Spreading the Word
Catholic Family Radio--the new voice of family values. . . . Talk radio you can feel good about. . . . Catholic Family Radio--it’s for everyone.
So go some of the cheery self-promos on new Catholic station KPLS-AM (830), whose offices are located in an unpretentious two-story building near Anaheim Stadium. The spots are also heard on stations in Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Kansas City and Milwaukee.
All seven outlets belong to the 6-month-old Catholic Family Radio network--itself a rapidly expanding family.
According to John T. Lynch, president and CEO of the La Jolla-based operation, the network is poised to buy 14 more stations, including outlets in Washington, Boston and Long Island, N.Y. And that’s not all. “Our vision is to own [stations in] 40 of the top 50 markets by the end of the year 2000, and then we would affiliate with [smaller stations in] markets 50 and above, and through that process have 100 stations.”
With Lynch as a prominent shareholder, the seven stations were bought in the fall from Children’s Broadcasting Corp. for $37 million. For two months, as a stopgap, the network played Gregorian chants, then went to talk in January.
And what does this multimillionaire, longtime radio executive and owner (easy-listening KJOI-FM used to be part of his holdings) hope to accomplish?
“It’s real simple,” says the former linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, father of three and grandfather of 5-week-old John Lynch III. “We’re trying to make the world a better place in which to live, make some money while doing it, and the third thing is to create the largest 24-hour talk network in the history of radio. By owning our stations, we can force the distribution of our product.”
At the moment, the network’s core weekday programming includes GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes, 6-9 a.m.; Dr. Ray Guarendi, a clinical psychologist and father of nine adopted children, 9-11 a.m.--”he bills himself as a Catholic ‘Dr. Laura,’ ” says Lynch; and 1998 Republican candidate for governor Dan Lungren, who broadcasts from his home in Sacramento, noon-3 p.m. And added just 10 days ago were Pat Campbell from 3 to 6 p.m. and Drew Mariani from 6 to 9 p.m.
The network also carries seven hours of programming that is not internally generated, including fare from Eternal Word Television Network. And on weekends, Catholic Family airs such nonreligious brokered fare as “Bass Anglers,” “PGA Golf” and “NAC Vitamins.”
Locally, KPLS joins a roster of nine predominantly evangelical Christian stations. Dave Armstrong, general manager of KKLA-FM (99.5), and of KLXT-AM (1390), which airs programming in Spanish from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m., welcomes the addition of Catholic radio here.
“It brings more listeners to the [religious] format,” he reasons. “I think we’ll get more listeners as a result. We all have the same objective, and that is to have some impact on society in a positive way, and so I applaud anyone who wants to do that.”
Meanwhile, a new 50,000-watt signal for KPLS is on tap for August so that it can be clearly heard in all areas of the market, even under freeway overpasses. Live audio on its Web site (https://www.catholicfamilyradio.com) is imminent.
While all the network’s hosts are Catholic, Lynch says he is in negotiations with Father Tom Hartman and Rabbi Marc Gellman--better known as “the God Squad” on ABC’s “Good Morning America”--for a slot on his daily or weekly lineup. And Father Gregory Coiro, media relations director for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, reports that he is working with the network’s marketing director in Los Angeles trying to get the old “Religion on the Line” program that had aired for 30 years on KABC-AM (790) onto KPLS. “It’ll be the same format--priest, minister and rabbi.” Hosted by? “It looks like, if it happens . . . that I will host it,” Coiro says.
And while all the hosts are decidedly conservative, Lynch says he is hoping to sign former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, a Democrat, as a national host. Flynn, however, is opposed to abortion. “He’s very pro-life, and we will not compromise on that. We won’t put on somebody [as host] who is pro-choice,” Lynch says.
The emergence of the nation’s only major Catholic radio broadcasting company came after a message in 1996 from Pope John Paul II, who said that the Catholic Church had done a poor job of using mass media to evangelize. At first, the premise of a core group of founders was to buy a couple of small stations, but they soon realized they needed a savvy radio leader. They located Lynch, former head of Noble Broadcast Group--a major radio, programming and sports marketing firm--which in 1996 was sold to Jacor Communications Inc. for $152 million. Lynch was a minor shareholder.
As soon as he got involved, Lynch decided to do some market research to find out who Catholic radio’s target audience would be. The results helped shape programming. “We determined we would not go after the highly committed Catholics, but we would target to the mainstream weekly Catholics, fallen-away Catholics and non-Catholics.”
Their research showed that the name Catholic Radio Network sounded too much like “the church preaching. We had some other names, but as soon as we said ‘Family,’ it attracted all groups. I think we all felt there was an opportunity here to have a radio network that was focused on family values, that would be a contrast to the extremes that we hear on some radio programs.
“Most of the religious stations address themselves to the highly committed. We’re addressing ourselves to the mainstream. We’re trying to get them more highly committed--just using the example ‘You lead a Catholic life, you’re going to have a better life.’ ”
Lynch insists the effort will pay off. He hopes to turn a profit early next year. Noting that one of the network’s earliest advertisers was Israel’s El Al Airlines, he says with a laugh: “They want to bring people to the Holy Land.” A perfect match.
Top 10 Host Parade: Who are the most-listened-to radio personalities? Breaking down the recent Arbitron ratings covering the first three months of 1999, morning-drive host Renan Almendarez Coello on top-ranked Spanish-language station KSCA-FM (101.9) leads the L.A. County-Orange County market with the largest number of listeners per average quarter-hour. His 5-11 a.m. weekday show drew an average of 215,700 listeners.
In second place was Rush Limbaugh on KFI-AM (640) with 137,100 listeners, followed by Pepe Barreto on KLVE-FM (107.5) with 135,000 listeners.
Laura Schlessinger on KFI from noon to 3 p.m. came in fourth with 130,400 listeners, while Rick Dees, heard from 6 to 10 a.m., was in fifth place with 108,100.
The rest of the top 10 were KROQ-FM (106.7) morning guys Kevin and Bean, 86,400; John London with his morning “House Party” on KKBT-FM (102.3), 86,100; Howard Stern on KLSX-FM (97.1), 80,300; KFI morning man Bill Handel, 72,300; and Larry Elder, afternoons on KABC-AM (790), 67,600.
Michael Jackson of KRLA-AM (1110), in 11th place, had just 700 listeners fewer than Elder. Thereafter the numbers drop sharply. John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou--who had been heard in afternoon drive on KFI--averaged 52,800 listeners.