WOBC History

WOBC was first established in 1949 as KOCN, the Oberlin College Student Network, which made it’s first broadcast November 5, 1950 at 590-AM. The first broadcast originated from a building located at 32 East College Street that was later demolished to allow the construction of the Oberlin Inn. When construction of the Inn began in the mid-1950s, the radio station moved to the garage behind Grey Gables, a building on West College Street that was later demolished to construct the Mudd Center. The station’s called letters changed from KOCN to WOBC in the early 1950s to comply with new call-letter standards.

During the this period, studio equipment and broadcast electronics were built by Oberlin College students, save the purchase of used turntables and microphone. The AM signal was broadcast directly to dormitories over a network of wire and transmission boxes attached to electrical poles in town. In 1953, the station acquired a teletype machine as a result of a sponsorship deal with Lucky Strike which provided news updates. During the first two decades of the station’s operation, programming consisted largely of classical music, news, jazz and popular music. WOBC began broadcasting at 88.7-FM in 1961. The studio remained at the garage behind Grey Gables until 1964 when the station moved to its current location in Wilder Hall.

Public Affairs

Through reporting current Events, making PSAs, and other Announcements, WOBC hopes to make our resources accessible to the greater Oberlin community and to bring new ideas and new faces into the radio station. Current Events, drawn from our calendar, are available to DJs every day we have something to report. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that WOBC air at least two Public Service Announcements (PSAs) every hour, which they define as “any announcement (including network) for which no charge is made and which promotes programs, activities, or services of federal, state, or local governments…or the programs, activities or services of non-profit organizations…and other announcements regarded as serving community interests, excluding time signals, routine weather announcements and promotional announcements.” Other Announcements are displayed and aired at the discression of the WOBC officers. At WOBC, we work creatively to disseminate information that is current and relevant to the communities that comprise WOBC’s diverse listenership in Lorain County and beyond. As a freeform college and community radio station, we embrace a wide range of ideas regarding what falls under “serving community interests.” We welcome submissions and participation from everyone – community and student organizations as well as individuals.