Timeline

• 1945

  • December 20 - FEBC Incorporated in Los Angeles, California. John Broger, President; Robert H. Bowman, Vice President; William J. Roberts, Executive Secretary are the original officers of FEBC. The office is established in Hyde Park District, Los Angeles.

• 1946

  • April - John Broger arrives in Shanghai aboard the S. S. Lane Victory, to talk with missionaries about establishing a Christian radio network.
  • May- FEBC issues its first regular, informational newsletter, The FAR EAST Broadcaster. Mrs. Dorothy Broger was editor for the first four years; Mrs. Eleanor Bowman, wife of Robert Bowman, did the original artwork, and assumed editing responsibilities in 1950.
  • June - The China Christian Broadcasting System (CCBS) is established in Shanghai. The hope is to open radio stations in China through this local organization.
  • August -John Broger goes to the Philippines to seek a base for FEBC there.
  • September - Franchise granted for stations in the Philippines.
  • October - Construction of Manila transmitters begun in Los Angeles
  • November - Final payment made on 12.5 acres of land in Karuhatan, Bulacan, Philippines
  • December - Passports and visas obtained for FEBC's first missionary family (the Arvid Viedmarks).
  • December- A report is made public showing that the total expenses of operation of FEBC in the U.S. and in Asia for this first full year of operation is a little over US$50,000!

• 1947

  • March - First "Call of the Orient" promotional radio program airs on stations in the U.S.
  • April- The Veidmarks arrive in the Philippines to begin preparation of Karuhatan property.
  • April - First FEBC broadcasts are released in Shanghai on local stations...these are produced in Shanghai in cooperation with local Christians, and aired under the new China Christian Broadcasting System.

• 1948

  • May - KZAS License is granted.
  • June- KZAS (later redesignated as DZAS) goes on the air.
  • July - KZAS officially dedicated as FEBC's first broadcast station.
  • Chinese broadcasts on KZAS, 680 KHz, clear channel, are heard in China fairly well at night, and are unofficially the first FEBC broadcasts to China!

• 1949

  • July - DZH-6, a 10,000 watt transmitter, goes on the air as FEBC's first short wave station. Chinese, Russian, and many other Asian languages are begun. By the end of this year, 27 languages are already on the air.
  • October 1 - The People's Republic of China is declared, beginning a decades-long isolation from the rest of the world. FEBC, which has begun broadcasting to that country only three months before, will not receive any significant mail from fearful listeners for the next 30 years.

• 1950

  • January - Portable Missionaries ("PMs") , FEBC-built pretuned radio sets are distributed throughout the Philippines for the first time. Many are pretuned to DZAS, the local AM station; the remainder to tropical band transmitters for the provinces. Eventually, about 3000 will be given out in areas where radios are a novelty. Many Filipinos will come to know Christ through this effort. The cabinets are hand-made made of mahogany plywood; the chassis are formed from the aluminum of 15-inch acetate recording discs.

• 1951

  • January- By now five transmitters are in operation at the Karuhatan, Bulacan site.
  • April-First broadcasts to Thailand are initiated.
  • September - First broadcasts to Japan.

• 1952

  • January- FEBC explores the possibilities of opening up a station in Greece, but this project eventually is closed when the government renegs on an earlier commitment.
  • April- Paul and Priscilla Johnson, producers of the FEBC Thai broadcast, are murdered while conducting a worship service in the north of that country.
  • May- China initiates forcible collectivization of property, and executions of millions of "class enemies" take place. Churches are closed. It becomes increasingly apparent that Christian radio will be one of the very few ways Chinese Christians can be fed spiritually, and the only means of mass communication of the gospel.
  • June- FEBC Thailand ministry is reorganized, with the help of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
  • FEBC's first Vietnamese broadcasts are produced in Vietnam with the help of missionaries and local Christians.

• 1953

  • January - Seven transmitters are in operation at the Karuhatan site: DZAS, DZB2, DZH6 for Philippines coverage, and DZH7, DZH8, DZH9 and DZI6 for overseas service.

