WEOL

Infobox Radio Station
name = WEOL


city = Elyria, Ohio
area = Elyria/Lorain/Medina
branding = AM 930 WEOL
slogan = News. Sports. Talk.
airdate = October 17, 1948
frequency = 930 (kHz)
affiliations = ABC Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Westwood One
format = News/Talk
power = 1,000 W daytime
1,000 W nighttime
class = B
owner = Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co.
website = [http://www.weol.com www.weol.com]
sister_stations = WEOL, WLKR-AM, WLKR-FM, WKFM, WNWV
callsign_meaning = Wellington-Elyria-Oberlin-Lorain
coordinates = coord|41|16|10|N|82|0|16|W (Island Rd, Grafton Township)

WEOL is an AM radio station broadcasting in Elyria, Ohio, operating on 930 kHz. Its transmitter is in Grafton, Ohio and their studios are in downtown Elyria. The station is locally owned by Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co. was the first radio station to sign on in Lorain County.

WEOL has a news/talk format, carrying syndicated talk shows hosted by Glenn Beck, Clark Howard, Sean Hannity and Jim Bohannon, and local talk host Les Sekely in morning drive. It is Lorain County's Fox Sports Radio affiliate and runs it's programming on evenings and weekends, and is also affiliated with ABC Radio and the Wall Street Journal Radio Network.

WEOL is the Lorain County affiliate for the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Ohio State Buckeyes. WEOL also has coverage of local high school sports, including football, basketball, softball, baseball, volleyball and hockey.

History

WEOL signed on in October 17, 1948 at both 930 kHz and 107.3 MHz, in Elyria, Ohio. The FM installations, like most of the era, were established as an adjunct to the AM programming. Both stations were owned by the newly created Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co.

The station's early years were spent fighting for their very survival. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Lorain Journal (today known as The Morning Journal) enjoyed a near monopoly in news coverage and advertising revenue in Lorain. With the establishment of WEOL, however, the Journal feared the presence of this new competitor. In response, the Journal unofficially instituted an "exclusivity policy" that prevented Journal advertisers from doing business with WEOL.

WEOL's owners sued Journal Publishing, and it went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the 1951 decision "Lorain Journal Co. v. United States", 343 U.S. 143, it was found that the Journal violated key provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act by seeking to maintain their near monopoly on advertising revenue. In addition, the Journal was found to have acted in a "predatory" and illegal manner. [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=342&invol=143]

On May 15, 1958, Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co. was purchased by the Lorain County Printing and Publishing Company, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. LCP&P also owns the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram and Medina Gazette; in effect forming a radio/newspaper duopoly. This arrangement has lasted to this day, grandfathered by FCC legislation that now prohibits such arrangements.

Through the 1950s, WEOL was a "real hot rocker," playing the early gyrating rhythms of rock 'n roll to sock hops throughout Lorain County, and as far away as Ontario, Canada. By this same time, records show that the station had obtained a construction permit in the mid-1950s for WEOL-TV on channel 31, but the television station never made it on the air. [http://members.aol.com/jeff560/1958tv.html]

Among the personalities who worked at WEOL in their early years include Alice Weston (later with WUAB-TV - and who was present at WEOL's sign-on), Dick Conrad, Gary Short (later with WERE, WDBN, WDOK, WJW-TV, WUAB-TV), Ron and Dick Barrett, Neil Zurcher (later with WJW-TV), Jim Mehrling (later with WERE and WCLV), David Mark (later the promotional voice of many Fox and UPN TV stations from coast-to-coast) and Jeff Baxter (later with WWIZ/WLRO, WDBN, WLEC, who later teamed up with Jack Riley at WERE). For 20 or so years, Jim Mehrling produced and hosted The High School Scholastic Games of Lorain County programs on WEOL with David Mark as the program announcer (see Seasonal Programs below).

Jeff Baxter also helped make nationally popular a recording artist in Laura Lee Perkins. Laura, who recently moved to Elyria from her home state of West Virginia, broke out into a song while visiting the WEOL studios. Hearing her sing, Jeff gave her airtime on the station, and eventually parlayed it into a west-coast recording deal. Laura, now retired, resides in Michigan. [http://www.rockabillyhall.com/LauraLeePerkins.html]

In 1968, WEOL-FM started separate programming under new calls WBEA with an automated easy-listening format that still served the Lorain County audience. The format changed in 1982 to top-40 while retaining the same call letters. In 1986, WBEA changed to "Z-Rock" WCZR with an automated rock format. Fifteen months later, WCZR changed to smooth jazz as "The Wave" WNWV, positioned to serve the Cleveland market, which it is to this day.

