An institution of higher learning located in Ohio is known for its Polar Bears. That would be the mascot for Ohio Northern University.
What it won’t be known for in the next academic year? Its student-run radio station.
The facility has just been sold.
ONU is located in the small village of Ada, Ohio, to the east of Lima.
From campus, it has owned and operated WONB-FM 94.9, a Class A reaching Lima and much of Findlay, Ohio.
The station, a noncomm, is branded as “The Beat” and offers Classic Hits during weekdays, Hot AC programming in the weeknight hours, and Smooth Jazz and Gospel shows on Sundays.
That will soon change for the station, which signed on the air in October 1991.
That’s because Greg and Leo Schroeder-led Holy Family Communications is agreeing to purchase WONB, and convert the station’s programming to non-secular offerings.
The Schroeders are based in Leipsic, Ohio, and presently own and operate WJTA-FM 88.9 in Glandorf, Ohio. Expect WONB to become a simulcast partner, bringing “Holy Family Radio” to Ada and Lima from the north, where Leipsic and nearby Ottawa are served by WJTA.
Stu Nolan of LegalWorks Apostolate served as the legal counsel in this transaction.
ONU is pocketing $175,000 from the sale of WONB. A $5,000 deposit is being held by Nolan’s office.
The sale of WONB is the latest in a series of transactions that have seen colleges and universities part ways with their broadcast radio stations.
In April 2019, Bucknell University handed the license of WVBU-FM 90.5 in Lewisburg, Pa., to Northeast Pennsylvania Educational Television Association for a mere $17,600.
In December 2017, Anderson University in Indiana opted to part ways with WQPE-FM 98.7 “The Song,” a move that followed much-publicized deals that saw Northern Kentucky University and The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth part ways with their respective stations.
