Moody Radio - History

History

WMBI, the flagship station of Moody Radio, got its start seemingly by accident. A violent storm in October 1925 prevented the talent for WGES' scheduled broadcast from performing on the radio. This opened the door for two cornet-playing Moody Bible Institute (MBI) students, who happened to be on-site and could fill the time slot. Few would have thought this “chance-encounter” would result in a weekly show and less than a year later help to launch WMBI, the oldest, most renowned Christian radio station in the country. In spite of changing technology, audiences and formats, the station has maintained a familiar presence on the air for eight decades.

This station was just the beginning of what would come to be known as Moody Radio. In 1958, MBI purchased WCRF in Cleveland, Ohio, and shortly thereafter, WDLM in Moline, Illinois. These purchases were the catalyst for a network that would grow to include 36 stations in the continental U.S. By the end of the 1960s, the network’s potential audience had increased to 30 million listeners. In 1982, Moody Radio began a satellite-fed network enabling communications across America.