WBNS (AM)

History

The station was first authorized, as WCAH, on May 13, 1922, and was originally owned by the Entrekin Electric Company of Columbus. The Wolfe family, owners of The Columbus Dispatch, bought the station in 1929 and in January 1934 changed the calls to the present WBNS– the call letters stand for "Wolfe Bank, Newspaper and Shoes"—the businesses controlled by the Wolfe family. (The WBNS stations maintained common ownership with the Dispatch until 2015, when the Wolfes sold the newspaper and related assets to New Media Investment Group.) WBNS was the longtime Columbus affiliate of the CBS Radio Network, and in the present-day serves as the AM flagship of the Ohio State Sports Network.

After various formats over the decades, including full service, Top 40, and MOR, in 2009 WBNS began simulcasting with WBNS-FM, which had previously aired an adult contemporary format. This was intended to improve the nighttime coverage for the station's longtime sports talk format, as well as Buckeyes football and basketball. The AM station must reduce its power to 1,000 watts at night, resulting in reduced coverage outside of Columbus itself. However, the FM station was branded as the main station, under the moniker "97.1 The Fan."

In 2011, the simulcast ended. The AM station began offering additional ESPN network programming and announced plans to create original local content such as an MMA show called "Ground & Pound", as well as a coach's show for the local MLS team, the Columbus Crew. On January 5, 2012, it was announced that the station would carry Cleveland Indians broadcasts in Columbus for the 2012 season, marking the return of the Indians after their absence from the Columbus market for the 2011 season. WBNS is one of a few stations remaining in the U.S. to broadcast using a Blaw-Knox tower that employed a distinctive diamond-shaped cantilever design.

On June 11, 2019, Dispatch announced it was selling its broadcasting assets, including the WBNS stations, to Tegna Inc. for $535 million in cash. The sale was completed on August 8.

On August 21, 2025, it was announced that the station will be renamed as "The Fan 2" and will drop ESPN Radio for BetMGM and Westwood One programming on September 2, 2025.

Previous logo

References

References

1. Miller, Mark K.. (August 19, 2025). "Nexstar Buying Tegna For $6.2 Billion".
2. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510008420257&view=1up&seq=390 "New Stations"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', June 1, 1922, page 2.
3. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510008420338&view=1up&seq=32 "Part I - Additions, Changes and Deletions to Lists"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', February 1, 1934, page 6.
4. [http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/radio-network.html OSU Radio Network - Ohio State Buckeyes.com]
5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070829120720/http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/schedule/radio_affiliates.jsp Indians radio affiliates - Indians.com]
6. [https://www.tegna.com/tegna-completes-acquisition-of-dispatch-broadcast-groups-leading-top-ranked-stations-in-indianapolis-in-and-columbus-oh/ "TEGNA Completes Acquisition of Dispatch Broadcast Group's Leading, Top Ranked Stations in Indianapolis, IN and Columbus, OH"], [[Tegna Inc.]], August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
7. [https://radioinsight.com/headlines/307189/wbns-to-launch-the-fan-2/ WBNS To Launch The Fan 2]