• 1954

  • July - DZFE, FEBC Philippines' classical music station, is inaugurated as an AM station on 1030 kHz. Eventually, the station will switch to FM. Since its inception, this station has won numerous awards. Details on this station's history and awards are found on the vision page of the FEBC-Philippines' website.
  • September -New Collins transmitter boosts power of DZH-7.
  • November - Broadcasts begun in Formosa.

• 1956

  • February - VOA facility in San Francisco, scheduled for decommissioning, is dismantled by FEBC personnel and an army of volunteers for shipment to Manila where equipment will be used by FEBC for broadcasting the Gospel.
  • June - FEBC interviewsBilly Graham and helps publicize the Manila crusade. Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision accompanies Graham, and visits FEBC studios.

• 1957

  • AM Broadcasts in Russian from South Korea are initiated on HLAZ.
  • April - Purchase and develop property at Bocaue, Philippines for expansion of short wave services.
  • May - Initial inquiries made regarding setting up radio stations in Okinawa.
  • December - KSAB and KSDX, FEBC local AM stations, for American and Japanese communities, respectively, go on the air in Okinawa.

• 1958

  • April - KSAB is officially dedicated. Standing in front of the KSAB studio are (l. to r.): Arthur Austin, Lois Veit, William Roberts, Dale Smith, Frank Ineson, Robert Kellum.
  • September - First 50,000 (RCA) SW transmitter goes on the air at Bocaue, Philippines and is dedicated at a special inauguration ceremony.
  • September - FEBC Hong Kong studio opened.

• 1959

  • FEBC Japan (Tokyo) begins operations.

• 1960

  • June - A fire ravages KSAB. An electrical short is blamed. The damage is estimated at $15,000. (Naha, Okinawa)
  • July - Chinese language production begins from FEBC Hong Kong.
  • March - FEBC purchases and begins operation of short wave station KGEI from San Francisco, California.
  • - The New Delhi Office and studio (later to become FEBA-India) is opened and dedicated.

• 1961

  • January - 100kw KSBU AM begins operation from Okuma, Okinawa to China on 850 kHz.
  • May - KSBU is officially dedicated .
  • November - FEBA Singapore committee is formed and its inauguration is celebrated with a "tea" for more than 50 invited guests, with Dr. Robert Bowman as the special guest speaker.

• 1962

  • FEBA Singapore begins operations.
  • October - KGEI receives a special commendation for its part in assisting in communications to Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis. Dr. Robert H. Bowman accepts the award from President John F. Kennedy, famed news reporter Edward R. Murrow and FCC head Newton Minow at a ceremony at the White House. Mr. Minow is famous for his remark that "Television is a vast wasteland."

• 1964

  • DXKI-FM is inaugurated in Koronadal, South Cotabao, Mindanao, Philippines. Details on this station's history and awards are found on the vision page of the FEBC-Philippines' website.
  • October - FEBA Bangalore, India office dedication.
  • November - Far East Broadcasting Associates of India (FEBA-India) is officially launched under the laws of the State of Karnataka.

• 1965

  • August - Howard Alan Golding, 11½ , son of FEBC missionaries Dale and Belvah Golding dies of Encephalitis in Singapore. Howard's is the first death in an FEBC missionary family.
  • Millie Bell dies from rabies in New Delhi, India. She was bitten while protecting their son from an attack by a dog. The Bells served with Far East Broadcasting in India and Hong Kong.

• 1967

  • January - At the annual FEBC Directors' Conference held in Manila, it is unanimously voted to investigate alternative transmitting sites in the Indian Ocean, to more adequately reach India nad the South Asia sub-continent.
  • April - John and Alica Wheatley visit Seychelles to conduct a feasibility study and talk to the Governor and officials, after clearing the way in London at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
  • July - Approval is received from the Seychelles Government to establish a short wave station to broadcast to South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa.
  • August-November - Full scale activity begins to purchase land in Seychelles, recruit staff, and to raise funds for this major venture through the newly established FEBA-UK.