Initially an independent station, WEOL affiliated with the Mutual Broadcasting System in the early 1960s, and then switched to ABC Radio's American Entertainment Network in 1968. Throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s, WEOL was "Your Hometown Radio Station," a middle-of-the-road outlet that put a heavy emphasis on local news and sports programming. WEOL also hired the first radio newswoman in the county back in the mid-1970s with Sandy Kozel, now with Associated Press Radio. Over the course of time, WEOL's news and sports department has garnered dozens of awards from the Ohio Associated Press and Cleveland Press Club, particularly "Outstanding News Operation" in large market radio.

) from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., along with long-form local news programming in drive-time hours. WEOL was re-branded as "The News Station," taking its cue from the All News Radio positioners.

WEOL started to segue into airing topical talk programming by adding Clark Howard in the late 90s, Jim Bohannon in 2000, Sam Donaldson in 2001, and Mitch Albom's show in early 2003. In May 2005, WEOL picked up Glenn Beck in the late morning slot, one year after the cancellation of Sam Donaldson's talk show. At the beginning of 2006, WEOL replaced Mitch Albom, whose show was no longer distributed nationally, with Sean Hannity. [http://www.loraincounty.com/entertainment/feature.shtml?f=7304]

On July 15, 2005, the Associated Press All News Radio network ceased operations. While this prompted WEOL to pick up Fox Sports Radio for evening and weekend programming, the station maintained use of the All News Radio "News Station" name for on-air promotions until April 2006.

Programming

Seasonal Programs

*"WEOL Matia Monday Night Sports Spotlight" with Tim Alcorn, Zoltan " Z " Zoltai, and Bob Tomaszewski: Mondays from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. during the NFL season.
*"The Cobos Insurance Center Countdown at the Q" with Tim Alcorn and Matt Loede: before select Cleveland Cavaliers home games. Always precedes the Cavaliers Radio Network pre-game show.
*"The High School Scholastic Games of Lorain County", a weekly quiz show featuring teams from Lorain County high schools, produced and hosted by Jim Mehrling. Mondays from 6:05 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. January through May.

Sports play-by-play

High School Sports: Football season
*The "Kolczun & Kolczun Football Forecast Show" airs usually at 6:00 p.m. on Friday nights (but sometimes at 5:30 p.m.) Hosts: Tim Alcorn and Matt Loede
*The "Kolczun & Kolczun Gridiron Clash" airs at 7:00 p.m. Friday nights, featuring high school football teams from Lorain County. Broadcasters: Tim Alcorn, Bob "Tomo" Tomaszewski, and Gary Pelter (sidelines). Some Gridiron Clashes occur on Saturday, with rotating broadcasters.
*The "Medina General Hospital Medina County Matchup" airs on a tape-delay basis, featuring high school football teams from Medina County. Broadcasters usually rotate, but they usually feature at least one or more of the following: Rob Polinsky, Zoltan "Z" Zoltai, Tom Evans, Kevin Mayer. Joe Lull provides the scores of other games during some of the breaks.

High School Sports: Basketball season
*The "Kolczun & Kolczun Cage Matchup" airs, on various days (but primarily Tuesday and Friday nights) when there is a high school basketball game, boys or girls, to be broadcast. Broadcasters rotate, but the games usually feature one or more of the following: Tim Alcorn, Rob Polinsky, Gary Pelter, Zoltan "Z" Zoltai, Kevin Mayer, Matt Loede, Joe Lull or Scott Zurilla.

High School Sports: Baseball/softball season
*The "Kolczun & Kolczun Diamond Duel" airs on select days, featuring various high school baseball and softball matchups. Broadcasters usually rotate.

Lorain County affiliate for:
*Cleveland Indians baseball
*Cleveland Cavaliers basketball
*Ohio State University football/basketball
*Columbus Blue Jackets hockey

External links

* [http://www.weol.com WEOL's homepage]
* [http://sports.loraincounty.com/sports/radio/weol.shtml Live and archived sports play-by-play from LorainCounty.com]
*Transmitter|WEOL|41.269533|82.004442
*AMQ|WEOL