Representatives from low-powered community radio station WCRS 102.1FM reported today that the station has gone off the air as of last week, due to an agreement with the City of Columbus not being renewed. The station has utilized a city-controlled communications tower at Morse Road and I-270 for the past ten years.
“The City had been approached by other parties wanting to use the tower too,” stated Jim Ebright, Director of WCRS’ licensee, the local non-profit Neighborhood Network. “Rather than work up rules confining use to legitimate non-profits doing community service, they threw the baby out with the bath water and banned use by any outside parties. I think it’s one representation of a shift from the Coleman administration’s outreach to non-traditional communities to a more mundane traditional non-involvement by the Ginther administration.”
Ebright stated that part of the mission of WCRS is to broadcast a mix of local and national programming aimed at demographics not traditionally served by commercial stations — which includes the Somali, Latino and LGBT communities in Columbus.
While the station is offline for now, Ebright added that a new frequency is already being set up for their return to the airwaves.
“We will be back on the air, probably before year’s end,” he stated. “We will have a new frequency (92.7 FM) and call letters (probably WCRM) and will continue use of a rebroadcaster on 98.3 FM in Marble Cliff, near OSU. We are just waiting for the FCC to approve transfer of our current frequency and hours.”
For more information, visit www.wcrsfm.org.