SPECIAL REPORT: Catholic Radio Achievements in Serving America’s 381 Metropolitan Areas

This is not to deny the importance of the smaller metropolitan areas or the rural areas, where there are significant numbers of Catholic stations. In fact, it has been my observation that the most rapid growth has been in the last 17 years in those metropolitan areas in the second rank, that is, Nos. 51 through 100. Here the prices are not the astronomical ones existing in the Top 50 market, where Catholic radio has been slower to penetrate. For the last five years or so, nevertheless, we have seen the remarkable growth of Catholic stations in the largest 50 metropolitan areas—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, for example.

There are still six major metropolitan areas in the Top 50 that do not yet have Catholic radio—Atlanta (No. 9), Baltimore (No. 20), Charlotte (No. 22), Orlando (No. 26), Memphis (No. 41), and Richmond (No. 44). Every one of these metropolitan areas is in the Bible Belt where there are few Catholics— except for Baltimore. Efforts existed in the past to bring Catholic radio to Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, and an LPFM in the first window to a Memphis suburb, but that CP was never built. As for Baltimore, the old Catholic Radio Network associated with Father Fessio leased a station on 1570 AM, but with the demise of that old network—not to be confused with the identically named network run by the O’Laughlins out of Kansas City—the lease was terminated.

Why is the MSA measuring stick of Catholic radio progress important? In other words, cover all 381 metro areas and you will cover almost nine out of then Americans. The total estimated population of the United States in 2014 was 318.9 million people. The sum total of all 381 metropolitan areas comes to 277,134,766 people. That means that 86.9% of the American population lives in one of these 381 metropolitan areas. These 381 MSA add up to over 277 million Americans, roughly 87% of all Americans in 2014. In other words, cover all 381 metro areas and you will cover almost nine out of then Americans. As of October 31st, Catholic radio serves 259 of these 381 OMB-defined metropolitan areas, roughly 68.68%. In the 17 years since Mother Angelica began promoting Catholic radio stations, Radio Maria came to this country with a handful of stations backed by the World Family in Italy, and Mark Follett and his group began Relevant Radio, this is quite an achievement. My hat off to all of you who have made this possible!

Explanatory notes to the following table of 381 Metropolitan Areas and Catholic Radio.

Some station call signs are repeated twice or more. That’s because certain stations, particularly in the East, Midwest, and on the California coast, cover more than one MSA even though they are licensed to only a particular one. A good example is Holy Family Radio’s WHYF in south-central Pennsylvania.

In general, I have, for other than the Top 100 MSA, shortened the often lengthy names of these OMB areas to keep the table less cluttered. Where towns are well known, I have not added the State behind it, unless there is confusion as in which State the city in question is located—Springfield is a good example. There are many Springfields in the U.S., particularly the ones in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Missouri.

LPFM stations are noted as such. Where the call sign has not yet been granted, these are indicated simply by generic designation. To keep this table simple in construction, I have not sought to identify CP’s not on the air or to distinguish Spanish-language stations. Other sources will clarify these matters.

“P” indicates a station in the planning or project stage that I know about. Some of the metropolitan areas are in the gunsights of at least one Catholic group, but I prefer to designate with “P” those markets in which a new Catholic station seems a good chance of coming about in the near future. (In one metro area, I have deleted the “P” because the group concerned wants their efforts kept quiet.)

Finally, although I have spent many an hour on this project and have meticulously checked each of the 381 metropolitan areas, doubling the research in uncertain metro areas, it nevertheless is reality that a work of this magnitude will include some errors or absences, no matter how careful I have been. I am much obliged if the knowledgeable people tell me about these; if the corrections are sufficient in number, I will issue a revised table.