Northwestern Media is the Christian radio ministry of the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, an evangelical university in Roseville, Minnesota. Northwestern Media operates three radio networks serving listeners primarily in the Midwestern United States: the Life Network, a Christian adult contemporary music station; the Faith Network, with Christian talk and teaching programs; and Spirit FM, also playing Christian adult contemporary music.
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. The construction of KTIS, costing $40,000, was entirely underwritten by the school's students. Its radio ministry soon expanded. On April 1, 1953, it bought KBOK in Waterloo, Iowa, and changed its call letters to KNWS. Growth continued with the October 25, 1955, launch of KFNW in Fargo, North Dakota, and its 1961 acquisition of KIHO in Sioux Falls, which became KNWC. Northwestern built FM stations in all three cities in 1965 (Fargo's KFNW-FM and Waterloo's KNWS-FM) and 1969 (KNWC-FM in Sioux Falls). Northwestern acquired WRVB-FM in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1973, 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 and became KNWI and KNWM in 2004. KLJC in Kansas City was acquired in 2013 from Calvary Bible College and renamed it KJNW.
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.
Between 2007 and 2012, Northwestern owned a third station in the Fargo area, KFNL. The station was sold to a commercial broadcaster, Mediactive, LLC, in 2012 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.
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. EMF had previously donated WNWW, an AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut, to the university in 2016.
In 2018, Northwestern Media entered Omaha with its acquisition of KGBI-FM from Salem Media Group for $3.15 million.
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. 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.
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 paid $9,901,558.34 to acquire its 13 full-power stations and eight translators. The acquisition brought UNW's number of broadcast licenses to 81 in 10 states.
In 2021, Northwestern filed to purchase KLMP and KSLT in Rapid City, South Dakota, and their repeaters from Bethesda Christian Broadcasting, closing on the purchase in January 2022. It obtained new licenses for full-power non-commercial stations in Ashland, Wisconsin, and Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2022, and it also purchased a series of FM translators rebroadcasting KSLT from the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel that year.
In a $1.25 million transaction, UNW filed to acquire the Lake Area Educational Broadcasting Foundation, whose Spirit FM and Elevate FM services are broadcast in various cities in Missouri, in March 2023. The purchase, including fifteen stations, eight translators, and six construction permits, was consummated on July 5, 2023.
