Montrose Broadcasting Corporation: WPEL / WPGM / WBGM

The information on this page was last updated 8/1/2022. If you see errors or omissions, please email: info@ministrywatch.com

Summary

Montrose Broadcasting Corporation owns and operates non-commercial radio stations WPEL-AM/FM in Montrose, Pennsylvania, WPGM-AM/FM in Danville, Pennsylvania, and WBGM (FM) in New Berlin, Pennsylvania. WPEL began broadcasting on May 30, 1953, WPGM was purchased on January 6, 1964, and WBGM commenced operations on September 6, 1996. WPEL-AM broadcasts from 6:00 a.m. until sunset. All of the other stations operate 24 hours a day. WPEL, WPGM, and WBGM broadcast Bible teaching programs, evangelistic programs, public affairs programs, beautiful music, light classical music, and news.

Contact information

Mailing address:
Montrose Broadcasting Corporation
251 High Street
PO Box 248
Montrose, PA 18801

Website: wpel.org

Phone: 570-278-2811

Email: mail@wpel.org

Organization details

EIN: 231672821

CEO/President: James R. Baker

Chairman:

Board size: 3

Founder: W. Douglas Roe

Ruling year: 1967

Tax deductible: Yes

Fiscal year end: 12/31

Member of ECFA: Yes

Member of ECFA since: 1989

Purpose

Mission statement

The Montrose Broadcasting Corporation uses radio and the internet to broadcast programs that proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through instruction in the word of God and music that glorifies our savior and inspires listeners to greater devotion to him.

Statement of faith

Montrose Broadcasting Corporation uses the following to express their faith:

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writing, so that they are trustworthy and of supreme and final authority in all they say.

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the deity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His send blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful men and women regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Donor confidence score

Show donor confidence score details

Transparency grade

A

To understand our transparency grade, click here.

Financial efficiency ratings

Sector: Radio/ TV Stations

Category	Rating	Overall rank	Sector rank
Overall efficiency rating		744 of 1031	23 of 32
Fund acquisition rating		593 of 1033	21 of 32
Resource allocation rating		741 of 1033	25 of 32
Asset utilization rating		591 of 1031	15 of 32

Financial ratios

Funding ratios	Sector median	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions	6%	7%	8%	8%	7%	6%
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue	5%	6%	6%	6%	6%	5%
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue	91%	79%	75%	78%	77%	75%
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses	6%	6%	6%	6%	7%	4%
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue	9%	21%	25%	22%	23%	25%

Operating ratios	Sector median	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses	80%	75%	74%	71%	71%	76%
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue	93%	98%	105%	95%	86%	112%
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue	73%	73%	77%	68%	61%	85%
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue	7%	2%	-5%	5%	14%	-12%
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets	5%	1%	-2%	2%	8%	-6%
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses	14%	20%	20%	23%	23%	20%

Investing ratios	Sector median	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets	0.54	0.46	0.50	0.48	0.48	0.55
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets	1.91	1.44	1.46	1.31	1.26	1.29
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets	1.25	0.67	0.73	0.63	0.60	0.71

Liquidity ratios	Sector median	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities	12.99	3.45	71.73	59.62	75.23	62.10
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets	0.07	0.29	0.01	0.02	0.01	0.02
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12)	8.99	12.77	16.31	18.86	19.59	16.57

Solvency ratios	Sector median	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets	5%	20%	1%	1%	1%	1%
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses	158%	172%	200%	206%	206%	179%

Financials

Balance sheet

Assets	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Cash	$1,631,551	$1,299,999	$1,444,983	$1,405,869	$1,357,681
Receivables, inventories, prepaids	$14,485	$16,039	$49,646	$120,020	$17,008
Short-term investments	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Other current assets	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total current assets	$1,646,036	$1,316,038	$1,494,629	$1,525,889	$1,374,689
Long-term investments	$151,225	$193,253	$165,050	$178,047	$179,248
Fixed assets	$571,943	$416,572	$291,442	$218,491	$223,499
Other long-term assets	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total long-term assets	$723,168	$609,825	$456,492	$396,538	$402,747
Total assets	$2,369,204	$1,925,863	$1,951,121	$1,922,427	$1,777,436

Liabilities	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Payables and accrued expenses	$23,415	$18,348	$25,071	$20,284	$22,136
Other current liabilities	$453,375	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total current liabilities	$476,790	$18,348	$25,071	$20,284	$22,136
Debt	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Due to (from) affiliates	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Other long-term liabilities	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total long-term liabilities	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total liabilities	$476,790	$18,348	$25,071	$20,284	$22,136