• 1969

  • DXJO (eventually DXAS, Zamboanga) is inaugurated in Jolo, Sulu, Philippines, beginning FEBC's service in Muslim-dominated areas of this country. Eventually the station will have to move because of the dangerous situation in Jolo. But bad things will happen in Zamboanga in 1992.
  • November - YASKI (FEBC-Indonesia) begins ministry under the leadership of Rev. Basil Costerisan, Dr. Ais M.O. Pormes, Rev. Dr. Yunus Atmarumeksa, and Prof. Dr. Julius E. Ismael.

• 1971

  • February - Land purchased on Cheju Island, S. Korea for stations for China.
  • May - Antennas dismantled in Sacramento, California for shipment to Cheju.

• 1972

  • DXFE is inaugurated in Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines. Details on this station's history and awards are found on the vision page of the FEBC-Philippines' website.
  • May - KSBU, Okinawa decomissioned, as Japan resumes control of Island. Local station KSAB becomes JOFF, and KSDX becomes JOTF. JOTF is ceded to a local non-profit Japanese organization.
  • September - President Ferdinand Marcos declares Martial Law in the Philippines, closing all mass media outlets. Because of FEBC's credible neutrality, FEBC is allowed to return to broadcasting within a week, the only non-government station so permitted for many weeks to follow.

• 1973

  • DWAS is inaugurated in Legaspi City, in the Bikol/Albay region, Luzon, Philippines. Details on this station's history and awards are found on the vision page of the FEBC-Philippines' website.
  • June - 250kw HLDA-AM (later to redesignated HLAZ) is dedicated for service to China, Japan and S. Korea.

• 1974

  • January FEBC re-opens studio/office in Saigon, S. Vietnam
  • FEBA Pakistan opens offices.

• 1975

  • April - In one of the most dramatic stories of FEBC, the Saigon staff is rescued from sure capture by communists days before the fall of that city.
  • July - DWRF-AM (250kw) begins transmissions for China from Iba, Zambales, Philippines. Details on this station's history and awards are found on the vision page of the FEBC-Philippines' website.

• 1976

  • - FEBA Kenya opens offices.
  • - JOFF Okinawa, service to American military and dependents, discontinues operation. FEBC-Okinawa closes all operations.

• 1978

  • - FEBA opens offices in Beirut, Lebanon.
  • April - KSAI-AM goes on the air in Saipan.

• 1979

  • January - FEBC-USA moves offices from Whittier to La Mirada, California.
  • - FEBC New Zealand opens offices.
  • After thirty years, since broadcasts had first begun to China, and in conjunction with the "opening" of China, Chinese listeners begin to write for the first time to the FEBC Hong Kong office. It is only now, after three decades of broadcasting "by faith," that we learn of the great impact missionary radio has had on the growth and sustenance of the Chinese Christian church.

• 1980

  • - Broadcasts in Russian are begun from HLAZ-AM, South Korea.

• 1982

  • - Biblical Education for All through Media (BEAM) begins airing on DZAS, Manila, Philippines and on the Overseas English service. In the next ten years, about 3,500 people are trained, many of whom would lead important ministries in the years following.

• 1983

  • July - Byrd Brunemeier, veteran FEBC engineer, is electrocuted while making repairs on the high voltage stage of 10kW KSAI transmitter in Saipan.

• 1984

  • - FEBA Radio opens offices in Zimbabwe.
  • - KFBS-SW, Saipan, four 100kw SW transmitters, goes on the air.

• 1985

  • DZB2 is inaugurated for reaching Mangyans in on Mindoro Is., Philippines. Details on this station's history are found on the vision page of the FEBC-Philippines' website.
  • September - World by 2000 (eventually World by Radio) partnership formed with TWR, HCJB and SIM. The goal is to identify and produce broadcasts for the world's people groups who have little or no Christian broadcasts.

