WNIR (FM)
Radio station in Kent, Ohio
WNIR (100.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Kent, Ohio, carrying a talk format known as "WNIR 100 FM". Owned by Media-Com, Inc., the station serves the Akron metro area as the local affiliate for ABC News Radio, syndicated personalities Rich Valdes and Mike Gallagher, and is the radio home of Bob Golic. WNIR's studios are located in Franklin Township, while the station transmitter resides in Brimfield. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WNIR is available online.
History
The station signed on the air as WKNT-FM on February 19, 1962. Owned by the publisher of the Kent Ravenna Record-Courier newspaper, WKNT-FM and WKNT (1520 AM), the latter having commenced operations in 1965, primarily served the Portage County area with an adult contemporary format.
The stations were purchased in 1972 by Media-Com, Inc., a family-owned business headed by Richard Klaus. Klaus lured a young Howie Chizek from Youngstown to host a five-hour midday talk show, changing the station's history forever. The call sign for the FM station was changed to WNIR on April 19, 1979, and it was branded Winner 100. Eventually, the AC music was dropped, and the station became all talk, adding Joe Finan in late afternoons in 1985 to replace a "GameRadio" afternoon drive show, hosted by Bob Roberts and Joey Harper.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “WNIR (FM)” as radio station in Kent, Ohio. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as radio station in Kent, Ohio. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7953435. Authority coordinates are 41.108, -81.355. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1962, 1520, 1965 and 1972.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “WNIR (FM)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow WNIR (FM) primary sources, WNIR (FM) archive and WNIR research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “WNIR (FM)”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “WNIR (FM)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.