Iowa Catholic Radio Network expands to northern Iowa

By DAWN PROSSER
Directory of Communications
 
As of Jan. 11, there are three Catholic radio station towers serving the faithful in the Diocese of Sioux City. Iowa Catholic Radio Network launched KCSL 89.9 FM, licensed in Spencer. Trinity Catholic Radio 103.1 FM covers the Carroll area and Siouxland Catholic Radio has towers in Ponca, Nebraska and Storm Lake, covering a 50-mile radius from each site.
 
The new KCSL 89.9 FM will cover communities in the diocese including Arnolds Park, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Graettinger, Hartley, Lake Park, Laurens, Milford, Okoboji, Paullina, Primghar, Sanborn, Spencer and Spirit Lake. The signal will also reach Jackson and Worthington, Minnesota in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.
 
“We started broadcasting on the eve of the Baptism of the Lord, which we thought was appropriate for a couple of reasons – revealing of the Trinity but also beginning to broadcast in an area that has a lot of water,” explained Matt Willkom, Iowa Catholic Radio Network director of programming and network development.
 
The KCSL tower is located east of Fostoria but the FCC city of licensing is listed as Spencer, he pointed out. The parent company is St. Gabriel Communications, Inc., doing business as Iowa Catholic Radio Network. (This is a separate entity than Siouxland Catholic Radio-St. Gabriel Communications, LTD., based in Sioux City.) The station will be operated solely upon private donations.
 
During the Jan. 24 Catholic Morning Show, Willkom explained the call letters - KCSL were purposely selected – C to represent Catholic and Clay County, S to represent Spencer and SL for Spirit Lake.
 
Adding to their current coverage is part of the mission of Iowa Catholic Radio Network, the director said, noting the station will be on the air in the Mason City area in a few weeks.
 
“We have always had the goal of becoming our name – Iowa Catholic Radio and not just Des Moines or Polk County Catholic Radio but really bringing Catholic radio to every part of Iowa that doesn’t already have Catholic radio,” he said, noting that many of the Des Moines area listeners spend time vacationing in the Iowa Great Lakes area and desired access to the network in northern Iowa.
 
The network has been able to expand by acquiring existing stations and partnering with low-power independently-owned stations “that have said yes to broadcasting our programming,” in order to have access to the regional network’s resources.
 
“In the case of the Iowa Great Lakes region, we took advantage of an opportunity the FCC offered in 2021 to apply for a brand-new FM station,” Willkom said. “And 89.9 was one of those construction permits that we were granted as a result of that.”
 
Future projects include the purchase of an FM signal within the diocese that will switch to Iowa Catholic Radio programming in the near future.
 
“This 105.5 FM signal will replace AM 1150, as the vast majority of radio listenership is now on the FM dial,” the director said. “When the AM goes away, it will leave the Fort Dodge area without the daytime coverage it has enjoyed for so many years. We are actively working to address this issue.”
 
Local focus
Although the Iowa Catholic Radio Network has studios and administration based out of West Des Moines, the group focuses upon the local population associated with the different tower locations such as KCSL and 89.3 FM in Mason City.
 “We are looking at adding a programming feed specific to northern Iowa,” Willkom explained. "As an example, those areas would receive their own weather forecast, along with announcements with things happening in that part of the state.” 
Iowa Catholic Radio is also working on ways to add programming available to their entire network with content from the northern Iowa areas.
 
“We have a daily Mass broadcast from communities across Iowa. We’d love to partner with parishes in these areas to broaden that daily Mass offering. We feature a different parish every day. We have already heard from folks in the Iowa Great Lakes area interested in partnering with us to air a show or a new program,” the director said.
 
Willkom said the network is also looking at ways to partner with Catholic schools such as Spencer Sacred Heart. For further local programming, KCSL plans to offer a “fish fry finder” for all of the parishes in that listening area to post on their website.
 
The four Iowa bishops – including Bishop Walker Nickless - are featured each Saturday and Sunday at a 3 p.m. devotional hour where each bishop leads listeners in praying the rosary.
 
“Because the signal reaches portions of southwest Minnesota, we obtained permission from Word on Fire to air Bishop Robert Barron’s rosary Monday through Friday during the 6 a.m. hour,” the director said of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester bishop.
 
Local shows are also available on-demand on the network’s website, including those that currently run on Siouxland Catholic Radio – Draw Near, Faith in Action and Outcast Catholic.
 
The network also offers a free app on Google Play and the App store to access content on-demand.
 Upcoming events through the network include an April 2 Encounter the Eucharist program with Father Mike Schmitz of Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year podcasts, marking the 20^th anniversary of Iowa Catholic Radio Network broadcasting.
 
Twice yearly pledge drives help to fund the non-profit network, including an upcoming Feb. 25-28 drive, “Proclaiming Truth, Providing Hope,” using the 2025 Year of Hope jubilee theme as inspiration.
 
“Our mission is to connect people to Christ and his church on their faith journey,” Willkom stressed. “We look forward to incorporating the new listening area, especially through morning show interviews and other features.”
 
The Iowa Catholic Radio Network signal from Adel currently reaches some diocesan faithful living in Boone and Greene Counties.