Local FM radio station to change hands

FORT WAYNE, IND. (WANE) - Changes are coming to a popular radio station operating in Fort Wayne. The ownership of Star 88.3 FM has recently been up in the air, but now it appears some of the workers are about to own the station.

If you take a drive by the station’s studios on the campus of the Concordia Theological Seminary, you can't tell a difference in ownership. Inside the station, you also can't tell a difference. The new, soon-to-be station owners say you won't notice a difference on-air either.

"We're going to be able to do more outreach and be able to do more flexibility at some of the events we're going to be able to do," Star 88.3 Program Director Don Buettner said.

The Indiana District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has owned the station for 25 years.

"I don't think in anyone's imagination that the station would grow to the extent of where it is today, in not only how we impact the community but also in some of the recent national awards that we were just recognized for" Buettner said.

Yet the station's future has recently become unclear.

"There's been discussion over the past couple of months to let the boy have the keys to the car," Buettner said.

Those "key holders" includes Buettner and station manager Melissa Montana. Under the name "Star Educational Media Network", the employees submitted an offer for the station, which was accepted. Had the board not formed, it could have been a different story.

"Somebody else would have come in and in all likelihood Star 88.3 would have ceased to exist," Buetter said.

Now Buetter says it's just a matter of dotting the I's and crossing the T's on the deal, and the soon-to-be owners promise a bright future for a shining star.

Buetter declined to say how much the group of employees will pay for the station. Star 88.3 employs about a dozen people, and that number is likely to increase, Buetter said. The positive story is a sharp contrast during this time of job reductions and stations fading from the dial nationwide.