ROSEBUD SIOUX TRIBE BUYS KINI RADIO
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has agreed to purchase the KINI Radio Station from St. Francis Mission. The purchase includes the KINI building, equipment and 40 acres of land. The official signing took place July 27, 2017. The sale is pending FCC approval.
“The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has collaborated with the Mission on several other programs with great success,” Rosebud Sioux Tribe President William Kindle said. “We would like to thank the Mission for the continued working relationship to better serve our people.”
In 1978 the Jesuits at Saint Francis Mission began a commercial 24/7 radio station KINI 96.1 FM to serve the people of the Rosebud Reservation. For almost 40 years the station provided religious programming, local news, announcements of birthdays, funerals, timely weather announcements, Lakota language programs, recovery programs and more recently suicide prevention programs as well as country and contemporary music.
Several years ago the Rosebud Sioux Tribe began a low power educational station KOYA 88.1 FM that offered much of the same services without the advantage of being able to charge for commercials. Because KOYA is an educational station it is completely dependent on grants or funding from the General Fund of the Tribe. Saint Francis Mission this spring offered to sell KINI to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for $1.00 and the valuable consideration of ten hours a week of free air time for fifteen years. This arrangement allows the Mission to continue to present its religious programming, share its various social program announcements and allows the Tribe to have income from a commercial station that could support financially both KINI and KOYA.
Included in the purchase is the 40 acres of Mission land on which KINI is situated.
On July 27, 2017, Fr. John Hatcher, S.J. President of Saint Francis Mission and Mr. Scott Herman, Vice President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, signed the agreement approved by the Tribal Council for the Tribe to purchase KINI Radio.
“This is a wonderful example of cooperation between Saint Francis Mission and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe that will be a win win for both organizations and will provide better radio service to the people of Rosebud Reservation”, Fr. Hatcher said.
