Why Not
Start a Catholic Radio Station!

What has the Holy Father said about radio?

"Radio offers perhaps the closest equivalent today of what Jesus was able to do with large groups through His preaching.  Radio is an intimate medium which can reach people on the street, in their cars, or in their homes...

Radio may well be the most cost-effective means of reaching numbers of people who may not want to read or may lack exposure to Catholic publications - but will be willing to 'eavesdrop' on Catholic radio stations."

Though each situation is unique, the following is a brief outline of how you can start a Catholic radio station. Although specialized knowledge is not necessary, the process is not easy and will require a commitment of a great deal of time and effort on your part.

Lets get started with prayer.

Prayer is the most essential step. You must discern what you are about to start. Starting a Catholic radio station is a calling and a ministry and not a business or part time venture. If after discernment you wish to continue and wish you had help, call Paul Danese at Catholic Radio Association.

Are You Organized?

You need to have a practical and organized approach to tackle this project. Please consider the following:

1. Do you have an existing organization? Example: Prayer group, Catholic bookstore, men’s club, etc. 

2. Speak to your friends and choose a core group of individuals who want to begin this project. Try to limit the core group to five members or less.  If more than five are chosen, the core group may tend to be more like a social club. 

Explore alternatives.

How do you want to organize? You must have a plan: this one section must have a great deal of time spent exploring alternatives and the effect it will have on the pending organization.

1. Is your new organization going to be a not-for-profit or a for-profit group.

2. Do you have an assurance of the necessary funds necessary to purchase a station. Don’t forget that you need a source of continuing funds to support the daily operation.

3. What kind of station do you want, an AM or FM? If you consider an FM station, then you must consider if you want a station in the commercial or non-commercial band of frequencies. FM stations will cost you more on average, but will have the same transmitter output power day and night.

4. Begin your fund raising after you know your plan. Try to find several individuals who could support your plan. If you find an individual who could donate the whole amount, do not contact this individual until after you have collected several donations. Using this method, you have demonstrated that you are serious and are able to collected donations from other supporters.

Programming.

This item will make or break the project. You must consider if you want to develop your own or use programming that already available. Everyone wants to be on the air or development a special program, this is just human nature. To development a 30 minute talk program that will air only once a week, it will take you four (4) hours to develop and record. Think if you did one show per day, for five days a week, do you have twenty or more hours to spend and the money to do this?

If you decide it will be too much work to set up your programming, sources are available which offer solid Catholic programs (Eternal Word Network (EWTN) for English and Spanish) free of charge. This service may be a good to start and then after a number of years migrate to your own programming.

Selecting the right station.

If you think you have found a station, then lets consider the following:

1. Do we purchase the station? In the long run this could be the less expensive option.

2. Can I lease a station? Yes. You could consider leasing a total station from the current owner. Under this option you have all the necessary equipment to get on the air. You can find some good deals depending upon the city or town.

3. How about just buying time on an existing station? This is the least expense way to get on the air. You can buy 30 minutes per week and broadcast the Rosary on Saturday mornings as an example. Prices will generally range from $25 to $200 dollars per hour, here again depending upon the city or town.

4. What if we want to start a new station? You can, however, lets review a typical FCC application cycle:

• Hire or contract with an engineering firm to perform an engineering study to determine if a FM or AM frequency is available in your area, (1 month duration).

• If a frequency is available, file for frequency with the FCC, (2 year duration). Even after 2 years, someone else could get the frequency and not you.

• If you receive the frequency, you then must buy the land, or build and/or rent tower space for the antenna, this could be expensive.

• Order equipment, (3 months lead time).

• Build station, (4 months duration). This could be less depending upon your funding.