Northwestern Media

Northwestern Media is the Christian radio ministry of the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, an evangelical university in Roseville, Minnesota. Northwestern Media operates two radio networks serving listeners primarily in the Midwestern United States: the Life Network, a contemporary Christian music station, and the Faith Network with Christian talk and teaching programming.

Northwestern Media
TypeRadio network
Country
United States
History
Launch dateFebruary 7, 1949 (1949-02-07)
Links
Websiteunwsp.edu/about-us/radio-ministries

History

Northwestern Schools, as it was then known, entered the broadcasting business with the launch of KTIS-AM-FM in the Twin Cities on February 7, 1949.[1] The construction of KTIS, costing $40,000, was entirely underwritten by the school's students.[2] Its radio ministry soon expanded. On April 1, 1953, it bought KBOK in Waterloo, Iowa and changed its call letters to KNWS.[3] Growth continued with the October 25, 1955,[4]:C-149 launch of Fargo's KFNW and its 1961 acquisition of KIHO in Sioux Falls, which became KNWC.[5] Northwestern built FM stations in all three cities in 1965 (Fargo's KFNW-FM[4]:C-149 and Waterloo's KNWS-FM[6]) and 1969 (KNWC-FM in Sioux Falls[4]:C-181). Northwestern acquired WRVB-FM in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1973,[7] changing it to WNWC; the college would buy an AM station there in 1997.

In 1983, KDNI in Duluth, Minnesota came to air; it was joined by KDNW, a second frequency, in 1992. Des Moines, Iowa, became part of Northwestern Media's footprint when radio stations KJJC and KLRX were bought out of receivership[8] and became KNWI and KNWM in 2004. KJNW FM in Kansas City was acquired in 2013 from Calvary Bible College.[9]

Station sales

In 2010, citing years of low listener support and the fact that it was subsidized by the rest of the network, Northwestern College closed WSMR in Sarasota, Florida, which it had built in 1996; the station was sold to the University of South Florida for $1.275 million and began broadcasting classical music.[10]

Between 2007 and 2012, Northwestern owned a third station, KFNL in the Fargo, North Dakota, area. The station was sold to a commercial broadcaster, Mediactive, LLC, in 2012[11] and is now KBMW-FM.

Between April and August 2018, UNW briefly owned two secular stations, KDSN-AM-FM, in Denison, Iowa. UNW had acquired the stations in order to move KDSN-FM to another frequency and facilitate a signal upgrade for KNWI.[12]

Expansions

Northwestern acquired KLBF near Bismarck, North Dakota, from the Educational Media Foundation in 2017; KLBF became a Faith station, making it the westernmost station in the Northwestern Media portfolio and one of its few markets without a Life station.[13] EMF had previously donated WNWW, an AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut, to the university in 2016.[14]

In 2018, Northwestern Media entered Omaha with its acquisition of KGBI-FM from Salem Media Group for $3.15 million.[15]

Northwestern Media made two major network acquisitions in 2019. The first came in July when the entire Refuge Radio network was donated to UNW. Refuge owned three full-power stations and 13 dependent translators in Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota.[16] The Refuge network was dismantled and almost all of its transmitters converted to repeat Life and Faith stations; former network key station WJRF in Duluth was taken silent (as Northwestern already had two stations there), the two other full-power stations began simulcasting Life stations, and the translators were spread around the Life and Faith networks.[17]

On August 6, 2019, the Illinois Bible Institute announced it would sell its New Life Radio Network (WBGL/WCIC), a two-network radio ministry primarily broadcasting in Illinois, to the University of Northwestern. UNW will pay $9,901,558.34 to acquire its 13 full-power stations and eight translators.[18] The acquisition will bring UNW's number of broadcast licenses to 81 in 10 states.[19]

