WROU-FM
 | |
| Broadcast area | Dayton, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 92.1 MHz |
| Branding | 92.1 WROU |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WDHT, WGTZ, WING, WCLI-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | 1991 |
Call sign meaning | We aRe Ohio's U-92 (former branding) |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 26451 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 1,050 watts |
| HAAT | 163 meters (535 ft) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 921wrou.com |
WROU-FM (92.1 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station licensed to West Carrollton, Ohio serving the Dayton area and owned and operated by Alpha Media. WROU is Dayton's affiliate of The Steve Harvey Morning Show.[1] Its studios are located in Kettering, Ohio (with a Dayton address) and its transmitter is in west Dayton.
History[edit]
WROU was founded by Ro Nita Hawes-Saunders, an educator and dancer who was once an on-air personality at WDAO, in 1991. At the start, it was a typical locally owned Mainstream Urban with live airstaffers until Radio One purchased the station in 2003, after several years of resisting offers to sell the outlet and to fight off bankruptcy.[2] Since the sale of WROU Hawes-Saunders continued to work with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company as its executive director and serves as a board member of Parents Advancing Choice in Education, Inc. (PACE), which was formed in 1998 to help assist families who seek to exercise education choice for their children while helping schools adopt strategies for improvement. Her life as a radio station owner was also profiled in 2009 in the syndicated television series "Lifestyles with Rebecca."[3]
After Radio One took over the ownership of WROU, it adjusted the format to its current Urban AC presentation due to having WDHT (whose signal and coverage is much larger than WROU) taking the younger demos with its R&B/Hip-Hop heavy Rhythmic product. WROU was briefly known as WRNB after the sale, but reverted to the original calls in 2004. WRNB was originally at 96.9 FM and licensed to Troy as satellite-formatted "Solid Gold Soul" and was at one time the sister station to WROU, which is now Contemporary Christian formatted WYDA "K-LOVE". The WRNB calls are now used for Radio One's Urban AC FM station in Philadelphia.
On May 17, 2007 Philadelphia-based Main Line Broadcasting announced the acquisition of Radio One's stations in the Dayton and Louisville market areas.[4] Main Line took over the Dayton stations on September 14, 2007.[5] In 2014 Main Line would be acquired by Alpha Media, thus becoming the new owners of WROU and its sister stations in the Dayton cluster.
Previous notable on-air staff[edit]
- Stan "The Man" Boston (Dir. of Programming)
- Marco Simmons (Programmer)
- Ebony Foxx
- Bob Summers
- Lee Stephens (a.k.a. The Famous)
- L.A. Rene
- Ready Action (Music Director)
- Indigo Blue
- D.J. SKNO
- "The Professor" Chris Taylor
- Theo Smith
- Doug Davis (Double D)
References[edit]
- ^ "Syndication Notes 1/8: New Affiliates For Rover & Steve Harvey" from Radio Insight (January 8, 2019)
- ^ From Radio Business Report (November 2002)
- ^ "Episode Detail: RoNita Hawes Saunders; Sam Roth; Gina Bishop - Lifestyles With Rebecca" from TV Guide
- ^ News article of Main Line's purchase of Dayton and Louisville station clusters from Radio One (Radio-Online, May 17, 2007)
- ^ From Radio-Online (September 14, 2007)
External links[edit]
- WROU 92.1
- WROU in the FCC FM station database
- WROU in Nielsen Audio's FM station database