central Texas listeners each week, according to figures from its owner, CRISTA Ministries.

According to Gary Dinges' Static blog at Austin360.com, General manager Tim McCoy, a longtime Austin radio executive, credits outreach efforts at some of the area's 1,100 churches, a regular presence at community events and a media blitz that included billboards around town and TV ads aplenty for helping to make the station a success right out of the gate.

"There was a very strong appetite in this area for a contemporary Christian radio station that was live and local," McCoy said. "Never before have I felt so welcome in a community.

"I'm the luckiest person in radio. I am so blessed."

Spirit has more than 20 full-time employees working from its offices on Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) at Westlake Drive — more than many Austin stations owned by big-name broadcasters with deep, deep pockets — and McCoy expects to bring on even more people in the coming months.

"While a lot of the stations in town are consolidating," he said, "we're adding folks."

McCoy says three pillars — family, faith and fun — guide everything Spirit does. That means broadcasts that parents can listen to with their kids, regular in-studio concerts with well-known Christian artists, listener trips to shows at venues in places such as San Antonio, members of its promotions team at events big and small, and TV commercials featuring singers from area church choirs.

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