Christian music radio station KEEH-FM has broadcast from Spokane for 30 years, but it was a 2016 rebrand as Shine 104.9 that boosted its audience size and expansion.
The Spokesman-Review reports seven years ago, Shine sought to connect more with area nonprofits and Christian churches to share events. It took on a more local focus. Meanwhile, the station steadily climbed in ratings, as tallied by broadcast tracking company Nielsen.
For December 2023, Nielsen ranked it at No. 1 among radio stations for the Spokane metro market, the fourth time since 2019, said general manager Darin Patzer.
“We’re typically always in the top five or 10 with Nielsen, so it was kind of exciting that for the fourth time in the last five years, KEEH has hit No. 1 of all the 50-plus radio stations for this market, which is somewhat unique for a noncommercial, nonprofit Christian station – a hometown station – to hit No. 1,” Patzer said.
Prior to 2016, KEEH was part of a Northwest radio network that provided programming. When it became independent, Shine focused on content for the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene areas, Patzer said.
The station is heard across the Palouse and rural towns. Coeur d’Alene-area listeners tune in at 94.9 FM. Just over a year ago, Shine expanded into Sandpoint at 91.7 FM.
But people send notes from across the U.S. and as far as Brisbane, Australia, listening on its Shine app or website.
“We do know that in metro Spokane, we have 66,000 unique listeners a week,” Patzer said. “Our average listener is at about eight hours a week, so that’s a little over an hour a day for the average listener, which is pretty good for radio.”
Nielsen doesn’t typically track outlying areas, but he has heard a rough estimate of about 75,000 as a wider audience.
Ron Hauenstein, Spokane Fatherhood Initiative president, said Shine’s popularity “is a big deal,” but also surprises him. “I’m frankly stunned that Shine consistently ranks as high as it does,” Hauenstein said. “There are so many types of music out there and so many genres, and also, it’s overtly Christian. Why would people choose that medium as their favorite place to go to, when it doesn’t hide what it’s about?
“I’m really pleased by it. The Northwest is not known as a churched segment of the country; we’re known as the least churched segment of the country.”
Hauenstein, who listens more to talk radio, said he sometimes tunes into 104.9. “The station is uplifting; there are positive lyrics.” He also credits the station for promoting regional Christian events and becoming “sort of a glue that holds the Christian community together.”
The station doesn’t run commercials between songs. Instead, Shine as a nonprofit does a twice-yearly share-a-thon, when listeners pledge donations to support its operations, similar to public television drives, Patzer said. About 30 local nonprofits and for-profit businesses give donations either then or throughout the year.
But challenges include what many nonprofits face, from meeting budgets to relying more on contractors and part-timers.
The station has additional high-definition channels – HD 2 for Christian talk, and HD 3 for seasonal Christmas music. Those seasonal tunes also get airtime on its main stations, beginning near Thanksgiving as mixed in and then full-time by Dec. 25, from “White Christmas” and other classics to ones by modern artists.
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