WRNP (94.1 FM) is a non-commercial FM gospel radio station licensed to Roanoke, Indiana, serving the Fort Wayne area. It is owned by

Taylor University Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country. The university is named after Bishop Willia ...

Broadcasting, and airs an urban gospel radio format, known as "Rhythm & Praise 94.1". Taylor University also operates a network of contemporary Christian music stations in the region led by

WBCL WBCL is an FM radio station located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The station operates on the FM radio frequency of 90.3 MHz. WBCL is owned by Taylor University in Upland, Indiana with its studios located at the university's Fort Wayne campus. I ...

(90.3 FM). Prior to being WRNP, 94.1 operated as a commercial radio station from 1990 to 2007 and as WBNI-FM, a classical radio station owned by Northeast Indiana Public Radio, from 2007 to 2021.

History

Commercial years

The station began broadcasting as news/talk outlet WQTX on 105.1 MHz on December 17, 1990. It was leased from original owner Judith Selby by the Kovas family, owners of WGL (1250 AM), and simulcast that station. The station did not remain on 105.1 long; it was ordered to move to 94.1 MHz in 1991 to make way for an upgrade to WQTZ, which had been at 92.7 MHz. By mid-1992, however, Selby had taken WQTX silent. It was acquired for $100,000 by Frank Kovas, making it an outright sister to WGL, and became WGL-FM from its present 94.1 MHz dial position at the start of 1993, resuming the simulcast of the AM station. In 1997, WGL-FM moved to 102.3 MHz, and 94.1 relaunched as adult contemporary WYSR "Star 94.1". It then flipped to

rhythmic oldies Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic ...

in 1999 as "Y-94". Another shuffle of formats in the Kovas cluster changed WYSR to

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music ...

WCKZ "The Wiz", previously on 102.3 in 2001; this was revised further to

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

as "Z-94" by 2007.

Classical years

In February 2007, Northeast Indiana Public Radio (NIPR) announced plans to acquire WCKZ for $2.5 million and a fundraising drive to make the change possible. The change took place on May 1, 2007, providing a stronger signal for the classical music programming that had been carried only on a transmitter in Orland (which took the WCKZ call sign, with 94.1 becoming WBNI-FM) and a translator in Fort Wayne. On January 20, 2009, citing low financial support, the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

and the debt load on the 2007 purchase of the former WCKZ, NIPR announced its intention to sell the transmitters associated with the classical service and move it exclusively to HD Radio and streaming. On April 15, 2010, NIPR announced the sale of WCKZ and the 10-watt Fort Wayne translator to Star Educational Media Network, owner of

WLAB WLAB (88.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported FM radio station in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is owned by the Star Educational Media Network and broadcasts a Contemporary Christian radio format. It holds periodic on-air fundraisers to s ...

(88.3 FM), which was concluded in June. In July 2016, NIPR purchased a two-story building on Jefferson Boulevard in downtown Fort Wayne to serve as the future headquarters for WBNI and WBOI, with fundraising to cover the costs of major renovations.

Sale to Taylor University

In June 2021, NIPR announced its sale of WBNI-FM to

, owner of contemporary Christian music station

in Fort Wayne, with the $350,000 proceeds going to fund digital equipment upgrades; as had been planned a decade prior, the classical service would continue on HD radio and streaming. The new frequency would carry the "Rhythm & Praise" gospel format that had been on WBCL's HD2 subchannel. The sale closed on September 1, at which time 94.1 became WRNP and began broadcasting the gospel music programming.

Footnotes

External links

* {{coord, 40.981, N, 85.280, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Taylor University RNP 1993 establishments in Indiana Radio stations established in 1993 Gospel radio stations in the United States