‘Incredible blessing’: Catholic radio station pays off $2.25 million lease, moves to new location

Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin blesses the people and studios at Catholic Radio Indy’s new offices on Dec. 17, while Msgr. Joseph Schaedel, pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis, holds the prayer book, and Catholic Radio Indy founder and chairman Bob Teipen, middle, bows his head in prayer.

By Natalie Hoefer

The paint in the renovated office space is fresh, the furniture is new and the equipment is up to date. The ink is still drying on the final of a decade’s worth of lease-to-purchase checks.

The only thing old now about Catholic Radio Indy is the 2,000-year-old message of hope and salvation being proclaimed.

The dual milestone of paying off the $2.25 million license lease for the station after 10 years and moving into a larger office space was celebrated on Dec. 17 as Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin presided over a blessing ceremony at the new Catholic Radio Indy location at 8383 Craig St., Suite 280 in Indianapolis.

“I think it’s interesting to be [giving the] blessing in Advent,” Archbishop Tobin noted. “Advent celebrates that time of waiting for the Word and then the Word taking flesh. I thought there was a happy coincidence that we’re blessing this [new location] at the very time we’re conscious of God speaking the word of salvation to us.”

Since it first took to the airwaves10 years ago, Catholic Radio Indy leased both its office space and a license from Hoosier Broadcasting Corporation. Twenty-four hours, seven days a week, Catholic programming aired on WSPM 89.1 FM—and later simultaneously on WSQM 90.9 FM—out of a Hoosier Broadcasting Corporation studio on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

According to Catholic Radio Indy president and general manager Jim Ganley, one final step remains.

“With the final installment made on purchasing the license agreement from Hoosier Broadcasting Corporation, the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] must approve the sale and the transfer of the station license.

“The paperwork for the transfer of the license has been submitted to the FCC. Approval is expected at any time.”

Bob Teipen, founder and chairman of Inter Mirifica, Inc., which owns and operates Catholic Radio Indy, said the milestone purchase of the license was “a long time coming.

“One thing that hamstrung us the last 10 years was that it cost so much to acquire the first station. Now that we made our last payment, that’s going to free up funds. On a net basis, we should save money on a monthly basis. We hope to expand, but we’ll see where the Lord leads us.”

As for the new office space on the northeast side of Indianapolis, “God lead us through the backward way of Craig’s List,” Teipen said.

Though the site was found in the spring, Teipen and his team would not be ready to take action until the fall.

“The board started praying that if it be God’s will, this place would wait,” said MJ Krauter, director of marketing and promotions for Catholic Radio Indy. “It had been vacant since December 2012. It was the most reasonably priced [of the locations considered] and had more space.

The fact that it was still available in the fall “is a gift from God,” said Krauter.

Ganley agreed.

“We’ve got 2,500 square feet here, so we have more room to work with [than the leased studio]. We have two recording studios. The guest studio is a little fancier, and the other studio is more the working studio where we do local announcements. Either studio can be on the air. This really is an incredible blessing.

“And having Archbishop Tobin bless the station was absolutely excellent—it couldn’t have been better,” Ganley said.

In his comments during the blessing ceremony, Archbishop Tobin likened the station to “the sower who spreads the seeds. He watches to see if it grows, but he knows that [growth] belongs to someone else. As Paul says in his First Letter to the Corinthians, somebody plants, somebody else waters, but God gives the growth.

“We are blessing something, thanking God for Bob, [his wife] Sharon, and the team who overcame a lot of obstacles to bring this message forward.

“We thank God as we bless this radio station, that it will carry a message, the message that is Jesus, and will help others to walk not in darkness but in light,” the archbishop concluded.

Among those attending the ceremony and open house were employees, donors, Msgr. Joseph Schaedel—who approved the establishment of the station in the archdiocese in 1998 while serving as vicar general—and members of the Catholic Radio Indy board.

When asked his thoughts on the purchase of the license agreement for the station, board member Bryan Weiss said he felt “hope in the future, because that’s what this whole thing is about—going forward. It’s a reassurance that the Catholic message will still be out there.

“Paying off the lease [for the station license agreement] is big. Now 100 percent of [listener donations] goes toward the station and not toward a lease payment, which was $20,000 a month. That’s gone, so now we can focus our attention on spreading the message even further across the state,” said Weiss, a member of SS. Francis and Clare Parish in Greenwood.

Wherever the station broadcasts, Archbishop Tobin’s comments indicate he will be in support of it.

“I think there’s a mistaken idea that radio has been surpassed by the Internet and videos and Instagram and e-mail,” he said.

“They all serve purposes, but radio is kind of like an old friend that is talking to you. You’ve invited them into your home, and they have something to say to you.

“I think it’s an important way the Word takes flesh today and reaches people the Church may not ever have a chance to speak to via another pulpit.”
 

(For more information on Catholic Radio Indy, their programming schedule, or to listen online from any location, log on to catholicradioindy.org.) †