Alternative rock station CD102.5 finds new home
The independently owned alternative-rock station CD102.5 returned to the airwaves last weekend.
The station, which began in 1990 as 101.1 FM, went off-air Nov. 1, because it was unable to reach an agreement with the owner of its Federal Communications Commission license. The station had announced, then, that it would broadcast online only, which it continued to do.
Now, the popular station has found a new home on 92.9 FM, the alternative station’s longtime owner Randy Malloy said in a release from Saturday night.
“We are ecstatic to get back to the business of independent radio where we belong on the FM — and now AM — dial,” he said in the statement. “Big corporate radio is slashing staff by the thousands across the United States, and we are proud to continue to offer live, independently operated radio and continue our commitment to local businesses, local artists, and the entire Columbus community — and soon the Delaware, Ohio, community. We are one of the last bastions of independent radio in the United States — and we relish that role.”
The new station has two antennas: one Downtown and one in Delaware, where the station will begin broadcasting Dec. 31.
The call letters of 92.9 FM have been changed to WWCD already and the Delaware call letters will be announced and changed at a later date.
Malloy said in the release that he is confident this will be the station’s final move — it moved from 101.1 in 2010 after that FCC license was sold — as the new agreement with the FCC licensees gives him the option to purchase the license eventually. He said that, with continued support of the Columbus community, the station will be able to do just that.
“Independent radio is important to music culture in the United States because it provides a way for bands and musicians who haven’t been signed to a major label to have their music heard by a broad audience,” Malloy said. “Independent radio means the best live DJs in real-time, who live in our city — not pre-recorded talk, streamed in from another place.”
(Allison Ward, The Columbus Dispatch, 2020)