Ohio State University is making a programming change at its network stations in Central and Southern Ohio.
While Public News/Talk 89.7 WOSU-FM Columbus and Classical 101.1 WOSA Grove City will continue with their current programming lineups, the regional stations of 91.1 WOSB Marion, 91.1 WOSE Coshocton, 91.5 WOSP Portsmouth, and 89.7 WOSV Mansfield and new acquisition 91.1 WOSX (formerly WDUB) Granville OH will move from all-Classical to a mix of Classical and News/Talk programming.
Those stations will add NPR’s Morning Edition, Weekend Edition and All Things Considered as well as WOSU-FM’s newscasts while retaining a simulcast of WOSA in other dayparts.
WOSU Public Media has acquired the 91.1 FM frequency in Granville, Ohio previously owned by Denison University. WOSU plans to put the new station, with the call letters WOSX, on the air Monday, March 2 at 3 pm. The move increases the reach of WOSU’s regional radio network to include Granville and portions of Newark and Heath.
WOSU Radio LogoWOSU also is announcing a programming change starting March 2 for all of its regional stations covering Marion (91.1 FM – WOSB), Coshocton (91.1 FM – WOSE), Portsmouth (91.5 FM – WOSP) and Mansfield (91.7 FM – WOSV).
Those stations along with WOSX in Granville will now receive global and national news from NPR and Ohio news from the WOSU news team along with the current classical music programming from Classical 101 in Columbus. The stations previously offered an all-classical music format.
Named Ohio’s Best Radio News Operation by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists in 2019, 89.7 NPR News is the only all-day NPR station in Central Ohio, providing local and global news and public affairs programming.
“There is a significant need to bring trusted news to areas of the state that have seen cutbacks at local newsrooms,” said WOSU Public Media general manager Tom Rieland. “As a strong regional news organization and an NPR affiliate, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver balanced, accurate news about our complex world and about Central Ohio.”
The news programming, which will include NPR’s weekday Morning Edition and All Things Considered and Weekend Edition every Saturday, is in addition to the continuing broadcast of Classical 101 throughout the day. Listeners can find 89.7 NPR News and Classical 101 online at wosu.org, on the WOSU Public Media mobile app and on smart speakers.
Eric Jon Magnuson 
Nathan Obral
Fortunately, it looks like this new lineup still doesn’t compete a whole lot with that of Ohio University’s WOUB regional network. Those two groups do overlap a bit geographically–especially with the new Granville/Heath/Newark station added to the mix.
There’s also an NPR hole of sorts in the Mansfield-Marion area; WKSU/Kent has translators in Mansfield and Ashland and a full-power repeater in Wooster, but WOSU-FM only puts a grade B signal in Marion.