Stations

Faith Network
Call sign Frequency City of license ERP Watts Class FCC info Rebroadcasts
KTIS900 AMMinneapolis, Minnesota50,000-D/500-NBFCCKTIS
K206DI89.1 FMMankato, Minnesota250DFCCKTIS
K214DF[note 1]90.7 FMGolden Valley-Minneapolis, Minnesota99DFCCKTIS
K215DU90.9 FMHutchinson, Minnesota230DFCCKTIS
W248CU97.5 FMMinneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota250DFCCKTIS
K277CC103.3 FMPennock–Willmar, Minnesota170DFCCKTIS
WNWW [note 2]1290 AMWest Hartford, Connecticut490-D/11-NDFCCKTIS
W231CZ[note 1]94.1 FMHartford, Connecticut32DFCCWNWW
KNWS1090 AMWaterloo, Iowa1,000-D/0-NDFCCKNWS
K226CK93.1 FMWaterloo, Iowa250DFCCKNWS
KDNI90.5 FMDuluth, Minnesota2,000C3FCCKDNI
K254DS98.7 FMGrand Rapids, Minnesota250DFCCKDNI
K207ES89.3 FMHibbing, Minnesota12DFCCKDNI
K220BI91.9 FMGrand Marais, Minnesota34DFCCKDNI
KLBF[note 2]89.1 FMLincoln-Bismarck, North Dakota2,300C3FCCKTIS
KFNW1200 AMWest Fargo, North Dakota50,000-D/13,000-NBFCCKFNW
K273DJ102.5 FMWest Fargo, North Dakota250DFCCKFNW
KNWC1270 AMSioux Falls, South Dakota5,000-D/2,300-NBFCCKNWC
K208EX89.5 FMBrandon, South Dakota230>100(CP)DFCCKNWC
K227AN93.3 FMLynd-Marshall, Minnesota140DFCCKNWC
K288EV105.5 FMBrookings, South Dakota250DFCCKNWC
K288GA105.5 FMSioux Falls, South Dakota220DFCCKNWC
K298CY107.5 FMSioux Falls, South Dakota250DFCCKNWC
WNWC1190 AMSun Prairie-Madison, Wisconsin4,800-D/21-NDFCCWNWC
W284CW104.7 FMMadison, Wisconsin250DFCCWNWC

Life Network
Call sign Frequency City of license ERP Watts Class FCC info Rebroadcasts
KTIS-FM98.5 FMMinneapolis, Minnesota100,000C0FCCKTIS-FM
K224DB92.7 FMWillmar, Minnesota170DFCCKTIS-FM
K232EK94.3 FMRochester, Minnesota115DFCCKTIS-FM
K235BH94.9 FMMankato, Minnesota250DFCCKTIS-FM
K270DZ101.9 FMNew Ulm, Minnesota250DFCCKTIS-FM
K299AL107.7 FMAlbert Lea, Minnesota250DFCCKTIS-FM
KNWI107.1 FMOsceola-Des Moines, Iowa30,000>100,000(CP)C2>C1(CP)FCCKNWI-FM
KNWM[note 3]96.1 FMMadrid-Ames, Iowa6,000AFCCKNWI-FM
K264CD100.7 FMDes Moines, Iowa99DFCCKNWI-FM
KNWS-FM101.9 FMWaterloo, Iowa100,000CFCCKNWS-FM
K242BX96.3 FMMarshalltown, Iowa250DFCCKNWS-FM
K245AZ96.9 FMDubuque, Iowa170DFCCKNWS-FM
K261DH[note 1]100.1 FMIowa City, Iowa47DFCCKNWS-FM
KDNW97.3 FMDuluth, Minnesota72,000C1FCCKDNW-FM
KRFG[note 4]102.9 FMNashwauk-Hibbing, Minnesota25,000C3FCCKDNW-FM
WJRF[note 4]89.5 FMDuluth, Minnesota1,650>40,000(CP)A>C1(CP)FCCKDNW-FM[20]
K201IX88.1 FMGrand Rapids, Minnesota250DFCCKDNW-FM
W230AN93.9 FMHayward, Wisconsin250DFCCKDNW-FM
W220EB91.9 FMAshland, Wisconsin38DFCCKDNW-FM
W268AT101.5 FMSpooner, Wisconsin19DFCCKDNW-FM
K288BF105.5 FMGrand Marais, Minnesota122DFCCKDNW-FM
KJNW88.5 FMKansas City, Missouri100,000C1FCCKJNW-FM
KGBI-FM100.7 FMOmaha, Nebraska100,000C0FCCKGBI-FM
KFNW-FM97.9 FMFargo, North Dakota100,000CFCCKFNW-FM
K230AS93.9 FMFergus Falls, Minnesota250DFCCKFNW-FM
KNWC-FM96.5 FMSioux Falls, South Dakota100,000CFCCKNWC-FM
KRGM[note 5]89.9 FMMarshall-Redwood Falls, Minnesota4,250C3FCCKNWC-FM
K208FJ89.5 FMFairmont, Minnesota250DFCCKNWC-FM
K210CG89.9 FMSpirit Lake, Iowa250DFCCKNWC-FM
K220HY91.9 FMSpencer, Iowa250DFCCKNWC-FM
K257CH[21]99.3 FMEstherville, Iowa80DFCCKNWC-FM
K220IT91.9 FMWatertown, South Dakota50DFCCKNWC-FM
K229BK93.7 FMNorth Sioux City, South Dakota250DFCCKNWC-FM
K231AR94.1 FMMitchell, South Dakota250DFCCKNWC-FM
WNWC-FM102.5 FMMadison, Wisconsin50,000BFCCWNWC-FM
W237CO95.3 FMRichland Center, Wisconsin10DFCCWNWC-FM

Silent
Call sign Frequency City of license ERP Watts Class FCC info Rebroadcasts
K285ET[note 6]104.9 FMKiron, Iowa250DFCCSilent[22]
K282CF (CP)104.3 FMDubuque, Iowa13DFCCSilent

