WHAT IS THE IMEDIA1 NETWORK?
THE IMEDIA1 NETWORK IS A NETWORK OF 24 HOUR INTERNET SPORTS RADIO STATIONS THAT PRODUCE LOCAL LIVE SPORTING EVENTS IN THE MAHONING VALLEY. ALL THREE STATIONS ARE OPERATED FROM THE GESSLER PROPANE STUDIO IN STRUTHERS, OHIO.
EACH STATION HAS ITS OWN NATIONAL AFFILIATE AND ESSENTIALLY REPLICATES A TRADITIONAL TERRESTRIAL STATION IN NEARLY EVERY WAY.
EACH STATION HAS ITS OWN NATIONAL AFFILIATE AND ESSENTIALLY REPLICATES A TRADITIONAL TERRESTRIAL STATION IN NEARLY EVERY WAY.
HISTORY OF THE IMEDIA1 NETWORK
THE ORIGIN OF THE IMEDIA1 NETWORK CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE WINTER OF 2014/2015 IN THE BASEMENT OF THE HOME OF JIM CRAVEN. AS A PART OWNER OF THE WESTERN RESERVE SCOURGE FOOTBALL TEAM, HE LOOKED FOR A DEDICATED WAY TO BROADCAST THE TEAM'S SPRING AND SUMMER GAMES IN ORDER TO PROMOTE THE TEAM. THE RUDIMENTARY VERSION OF THE STATION WOULD DEBUT IN THE SPRING OF 2015 AS THE MEDIA BROADCAST OUTLET FOR THE OHIO FOOTBALL LEAGUE AFFILIATED TEAM. ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS AMATEUR SPORTS RADIO ONLINE (ASRO), WESTERN RESERVE RADIO (WRR) WOULD MAKE ITS DEBUT WITH THE BROADCAST TEAM OF LOCAL RADIO VETERAN MARC MEANS AND ANALYST RYAN BONACCI. ON AUGUST 29, 2015, MICHAEL HIRN WOULD BROADCAST THE OFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FROM GIRARD HIGH SCHOOL/ARROWHEAD STADIUM ON ASRO/WRR. THE SCOURGE WOULD DEFEAT THE RIVER CITY RAVENS 42-13. THE WESTERN RESERVE SCOURGE WOULD CEASE OPERATIONS AFTER THE 2015 SEASON. HOWEVER, OWNER JIM CRAVEN WOULD CONTINUE TO OPERATE WESTERN RESERVE RADIO.
IN 2016 WRR WOULD BECOME THE BROADCAST HOME FOR THE CLEVELAND COBRAS MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL TEAM OF
THE PREMIERE AMATEUR FOOTBALL LEAGUE.
WRR WOULD CONTINUE TO EVOLVE IN 2017 AS IT WOULD BEGIN 24 HOUR PROGRAMMING ON THE LIVE365 AND TUNEIN PLATFORMS WITH PROGRAMMING THAT WOULD INCLUDE THE COBRAS AS WELL AS A VARIETY OF MUSIC 24 HOURS PER DAY. DAVE FERRIS WOULD DEVELOP INTO THE CHIEF ENGINEER ROLE FOR THE GROWING ENTITY.
THE FOLLOWING YEAR WOULD PROVE TO BE A TURNING POINT FOR WRR. ON APRIL 6TH OF 2018, WRR WOULD MOVE INTO THE GESSLER PROPANE STUDIO IN STRUTHERS, OHIO WHICH IS STILL CALLED HOME TO THIS DAY. IN JULY OF 2018, THE YOUNGSTOWN VINDICATOR WOULD PUBLISH THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT WRR WOULD BECOME THE BROADCAST HOME OF THE UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE'S YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS. BROADCAST DUTIES WERE PERFORMED BY THE PHANTOMS' MATT LIPCSAK WHO CONTINUES IN THAT ROLE TODAY. LIVE PROGRAMMING WOULD CONTINUE TO GROW AS TIM CONTINENZA AND MATT EMCH WOULD TEAM UP TO BRING HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TO WRR. AS A RESULT OF A BROKERAGE AGREEMENT, THE GAMES WOULD ALSO BE SIMULCAST ON WRQX AM-600.
IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE COMMON INTEREST AMONG EVERYONE AT WRR WAS THE LOVE OF SPORTS WHICH LEAD TO THE DECISION TO CHANGE THE WRR FORMAT TO ALL SPORTS PROGRAMMING. IN SEPTEMBER OF 2018, PAT LUCIA WOULD BRING THE LONG TIME WEEKLY SHOW THE SATURDAY MORNING SPORTS PAGE TO WRR. IT IS THE STATION'S LONGEST RUNNING WEEKLY SHOW. IN OCTOBER OF 2018, WRR WOULD BECOME A DIGITAL AFFILIATE OF THE SB NATION SPORTS RADIO NETWORK. THE NETWORK WOULD EVENTUALLY DROP THE SB NATION MONIKER AND WOULD BECOME THE SPORTSMAP RADIO NETWORK (HOUSTON, TX). 2018 WOULD ALSO BE THE DEBUT OF WESTERN RESERVE RADIO 2 (WRR2) WHICH IS NOW A SPORTS BYLINE USA NETWORK AFFILIATE (SAN FRANCISO, CA).
