WONE-FM (97.5 FM) is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, featuring an AOR-leaning

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

format known as "97.5 WONE". Owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station primarily serves the Akron metro area. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WONE-FM broadcasts over one HD Radio channel (as of April 2020) and is available online. Both the studios and transmitter for WONE-FM are located in Akron.

History

The station signed on the air in October 1947 as WAKR-FM. It was co-owned with

WAKR WAKR (1590 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Akron, Ohio, and known as "Soft Hits 93.5 FM". Locally owned and operated by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station primarily services the Akron metropol ...

. In 1974, the station adopted the callsign WAEZ, playing

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

and beautiful music. The station adopted its current rock format as WONE-FM on January 1, 1985, when then owner Group One Broadcasting obtained permission to share the WONE base callsign of its sister station WONE in

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. Prior to the transition from WAEZ "Easy 97" to WONE, general manager Fred Anthony hired the first group of on-air personalities with the assistance of national PD Art Wonderlich (Art Wonder). This would included Deeya McKay, Mike Michelli, Tim Daugherty, Jim Chenot, and Dan Slentz. Their program director would be Ward Holmes. For weeks leading up to the transition, the new on-air staff would go through real-time shifts that were only "skimmed" on air checks (announcing portion) and reviewed by Holmes with the staff. Slentz finished his last "fake" broadcast shift as overnight person on January 1, 1985, at 5a.m. Engineers would cut over from the WAEZ reel-to-reel automation system at 5:30a.m., and GM Fred Anthony made the announcement of the format change. A few minutes after that, McKay would open the mic and play WONE's first rock song, " Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

Current programming

In addition to its music format, the station is the full-power FM Akron affiliate of the Cleveland Browns Radio Network. On February 1, 2013, WONE-FM announced that local radio veteran Jeff Kinzbach, best known from his years at WMMS in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, would take over the station's morning shift. Jeff retired from WONE on September 30, 2020. Current personalities include Matt Spatz & Amanda Casey (mornings), Dave Spano (middays), Kathy Vogel (afternoons), and Tim Daugherty (evenings) with Steffany Nicole, Carrie Danger, Amy Malone, and Ben McKee on weekends. Since December of 2021, Spatz has also served as the station's Program & Music Director.

References

External links

* * * ( Guide to reading History Cards) {{Classic Rock Radio Stations in Ohio ONE-FM Album-oriented rock radio stations in the United States Classic rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Ohio