For 25 years, the WONB radio station has allowed Ohio Northern University students to find their voice. The station, an integral part of the University’s multidiscipline learning experience, is marking its silver anniversary this fall.
The first broadcast over the air took place at 9:49 a.m. on Oct. 18, 1991. The time was intentional to pay tribute to the station’s frequency of 94.9 FM. The station, which is located in the Freed Center for the Performing Arts and is part of the Department of Communication and Media Studies, provides students of all majors with valuable experience while also serving the region.
Enriching the college experience
WONB features a mix of music, news, sports and public affairs programming. It has launched several successful broadcast careers and contributed to the college experience for countless students pursuing an array of academic and career goals.
“The radio station provides students who want to find a job in the radio industry with professional experience, but it serves a larger role by providing communication experience for a range of students,” Station Manager Nichole Tebbe said. “In fact, the majority of students working at WONB are not communication or multimedia journalism students.”
Community Connections
Beyond its contributions to ONU’s high-impact learning experience, the station has become a mainstay of the area. The station serves a 35-mile radius and airs nearly 35,000 public service announcements annually, about 70 broadcasts of athletic contests yearly, and about 10 local and national newscasts daily.
Among the most popular and long-running programs are broadcasts of Ada High School and ONU football games, as well as “This Day” gospel program hosted by ONU Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Adriane Thompson-Bradshaw.
“WONB helps to connect Ohio Northern with this region and is one way the campus becomes involved with the community,” Tebbe said. “We take pride in offering professional quality programming for area residents.”
The early days
Richard Gainey, who recently retired from the University, oversaw construction of the radio station as part of his duties as a broadcasting faculty member, and he then served as the station’s general manager. He recalls several details of the early days.
“One DJ on the air that first day was David Dellifield. Guests included ONU President Dr. DeBow Freed. The first song was ‘Day One’ by John Tesh. At the time, the station was a ‘yuppie classical station,’ otherwise known as smooth jazz.”
Dellifield, currently director of ONU’s McIntosh Center, has fond memories of those times as a student with the fledgling station.
“WONB was a ton of fun when I was in school,” Dellifield said. “I enjoyed being not only the first student on the air once we signed on, but also the first voice to come out of the tower when the transmitter was first fired up, which is my claim to fame on the ONU campus.”
Dellifield relishes his time at the station, the friendships he formed and lessons he learned.
“WONB was like a little family inside the ONU family. Richard and Becky Gainey (former ONU cable manager) did a great job of drilling responsibility into us, which is a trait I use to this day. We had to be timely, be responsible and understand that the needs of the community came before our own. We were given the opportunity to build something from the ground up, literally, and make connections with not only the ONU community, but also the Hardin County community, as well.”
How the station arrived at its call letters is a story unto itself
“Dr. Freed wanted us to have WONU, but those letters were taken by Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, Ill.,” Gainey said. “The Federal Communications Commission allows only one station to have a set of call letters; no duplication. We finally agreed on WONB: Ohio Northern Broadcasting.”
Station members often were driven, both literally and figuratively, to explore the station’s possibilities.
“Another humorous part of WONB’s start was that while testing the station, we often got in our cars and drove as far from the station as we could to see how far we could reach,” said Gainey, who now resides in Florida. “Once, while coming back from Chicago, I heard the station on an overpass, briefly, in Fort Wayne, Ind.”
Launching careers
Their WONB experience was instrumental in helping numerous students find and pursue their professional goals. For example, Holly O’Connor, a 2004 ONU graduate and former WONB DJ, is now the co-host of a morning show in Tampa Bay, Fla.
Among other notable ONU alumni whose careers can be traced to WONB are:
· Tyler Burnett (class of 2014), producer for the Motor Racing Network in Concord, N.C.
· Darnell Sample (2015), promotions coordinator for Radio One in Philadelphia
· Dave Crosser (2002), brand manager and morning show host for WKXA in Findlay, Ohio
· Chris Skaggs (2015), morning show producer at QFM96 WLVA and on-air personality for Saga Communications in Lynchburg, Va.
· Dave Woodward (1994), program director of 92.1 The Frog and morning show host in Lima, Ohio
“WONB is unique because it is hands-on,” Burnett said. “I wanted to pursue a career that wasn’t work for me, but was something I enjoyed, and that is what broadcasting gave me. Through working internships and, of course, my job now, I realize everything I learned at WONB was extremely helpful and congruent to a professional radio station.”
Burnett covered both ONU and local high school sports during his student days at WONB.
“Doing sports play-by-play is why I have a job today. Afternoons spent on the baseball or softball diamond and nights spent at the local Ada High School football games are memories I will never forget.”
The impetus for WONB began in the early 1980s, with the launch of WONU, a carrier current station. The station did not broadcast over the airwaves, but was heard on campus and nearby locations.
PHOTOS BELOW:
Fourth-year pharmacy student and WONB promotions director Amber Davis works in the production room of the Ohio Northern University radio station.
An image from the early days of WONB shows former ONU President DeBow Freed (left), as well as faculty member Nils Riess and Richard Gainey, who were involved in the station’s growt
