covenant was the brainchild of tony and teresa holman, who met in st. louis and felt a calling to share their faith. after looking for stations to buy, covenant network began broadcasting may 1, 1997, on wryt, licensed to edwardsville, illinois. after using the illinois studios acquired from wryt, covenant bought a former dance studio on hampton avenue in st. louis and began producing programming. in 1998, covenant acquired its second station, the former wtim in taylorville, illinois, and renamed it wihm.