Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 26, 2009 at 10:23:15:
Naperville's North Central College radio station competes with the big guys
Students rack up awards but maintain freewheeling vibe
By William Hageman | Tribune reporter
May 26, 2009
Tune in to WONC-FM 89.1 some morning, and you might hear Coldplay or Metallica. Tune in another day and you could catch Roy Rogers or the Naperville Municipal Band.
At North Central College's student-run and -staffed radio station, "from the classics to the cutting edge" is more than just an on-air slogan.
"We don't have those tight playlists like other stations," says John Madormo, WONC's general manager and assistant professor of broadcast communication at the Naperville school. "Once a song gets on our playlist, it stays. We have close to 5,000 songs we'll rotate through. ... Listeners can hear things at WONC they can't hear anywhere else."
It's one of the charms of the commercial-free, 1,480-watt station, which has a broadcast radius of 25 to 30 miles and is on the air 24/7 -- always with a live body in the studio.
WONC long has been recognized as one of the top college stations in the country. Most recently, it landed two nominations -- for best newscast and best use of new media -- in the Illinois Broadcasters Association's Silver Dome competition. Winners in this phase of the Silver Domes, featuring almost exclusively commercial stations, will be announced in June.
"When our students receive nominations in this competition, it makes the statement, 'We can compete with the big boys,' " Madormo says.
WONC has shown that ability in the past. Last year, June graduate Paige Spangler was named the No. 1 student DJ in the country. (WONC's history includes 20 Marconi Radio Awards, more than any other college, presented by the National Association of Broadcasters.) WONC also founded the John Drury High School Radio Awards, which honor students from throughout the country. Madormo's contacts in Chicago broadcasting -- he was a producer and director for WGN radio before going to North Central in 1980 -- has given students a pipeline to internships at more than a dozen TV and radio stations. And WONC alumni are sprinkled at stations throughout the country.
It all adds up to a stellar reputation.
"I have nothing but great things to say about WONC," says Dennis Lyle, president and CEO of the Illinois Broadcasters Association and president of the National Alliance of State Broadcasters. "They're consistent winners in our competition. ... Illinois is fortunate to have a program like this in our state.
"WONC continuously rises to the top of the winning entries. Several student entries have been chosen winners in our professional competition, which is held earlier in the year. And the station's Web site, frankly, rivals some of the commercial stations' sites."
"It's a fairly unique asset for a college our size," says North Central President Harold Wilde, a big fan. "We can reach a population of 4 [million] to 5 million people. People can hear us almost to the Loop. We're a 24-hour station. Naperville is the fourth-largest city in Illinois, and we're the only station serving Naperville. These are all great things."
North Central's radio history goes back to the radio clubs at the school in the 1940s and '50s. Until 1968, WONC's signal was carried through the school's electrical system. If you plugged in your radio on campus, you could hear the station. On July 1, 1968, WONC went on the air, broadcasting from Old Main, the first building erected on the North Central campus following the college's move from Plainfield to Naperville in 1870. The station moved to its present location -- Oliver Hall, a small house that had been a student residence -- in 1996, and has offices, a classroom and three studios snuggled into the building, which sits on the main drag through campus.
About 90 students work at the station, 80 of whom have on-air shifts, whether hosting a show or doing news, traffic or weather. Of the 90, only about half are broadcast majors.
"We have, on the air, computer science majors, biology majors," Madormo says. "They realize that this is something they won't be able to do once they graduate."
Not so with Spangler. She was born into radio -- her father is J.D. Spangler, former program director and morning man at WUSN-FM 99.5 -- and did bits with him on his shows when she was in high school. Like everyone in North Central's program, she was able to go on the air as soon as she started as a freshman.
"It was a good learning experience, because we got to do a lot of things by ourselves as opposed to being told what to do by a teacher," says Spangler, who now has an on-air gig at WUSN from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sundays and works the board at WCFS-FM 105.9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.
Giving the students freedom hasn't caused problems. There are rules against playing songs with profanity or those that might be seen to advocate drug or alcohol use. Occasionally, something might slip through, and because a large segment of WONC's listeners are older and are not students, Madormo might get a call or e-mail.
"We don't get a lot of complaints from residents," he says. "They usually call to make requests."
In addition to Spangler's national award, WONC had two other finalists in the College Broadcasters Inc. competition last year and also took home three Silver Domes.
"Success breeds success," Madormo says. "The awards we've won, when that information gets out, a lot of prospective students see that. And we attract a lot of the top students who want to be part of that success."
Of course, not every broadcast is flawless, as Wilde points out. But that's part of what WONC is.
"It's fun. It's very professional," he says. "As a college president, it's important that your station is professional. You don't want to hear from the FCC, and John is very good at making sure about those things. But it's also very collegiate, as you can tell sometimes when you hear some of the pronunciations. There's an element of learning going on, but it's fun. I'm so proud of it."