In 2024, the Sound of Life Radio Network's nine stations and three translators in New York were donated to Northwestern Media."Sound of Life To Donate Stations To Northwestern Media", RadioInsight. March 5, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024. One of the Sound of Life stations, WSSK in Saratoga Springs, ceased operations on April 28, 2024, as its tower was demolished following a truck damaging its guy wires; Northwestern Media turned in its license in April 2025.
Stations
Faith Network + Call sign Frequency City of license ERP Watts Class FCC info Rebroadcasts KTIS 900 AM Minneapolis, Minnesota 50,000-D/500-N B KTIS K206DI 89.1 FM Mankato, Minnesota 250 D KTIS K214DFTranslator owned by the Educational Media Foundation 90.7 FM Golden Valley-Minneapolis, Minnesota 99 D KTIS K264CD 100.7 FM Des Moines, Iowa 99 D KTIS K215DU 90.9 FM Hutchinson, Minnesota 230 D KTIS W248CU 97.5 FM Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota 250 D KTIS K277CC 103.3 FM Pennock–Willmar, Minnesota 170 D KTIS WNWWFull-power simulcast of KTIS AM 1290 AM West Hartford, Connecticut 490-D/11-N D KTIS W231CZ 94.1 FM Hartford, Connecticut 32 D WNWW KNWS 1090 AM Waterloo, Iowa 1,000-D/0-N D KNWS K226CK 93.1 FM Waterloo, Iowa 250 D KNWS KDNI 90.5 FM Duluth, Minnesota 2,000 C3 KDNI K254DS 98.7 FM Grand Rapids, Minnesota 250 D KDNI K207ES 89.3 FM Hibbing, Minnesota 12 D KDNI K220BI 91.9 FM Grand Marais, Minnesota 34 D KDNI KLBFFull-power simulcast of KTIS AM 89.1 FM Lincoln-Bismarck, North Dakota 2,300 C3 KTIS K205GG 88.9 FM Grand Rapids, Minnesota 250 D KLBF KFNW 1200 AM West Fargo, North Dakota 50,000-D/13,000-N B KFNW K273DJ 102.5 FM West Fargo, North Dakota 250 D KFNW KNWC 1270 AM Sioux Falls, South Dakota 5,000-D/2,300-N B KNWC K208EX 89.5 FM Brandon, South Dakota 230>100(CP) D KNWC K288EV 105.5 FM Brookings, South Dakota 250 D KNWC K288GA 105.5 FM Sioux Falls, South Dakota 220 D KNWC K298CY 107.5 FM Sioux Falls, South Dakota 250 D KNWC WNWC 1190 AM Sun Prairie-Madison, Wisconsin 4,800-D/21-N D WNWC W284CW 104.7 FM Madison, Wisconsin 250 D WNWC KLMP 88.3 FM Rapid City, South Dakota 63,000 C KLMP KLMP-FM1 88.3 FM Rapid City, South Dakota 2,300 D KLMP KCKP 100.9 FM Laurie, Missouri 23,500 C3 KCKV 91.9 FM Kirksville, Missouri 1,000 A K207AY 89.3 FM St. Robert, Missouri 99 D KCKP K211FV 90.1 FM Sedalia, Missouri 54 D KCKP K285FC 104.9 FM Jefferson City, Missouri 250 D KCKP KURL 93.3 FM Billings, Montana 60,000 C1
Life Network + Call sign Frequency City of license ERP Watts Class FCC info Rebroadcasts KTIS-FM 98.5 FM Minneapolis, Minnesota 100,000 C0 KTIS-FM K224DB 92.7 FM Willmar, Minnesota 170 D KTIS-FM K232EK 94.3 FM Rochester, Minnesota 115 D KTIS-FM K235BH 94.9 FM Mankato, Minnesota 250 D KTIS-FM K270DZ 101.9 FM New Ulm, Minnesota 250 D KTIS-FM K299AL 107.7 FM Albert Lea, Minnesota 250 D KTIS-FM KNWI 107.1 FM Osceola-Des Moines, Iowa 100,000 C1 KNWI KNWMFull-power simulcast of KNWI 96.1 FM Madrid-Ames, Iowa 6,000 A KNWI KNWS-FM 101.9 FM Waterloo, Iowa 100,000 C KNWS-FM K242BX 96.3 FM Marshalltown, Iowa 250 D KNWS-FM K245AZ 96.9 FM Dubuque, Iowa 170 D KNWS-FM K261DH 100.1 FM Iowa City, Iowa 47 D KNWS-FM KDNW 97.3 FM Duluth, Minnesota 72,000 C1 KDNW KRFGFull-power simulcast