• 1986

  • - FEBA Radio opens offices in Cyprus.
  • July - Don Bower, missionary engineer, drowns when he is swept off a rock by a large wave while hiking along the eastern coast of Saipan, known for its steep cliffs and violent surf. Fellow hikers were unable to rescue him. He apparently struck his head when he was toppled into the sea.
  • December 3 - Super typhoon "Kim" with peak winds of 212 mph hits FEBC Saipan, causing extensive damage to antennas.

• 1989

  • July - HLAD-FM, Taejeon, South Korea goes on the air.

• 1990

  • July - A massive earthquake rumbles through Luzon, Philippines, causing significant loss of life and property. FEBC Philippines suffers physical damage at several locations.
  • October - FEBC introduces the "MSWP" (Manila Short Wave Project) a major refurbishing of SW facility at Bocaue, to serve SW-dependent people groups in Southeast Asia. Later renamed "S.A.V.E. (SouthEast Asia Voice of Evangelism)"

• 1991

  • June - Mt. Pinatubo erupts in Luzon, Philippines. This disaster impacts FEBC Philippines in several areas, including its eventual protracted involvement in radio-related relief efforts which continue until this day. Also major work has to be done at the Iba, Zambales to protect valuable equipment against the volcanic dust.
  • Another powerful typhoon hits Saipan, causing considerable damage to equipment.

• 1992

  • - Weekly Russian broadcast on Mayak network is begun (discontinued later).
  • January - Dr. Robert Bowman, co-founder and President, retires.
  • February - FEBC Russia is incorporated in Khabarovsk.
  • April - FEBC Russian Ministries studio/office is opened in Sacramento, California.
  • June - FEBC Russia office/studio opened in Novosibirsk
  • September - Muslim political extremists Abu Sayyaf terrorist group attack FEBC station DXAS, Zamboanga (Philippines), killing three persons including Tausug language broadcaster Greg Hapalla and control operator Greg Bacabis. The killings are carried out after phoned threats against DXAS for broadcasting to the Muslim Tausug. The Tausug themselves were not complaining about the broadcasts, in fact were enthusiastic listeners. Some time passed before Abu Sayyaf took credit for the murders.
    

• 1993

  • FEBC re-opens offices in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
  • April - Program production and local broadcasts begun in Novosibirsk, Russia
  • November - Program production and local broadcasts begun in Chernovtsy, West Ukraine

• 1994

  • July - KGEI decommissioned. (KGEI's 50kw transmitter is donated to SIM International for use in Monrovia, Liberia. Shortly after installation there, the transmitter is destroyed by a rebel attack).
  • August - FEBC-Russia office in Moscow is opened.
  • September - FEBC studio and local broadcasts are started in Gorlovka, Ukraine.
  • October - Back-to-back typhoons again pound Saipan. Again the damage is significant.
  • October - First FEBC Russia building in Khabarovsk is completed and dedicated.

• 1995

  • January - Production and local broadcasts begin in Vladivostok, Eastern Russia.
  • March- Jim R. Bowman, son of co-founder Robert H. Bowman, is named President of FEBC-USA.
  • September - FEBC Studio in Slavyansk, Ukraine, is opened.
  • December- An explosion and fire cause 3 deaths to construction workers, and $1 million damage to FEBC Korea FM station in Taejon, S. Korea.

• 1996

  • March 16 - HLDD-FM, Changwon, South Korea goes on the air, serving the Pusan area.
  • October - Program production and local broadcasts begin in Chita, Eastern Siberia, Russia

• 1997

  • January - FEBC-Russia initiates Christian news center in Russian on the internet.
  • February - Program production and local broadcasts begin in Ussuriysk, Eastern Russia.
  • December - Program production and local broadcasts begin in Izhevsk, Russia.

