Locally Owned Radio Station Reaches No. 1 in Ratings

George H.W. Bush was the president, the New York Giants were the Super Bowl champs, the Gulf War began in Iraq, milk was $1.05 a gallon, the Soviet Union collapsed, and mainstream internet did not yet exist.

The year was 1991, and it was also the last time when a locally owned radio station was number one in the Wheeling Metro Market. The radio ratings during the last 31 years have been dominated by stations owned by corporations like Clear Channel/iHeart and KeyMarket/Forever Media, but that all changed with the recent release of new statistics compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

The Ohio Midland Newsgroup, based in Bellaire, owns four stations on Rock Hill in Belmont County, and also two stations based in Jefferson County. It was WOMP FM, or WUKL, that registered a 15.9 share for individuals 12 years and older in the Spring 2022 Book, and the 100.5 frequency also won all day-parts in every possible demographic.

“Local radio works and our stations prove that on a daily basis,” insisted “Johnny O” Wilson. “These days you have people who are in another state who are speaking on the airwaves here and people in this area really do not like that at all. People like to know who they hear on the radio whether it’s a disc jockey or a talk radio host. They want to know them, they want to say hi in public, and they want to be able to message them on Facebook.

“In a valley like what we have here, everyone seems to know everyone, and that’s the way we like it,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons why the ratings turned out the way they did. People remembered WOMP when it came back in January, but if it didn’t play one greatest hit after another, it wouldn’t be the big deal it is today.”

One by One

Once upon a time, local radio stations competed with each other using bumper stickers, on-phone giveaways, and remote appearances in most corners of the Upper Ohio Valley.

But then a certain sterility come into play and suddenly names like Jack and Willie meant something to local listeners instead of “The Good Guys” or Jamboree USA. Cheaper options like voice tracking and syndication have been chosen by corporations, and slowly and surely local employees became something of the past.

But then Cody Barack, owner of The River, 106.2 FM in Steubenville, purchased several frequency licenses from Forever Media in mid-2021.

“For a lot of years, corporations from cities far from here owned the number one stations in this area, and that meant once they finished paying the few local folks, all the money went out of this area. To us here at The River Network, that was an issue and that’s why we all went to work to make our stations bigger and better once we had new ownership,” Wilson said. “While WOMP was number one in the Spring ratings book, all of our stations saw an increase in the numbers, and that was the goal.

“When the Nielsen ratings came out and we saw WOMP on top in every demographic there is, well, we knew the station had made a huge impact in the valley once again and it feels good for a local station to reclaim that spot at the top,” he said. “We feel we’re back where we belong.”

A Time Machine

The frequency, 100.5 FM, had gone country.

WBGI-FM, or BIGGIE Country, had taken over the frequency under Forever Media and the station’s programming was popular.

But it was NOT number one. Under Ohio Midland, Wilson was charged with the re-programming, re-branding, and re-introducing many of WOMP’s favorite features like the musical house parties on Friday and Saturday evenings.

“It’s the audience that made this all happen. To be number one across the board in all demographics is something the audience accomplished,” Wilson explained. “People have said to me that it’s all me, but that’s not true. I do most of the background work, and if you like it, you’re going to listen. If you don’t like it, you’re not going to listen. That’s the radio business.

“Now, we do have to keep evolving because over time certain things do get stale,” he said. “That’s why our listeners will be hearing some new things in the near future that I believe will work out very, very well.”

“Johnny O” confirmed listeners will be presented special programming, and with some voices from the past in the near future.

“John Cline has been the voice guy since WOMP made its return back in January, and he is a WOMP alumnus, and I have plans in place that will bring some former WOMP jocks back to the airwaves,” Wilson revealed. “Those guys will do some shift over a weekend whether they can come in to do it or if we have to figure out something over the phone or over the internet.

“We’ll let everyone know when those special weekends will be taking place, and we’ll also let our listeners know when some new programming features will take place, too,” he explained. “A lot of people came together to make WOMP No. 1 again, and when you have a team like we have working together, the sky is the limit.”