DAYTON, OHIO — Turn on the radio in this mid-sized Midwestern city and you’ll find some unique listening choices for those who enjoy R&B and Urban Contemporary formats. There is Alpha Media-owned Urban WROU-FM 92.1, while WDAO-AM and FM translator W272DR at 102.3 MHz provide a mix of “popular hits, familiar oldies, contemporary blues, jazz and gospel.”
On the noncommercial end of the dial is Central State University non-commercial WCSU-FM 89.9, from Wilberforce, Ohio. It’s a uniquely African American-centric Smooth Jazz station, and it’s the lone minority-owned and operated non-commercial Ohio Public Radio station in the state.
It’s an alternative, of sorts, for listeners of Urban formats. Now, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is putting its financial support behind a trio of “Urban Alternative” radio stations — planting the seed for its possible growth to cities where a sizable African American population drives radio listening.