SPEARHEADED BY MARC MEANS, 2019 WOULD SEE THE BLOSSOMING OF A WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH CUMULUS MEDIA IN YOUNGSTOWN. WRR WOULD SIMULCAST SPORTS RADIO 1240'S PRODUCTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME OF THE WEEK WITH MARC MEANS AND JIM CRAVEN. TIM CONTINENZA AND MATT EMCH WOULD PRODUCE GAMES ON WHAT WAS THEN KNOWN AS "ROCK 104," A CUMULUS MEDIA STATION. WRR WOULD ALSO BECOME AN ASSOCIATE AFFILIATE OF THE OHIO HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION RADIO NETWORK.
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC WOULD PROVE TO BE CHALLENGING FOR THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY. DUE TO GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS THAT WERE INSTITUTED IN MARCH OF 2020, SOME PROGRAMMING WOULD CONTINUE WITH HOSTS WORKING REMOTELY FROM HOME. OTHER PRODUCTIONS WOULD CEASE PRODUCTION FOR THE YEAR INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE. THERE WOULD ALSO BE NO SEASON FOR THE CLEVELAND COBRAS. AS THE WORLD ADJUSTED TO THE "NEW NORMAL," HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL WOULD GO ON WITH LIMITED ATTENDANCE AT STADIUMS. WRR AND CUMULUS WOULD TEAM UP TO PRODUCE A JOINT PRODUCTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SEASON FOR THE MAHONING VALLEY. WITH THE BROADCAST TEAM OF JIM CRAVEN, BOB GESSLER, AND DAVE FERRIS, WESTERN RESERVE RADIO WOULD AIR 15 WEEKS OF HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CULMINATING IN BROADCASTING THE OHSAA DIVISION VI STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME BETWEEN THE SPRINGFIELD TIGERS AND THE COLDWTER CAVALIERS.
AS THE COUNTRY SLOWLY EMERGED FROM THE PANDEMIC IN 2022, WRR AND WRR2 WOULD CONTINUE TO BROADCAST SPORTS PROGRAMMING AS LIVE SPORTS WOULD RETURN INCLUDING THE UNITED STATE HOCKEY LEAGUE AND MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL. IN THE FALL, WRR AND WRR2 WOULD BEGIN PRODUCING HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IN THE GESSLER PROPANE STUDIO TO BE SIMULCAST TO SPORTS RADIO 1240 AND WRQX AM 600. THE BROADCAST TEAMS WOULD CONSIST OF MARC MEANS AND DAVE CLARK AS WELL AS JIM CRAVEN AND BOB GESSLER. THAT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP CONTINUES TODAY.
AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF BEING THE HOME OF THE YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS, WRR WOULD BROADCAST THE JOURNEY OF THE PHANTOMS TO THE USHL FINALS AS THEY WON THE USHL CLARK CUP CHAMPIONSHIP ON MAY 19, 2023 IN FRONT OF A CAPACITY CROWD OF 6,000 AT THE COVELLI CENTRE IN DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN BY DEFEATING THE FARGO FORCE IN GAME THREE OF THE FIVE GAME SERIES BY A SCORE OF 1-0.
THERE WOULD BE ONE LAST ADDITION AS IN JUNE OF 2023. AFTER A REMODEL OF THE GESSLER PROPANE STUDIO, CITYVIEW SPORTSCAST WOULD DEBUT AS AN AFFILIATE OF SPORTS RADIO AMERICA. THE CITYVIEW BRAND INITIALLY MADE ITS APPEARANCE PRIOR TO 2014 AS A SPORTS MEDIA OUTLET OPERATED BY BRIAN WHAN, DAVE FERRIS, AND MARC MEANS. AS A TRIBUTE TO THEIR RECENT WORK AND THAT WHICH PREDATED WRR, CITYVIEW WENT LIVE AND THE TRIO OF INTERNET SPORTS STATIONS WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS "THE IMEDIA1 NETWORK". CITYVIEW WOULD HAVE ITS FIRST LIVE BROADCAST IN AUGUST OF 2023 AS MATT LIPCSAK AND MATT EMCH WOULD BEGIN BROADCASTS OF HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.
IN MARCH OF 2024 SPORTSMAP RADIO WOULD CEASE PRODUCING ORIGINAL CONTENT AND ALL SPORTSMAP AFFILATES WOULD PARTNER WITH VSiN (Vegas Sports Information Network) TO CONTINUE LIVE SPORTS TALK PROGRAMMING AROUND THE CLOCK.
THE IMEDIA1 NETWORK CONTINUES ITS LOVE OF SPORTS TODAY.