of KDNW 102.9 FM Nashwauk-Hibbing, Minnesota 25,000 C3 KDNW WJRFFull-power simulcast of KDNW 89.5 FM Duluth, Minnesota 1,650>40,000(CP) A>C1(CP) KDNW KDGRFull-power simulcast of KDNW 88.1 FM Grand Rapids, Minnesota 5,000 A KDNW W230AN 93.9 FM Hayward, Wisconsin 250 D KDNW W220EB 91.9 FM Ashland, Wisconsin 38 D KDNW W268AT 101.5 FM Spooner, Wisconsin 19 D KDNW K288BF 105.5 FM Grand Marais, Minnesota 122 D KDNW KJNW 88.5 FM Kansas City, Missouri 100,000 C1 KJNW KSJIFormer affiliate of Spirit FM (KCVO) 91.1 FM Saint Joseph, Missouri 14,000 C3 KJNW KGBI-FM 100.7 FM Omaha, Nebraska 100,000 C0 KGBI-FM KFNW-FM 97.9 FM Fargo, North Dakota 100,000 C KFNW-FM K230AS 93.9 FM Fergus Falls, Minnesota 250 D KFNW-FM KNWC-FM 96.5 FM Sioux Falls, South Dakota 100,000 C KNWC-FM KRGMFull-power simulcast of KNWC-FM 89.9 FM Marshall-Redwood Falls, Minnesota 4,250 C3 KNWC-FM K208FJ 89.5 FM Fairmont, Minnesota 250 D KNWC-FM K210CG 89.9 FM Spirit Lake, Iowa 250 D KNWC-FM K220HY 91.9 FM Spencer, Iowa 250 D KNWC-FM K257CHLakes Area Christian Radio files to donate the Estherville, IA-licensed translator K257CH at 99.3 FM to the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. 99.3 FM Estherville, Iowa 80 D KNWC-FM K220IT 91.9 FM Watertown, South Dakota 50 D KNWC-FM K229BK 93.7 FM North Sioux City, South Dakota 250 D KNWC-FM K231AR 94.1 FM Mitchell, South Dakota 250 D KNWC-FM WNWC-FM 102.5 FM Madison, Wisconsin 50,000 B WNWC-FM W237CO 95.3 FM Richland Center, Wisconsin 10 D WNWC-FM KSLT 107.1 FM Spearfish, South Dakota 100,000 C KSLT KSLT-FM1 107.1 FM Rapid City, South Dakota 2,400 D KSLT KSLPFull-power simulcast of KSLT 90.3 FM Fort Pierre, South Dakota 2,000 A KSLT KSLSFull-power simulcast of KSLT 90.7 FM Dickinson, North Dakota 3,400 A KSLT K292DN 106.3 FM Newcastle, Wyoming 31 D KSLT
Spirit FM Call sign Frequency City of license ERPW Heightm (ft) Class FCC info KCVY 89.9 FM Cabool, Missouri 10,500 C3 KCVO-FM 91.7 FM Camdenton, Missouri 10,000 C3 KCKE 90.3 FM Chillicothe, Missouri 32,000 C2 KCKF 91.9 FM Cuba, Missouri 5,000 A KCVZ 92.1 FM Dixon, Missouri 6,000 A KVSR 90.7 FM Kirksville, Missouri 50,000 C1 KCVQ 89.7 FM Knob Noster, Missouri 7,700 C3 KCKH 95.9 FM Mansfield, Missouri 8,900 C3 KCKZ 103.5 FM Moberly, Missouri 50,000 C2 KCVJ 100.3 FM Osceola, Missouri 6,000 A KCVK 107.7 FM Otterville, Missouri 3,700 A KCVX 91.7 FM Salem, Missouri 30,000 C2
Low power translators
Sound of Life Call sign Frequency City of license Facility ID Class ERPW Heightm (ft) Transmitter coordinates Call sign meaning Former call signs WFGB 89.7 FM Kingston, New York B 3,100 WLJH 90.7 FM Glens Falls, New York A 40 WARD (3/21-8/15/1997) WGKR 105.3 FM Grand Gorge, New York A 60 WHVP 91.1 FM Hudson, New York A 220 Hudson Valley WQFA (11/15/1991-6/1/1992) WGWR 88.1 FM Liberty, New York A 38 WLJP 89.3 FM Monroe, New York A 1,600 WPGL 90.7 FM Pattersonville, New York A 27 WLGZ (2/26-12/20/1993) WRPJ 88.9 FM Port Jervis, New York A 500 Radio Port Jervis W235AY 94.9 FM Albany, New York D 250 W229BH 93.7 FM Newburgh, New York D 10 W206AW 89.1 FM Pawling, New York D 250
New Life Media Network