• 1998

  • January - HLAZ-FM, Sogwipo, Jeju, South Korea goes on the air in Koean simulcast with HLAZ-AM.
  • March - Digitale Radio Mondiale (DRM) is inaugurated, signaling a major advance in AM technology. The International Telecommunications Commission will eventually approve standards for this system which is expected to revolutionize Short Wave and regular AM signals with "CD" quality sound.
  • July - Cambodia grants two AM radio station licenses to Far East Broadcasting. The first station is expected to be on the air by early 1999.
  • July - Program production and local broadcasts begin in Kemerovo, Siberia, Russia.
  • August - FEBC purchases an FM station in the city of Jakarta. By year's end the station is operating 19 hours a day to this city of 8.5 million.

• 1999

  • License granted to FEBC-Korea for construction of FM station in Sok'cho.
  • February - Program production and local broadcasts begin in Blagoveschensk, E. Russia.
  • July - Program production and local broadcasts begin in Krasnoyarsk, E. Russia.
  • July - Despite holding two valid AM licenses for stations in Phnom Penh, the customs department of Cambodia refuses to allow the imported transmitters off the docks(Cambodia's is a coalition government, still containing elements of the Khmer Rouge). New negotiations produce an FM license. The radio project now aims at mid-2000.
  • S.A.V.E. antenna construction phase is completed.

• 2000

  • March - Licenses granted to FEBC-Korea for operation of FM stations in the capital city of Seoul, and the cities of Mok'po and Po Han.
  • May -License granted to YASKI (FEBC-Indonesia) for construction of a radio station in Samarinda, Kalimantan.
  • June - FEBA-Singapore aids in the production of FM broadcasts six hours (three two-hour blocks) daily from Batam Island, Indonesia for service to the country/city of Singapore.
  • July - Radio Heartline, Samarinda, Kalimantan, Indonesia goes on the air.
  • August- FM license granted to FEBC for operation of station in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia.
  • September - Program production and local broadcasts begin in Barnaul, Siberia, E. Russia.
  • July - Radio Heartline, Samarinda, Kalimantan, Indonesia goes on the air.
  • December -HLKX-FM, Seoul, South Korea goes on the air with a license to simulcast HLKX-AM.
  • December- FEB International raises total broadcast hours to over 500 hours daily.

• 2001

  • March - New S.A.V.E. antenna system inaugurated in Bocaue, Philippines.
  • March - Inauguration of full time operation of RadioTserkov AM 963 in Moscow.
  • March -FEBC Thailand now heard on 25 stations nation wide, an increase of 15 new stations since 1997.
  • April -WIND-FM, 104.5, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, goes on the air officially. It had been in test transmission mode since October, 2000.
  • April 2 - HLKW-FM, Mokp'o, South Korea goes on the air.
  • April - Fire breaks out in FEBC studio under construction in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, killing construction worker Pu Ly.
  • July - Antenna permit issued to FEBC-Cambodia after many months of waiting. .
  • August - HLDY-FM, Yeongdong (Sokcho), South Korea, goes on the air
  • November 12 - HLDZ-FM, Pohang, South Korea goes on the air.

• 2002

  • January - Test broadcasts, followed by a regular schedule, begin for station KRUSA, FEBC Cambodia, in Phnom Penh .
  • February - HLQR-FM, Ulsan, South Korea goes on the air.
  • May - Local station KSAI in Saipan is closed.
  • February - License issued for station in Bali, Indonesia.
  • February - Radio Heartline, Lampung, Indonesia goes on the air.
  • March - FEBC/FEBA total daily hours now at 624.

• 2003

  • January - FEBC holds first Staff Congress in Tagaytay, Philippines. The congress' emphasis is upon enabling fellowship among FEBC's multicultural staff, especially those who do not ordinarily travel.
  • January - Fire breaks out and destroys the building of WIND FM in >Mongolia.
  • March - Responding to changing patterns in world broadcasting as well as to government reclamation of land around its reef aerial site, Feba ceases its Seychelles operation and begins transmitting to its audiences from a range of alternative outlets.
  • April - FEBC is granted a fifteen-year lease extension for property on >the island of Saipan by the CNMI government.
  • September - Gregg Harris becomes fourth president of FEBC.
  • September - FEBC International office in Singapore becomes a reality.