Radio Days
With studios in downtown Elyria and its transmitter/tower in Grafton, WEOL was the first radio station in Lorain County, signing on the air Oct. 17, 1948. It was owned by the then newly created Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting Co.
On May 15, 1958, ELBC was bought by the Lorain County Printing and Publishing Co. The LCP&P prints and distributes two newspapers: the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria and the Medina County Gazette in Medina.
Lonnie Gronek, vice president of Elyria Lorain Broadcasting Co., says the station has a proud history of top talent.
“Among the better known on-air personalities during the early days of AM 930 were Dick Conrad, Ronnie Barrett and Neil Zurcher,” Gronek explains.
Gronek says the station has tinkered with its format to find a combination that pleases listeners.
“Through the years, WEOL played a variety of music until November 1997, when the format moved to news, sports and talk,” he says.
Suzy Peters, the station promotions director, says WEOL’s format keeps it popular. “It’s one of the last radio stations of its kind with such a versatile format,” she notes.
To mark the station’s 65th anniversary, Peters says, the station is planning an Oct. 17 birthday party.
“It will allow our listeners and valued clients to help celebrate our birthday,” she says.
Today’s on-air lineup includes the WEOL Morning Show with Bruce VanDyke and Craig Adams, and syndicated talk with Stephanie Miller, Clark Howard, Sean Hannity and Jim Bohannon, with reports from the Wall Street Journal.
It’s also the station to turn to for the most local play-by-play sports in the region, Gronek says. The station carries many high school football, basketball, baseball and softball games, in addition to its affiliations with the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Lake Erie Crushers and Fox Sports Radio.