READER COMMENTS

COMMENT ONE: IF MORMONS DON’T LISTEN TO “MORMON RADIO” – DO CATHOLICS LISTEN TO “CATHOLIC RADIO?”

In April we reported [link] about Brigham Young University’s plans to scrap the Classical music format on KBYU-FM and replace it with an Up with Mormon infomercial. (BYU later reversed their decision and KBYU is still playing Classical now.)

We received this comment from a retired commercial broadcaster who asked us not to publish his name:

As a Christian "believer," I've had professional and personal relationships with most every variety of Christians including, of course, Mormons. I can’t envision very many Mormons listening to Mormon-oriented programming.

Do you think the same is true with Catholics? Catholic radio gets lots of press coverage when new stations sign on, but I can’t imagine anyone listening to it.

KEN SAYS:

Catholic Radio Stations in the US (image courtesy EWTN)

You are right that there are quite a few new Catholic stations, particularly LPFMs, which have signed on recently. A few years ago, we consulted a large Catholic organization based in New York that wanted to us to evaluate their radio work. We learned that Catholic broadcasting has some unique problems.

Catholic radio has lagged far behind Evangelical Christian broadcasting in developing a national radio presence. Our research shows that Evangelicals own over 95% of the religious noncommercial stations, because many pastors want to buy airtime to raise money and reach more of their flock.

Catholics don’t have many independent Pastors, so there isn’t much of a financial incentive for Catholic stations.

Catholic radio got its start in the 1980s and 1990s when the cable channel EWTN began re-purposing TV audio for radio. EWTN is still, by far, the leading distributor of Catholic radio programming.

There are around 300 Catholic stations on the air.  Most are owned and supported by local dioceses. They operate on shoestring budgets, usually without a professional staff. The only Catholic station we know of that subscribes to the Nielsen ratings is KHJ-AM in Los Angeles. KHJ is owned by Immaculate Heart, one of the most aggressive Catholic media providers.

In the May 2018 Nielsen Audio PPM ratings, KHJ had 62,800 estimated weekly listeners and 0.1% AQH share.

A big barrier that independent producers face when they enter the Catholic market with a new program is infighting within the church. EWTN represents very conservative Catholic dogma. Program developers who EWTN considers “too liberal” are red-lined out of the Catholic radio market no matter how appealing their programming is.

FYI -- In January we published one of our favorite stories about Rev. Billy Graham’s early years in the 1940s & 1950s. 

Graham was a pioneer in evangelical broadcasting.  His legacy lives on at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul. You can see the story here.

COMMENT TWO: WHERE IS WTMD IN YOUR COVERAGE OF BALTIMORE RATINGS?

Anonymous Reader:  Why don’t you print the ratings for WTMD?

KEN SAYS: WTMD does not subscribe to the Nielsen ratings so their listening stats are not available. 

Since WTMD changed their management a couple of years ago, the station has vanished from national visibility. Apparently WTMD now is doing “stealth radio.”

COMMENT THREE: WKNO UPDATE, PLUS A REALITY CHECK

In our July 20^th post about WKNO [link] we used this verbiage about WKNO’s CEO Michael LaBonia: [He] seems satisfied with the way things are now – perhaps he prefers sleepy mediocrity because life is apparently easier when your mind is in the slow lane. 

An anonymous reader sent this comment:

I like your blog. Thanks for doing it. Keep up the good work. Just wanted to let you know I thought this statement seemed unnecessarily mean-spirited.

KEN SAYS: This reader is correct. We took a deep look in the mirror and this is not who we are. We know that many Spark News readers like the fact that we call bullshit “bullshit.” We sometimes use humor or parody to make a point, But we want our criticism to be professional, not personal. We are sending an apology to Mr. LaBonia.

That said, we still consider WKNO to be a Weakest Link in public radio.  For years they have underperformed and show no signs of improving their service to the people of Memphis.

Such waste of the public’s trust is still going on today. Consider this comment we received from another anonymous reader last week:

WKNO has zero quality control on-air. Announcers say several variations of the ID/positioner and use adlibs such as “Into each life some rain must fall…I’ll have the forecast coming up…”

Then there is the program flow.  On Sundays WKNO follows up TED with Thistle & Shamrock, and then Pipedreams. I would be surprised if these programs have appeal to the same person.