Net assets	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Without donor restrictions	$1,876,222	$1,885,327	$1,906,344	$1,867,169	$1,731,006
With donor restrictions	$16,192	$22,188	$19,706	$34,974	$24,294
Net assets	$1,892,414	$1,907,515	$1,926,050	$1,902,143	$1,755,300

Revenues and expenses

Revenue	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Total contributions	$895,023	$683,972	$759,892	$823,628	$657,300
Program service revenue	$201,808	$201,524	$205,396	$235,406	$208,556
Membership dues	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Investment income	$24,646	$22,263	$14,466	$11,146	$11,807
Other revenue	$4,412	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total other revenue	$230,866	$223,787	$219,862	$246,552	$220,363
Total revenue	$1,125,889	$907,759	$979,754	$1,070,180	$877,663

Expenses	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Program services	$822,327	$702,955	$663,193	$650,562	$745,333
Management and general	$214,578	$193,888	$211,486	$210,099	$192,564
Fundraising	$61,983	$57,654	$60,536	$61,417	$41,890
Total expenses	$1,098,888	$954,497	$935,215	$922,078	$979,787

Change in net assets	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Surplus (deficit)	$27,001	($46,738)	$44,539	$148,102	($102,124)
Other changes in net assets	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Total change in net assets	$27,001	($46,738)	$44,539	$148,102	($102,124)

Compensation

Name	Title	Compensation
James R Baker	President	$96,668

Compensation data as of: 12/31/2020

Response from ministry

No response has been provided by this ministry.

The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 8/1/2022. To update the information below, please email: info@ministrywatch.com

History

In the summer of 1950, two businessmen approached the director of the Montrose Bible Conference, W. Douglas Roe, about the possiblility of establishing a non-commercial Christian radio station in Montrose, PA to serve the Scrantion, PA and Binghamton, NY areas.

Mr. Roe made announcements about the proposal at conference sessions and interested persons loaned or gave money to start the project.

An independent non-profit religious organization, the Montrose Broadcasting Corporation, was formed in 1951 to apply to the Federal Communications Commission for a license for a 1,000 watt AM radio station in Montrose. The station (WPEL) signed on the air on May 30, 1953, broadcasting from sunrise to sunset at 1250 on the AM dial.

In 1961 WPEL added a 57,000 watt FM station at 96.5 on the dial.

On January 6, 1964, the Montrose Broadcasting Corporation acquired WPGM (1570 AM) in Danville, PA. The FCC granted a license for WPGM-FM (96.7) in Danville in 1968 and for WBGM (88.1 FM) in New Berlin, PA in 1996.

In 2007, WPEL-AM moved from 1250 to 800 on the dial. With the exception of WPEL (AM), all of the stations broadcast 24 a day.

Mr. Roe served as president of the Montrose Broadcasting Corporation until his death in 1984. He was succeeded by Larry Souder.

Question	Response	Score
Does the organization have a statement of faith consistent with historic Christian creeds and is that statement of easily found on its website?	No	0/5
Does the board have no more than 2 non-independent members?	Yes	5/5
Does the board have at least four independent board members for every non-independent member?	Yes	5/5
Does the board contain between 5 and 11 members?	Yes	5/5
Does the organization file a Form 990 and make its Form 990 available to the public?	Yes	10/10
Does the organization make its audit or review (if annual revenue is less than $1-m) available on its website?	No	0/5
Is the organization a member of the ECFA?	Yes	10/10
Is the CEO/President's compensation within one standard deviation of the median compensation?	Yes	5/5
Did the organization operate at a net profit (revenue greater than expenses) in the most recent year?	No	0/5
Does the organization refrain from owning or leasing a private aircraft, or having fractional interest in one, that is primarily used for travel by the organization's leaders?	Yes	5/5
For the past five years, has the organization been free of any lawsuits or administrative actions filed against it by an employee, client, board member, vendor, donor, or other related party?	Yes	5/5
Are author royalties and speaking engagement fees paid to the organization, and not the individual?	Yes	5/5
Does the organization require its employees to affirm upon hiring the statement of faith of the organization?	Yes	5/5
Is the board chair an independent member of the board, and not the founder and/or CEO/President?	Yes	5/5
Does the board have term limits?	Yes	5/5
Have there been no public accusations of misdeeds against the organization, founder, CEO, senior pastor, or board members in the past five years?	Yes	5/5
Has the organization refrained from the use of non-disclosure agreements?	Yes	5/5
Does the organization have an overall financial efficiency rating of at least 2 stars?	Yes	5/5
Total donor confidence score		85/100