Acquired Stations of New Life Media Network from the Illinois Bible Institute
Call sign Frequency City of license ERP Watts Class FCC info Rebroadcasts
WCIC91.5 FMPekin-Peoria, Illinois47,000BFCCWCIC
WSCT[note 7]90.1 FMSpringfield, Illinois3,800AFCCWCIC
WPRC[note 7]88.7 FMSheffield, Illinois8,500B1FCCWCIC
W212AN90.3 FMJacksonville, Illinois55DFCCWSCT
W219DV91.7 FMJacksonville, Illinois38DFCCWSCT
W255AI103.3 FMBloomington, Illinois55DFCCWCIC
W263AO100.5 FMGalesburg, Illinois19DFCCWCIC
K247BW97.3 FMBettendorf, Iowa40DFCCWPRC
WBGL91.7 FMChampaign, Illinois20,000BFCCWBGL
WCFL[note 8]104.7 FMMorris, Illinois50,000BFCCWBGL
WIBI[note 8]91.1 FMCarlinville, Illinois50,000BFCCWBGL
WNLD[note 8]88.1 FMDecatur, Illinois1,000AFCCWBGL
WZGL[note 8]88.1 FMCharleston, Illinois2,100AFCCWBGL
WCRT-FM[note 8]88.5 FMTerre Haute, Indiana1,050AFCCWBGL
WCBW-FM[note 8]89.7 FMEast St. Louis, Illinois250AFCCWBGL
WBMV[note 8]89.7 FMMount Vernon, Illinois10,500B1FCCWBGL
WVNL[note 8]91.7 FMVandalia, Illinois100AFCCWBGL
WIMB[note 8]89.1 FMMurphysboro, Illinois3,500AFCCWBGL
W211AD90.1 FMGranite City, Illinois60DFCCWIBI
W230BS93.9 FMEffingham, Illinois38DFCCWBMV
K295FB106.9 FMCape Girardeau, Missouri92DFCCWBMV

Notes
  1. Translator owned by the Educational Media Foundation
  2. Full-power simulcast of KTIS-AM
  3. Full-power simulcast of KNWI
  4. Full-power simulcast of KDNW
  5. Full-power simulcast of KNWC-FM
  6. Owned by the West Iowa Fellowship of Evangelicals
  7. Full-power simulcast of WCIC
  8. Full-power simulcast of WBGL

References
  1. "KTIS, Religious Station, Launched". Star-Tribune. February 8, 1949. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  2. "Students Finance New Station KTIS". Minneapolis Star. February 8, 1949. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  3. "School Group to Assume Control of KBOK Apr. 1". The Courier. March 17, 1953. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  4. "Radio" (PDF). 1976 Broadcasting Yearbook. 1976. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  5. "Station KIHO Is Now KNWC". Argus-Leader. April 19, 1961. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  6. "Waterloo's KNWS Begins FM Operation". Cedar Rapids Gazette. June 17, 1965. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  7. "College Buys Radio Station". Wisconsin State Journal. January 30, 1973. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  8. Sprau, Dave (June 26, 2003). "ESPN radio affiliate closes". Iowa State Daily. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  9. Venta, Lance (January 29, 2013). "Northwestern College Buys KLJC Kansas City". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  10. "Noncommercial WSMR-FM Sarasota FL going secular". RBR. August 4, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  11. Venta, Lance (March 5, 2013). "The Bone Fargo Goes Dark". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  12. Venta, Lance. "Station Sales Week Of 9/7: KDSN Gets Divested Soon After Its Acquisition". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  13. "KLBF/89.1 (Lincoln-Bismarck) has returned to the air..." Northpine. October 2, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  14. "K-LOVE Transfers Ownership of WCCC-AM in Hartford to Faith Radio". NRB Today. April 14, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  15. "Salem Media Announces Sale of KGBI-FM in Omaha". BusinessWire. May 22, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  16. "Refuge Media Group Donates Stations To University of Northwestern-St. Paul". Inside Radio. July 19, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  17. Ellis, Jon (September 3, 2019). ""Life," "Faith" Networks Expand on Former Refuge Stations". Northpine. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  18. Jacobson, Adam (August 6, 2019). "Faith Radio Finds New Life With 13 New Stations, Plus Translators". RBR. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  19. "U. of Northwestern Buys 13 Stations From Illinois Bible Institute". Inside Radio. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  20. "FCC Grants Upgrade for Duluth Station". Upper Midwest Broadcasting at NorthPine.com. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  21. Lakes Area Christian Radio files to donate the Estherville, IA-licensed translator K257CH at 99.3 FM to the University of Northwestern-St. Paul."Deal Digest – February 20, 2020". Inside Radio. February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  22. "Western Iowa FM Station Moves, Making Way for Des Moines Upgrade". Upper Midwest Broadcasting at NorthPine.com. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
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