WONU

WONU is a FM Station broadcasting on 89.7 MHz in Kankakee, Illinois south of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is a non-profit, listener supported station owned and operated by Olivet Nazarene University from Bourbonnais, Illinois.

History

WONU first broadcast on the 89.7 frequency in January 1967. Before that time the station was on a closed loop and available only on campus. In 1988, the radio station saw an upgrade with the construction of the existing 421' tower structure on campus, and new transmitter with an upgrade to 35,000 watts (35 kW). This expanded the signal into south Chicago and northwest Indiana and during ideal weather conditions the signal can be heard well into Michigan. The WONU studio is located in an old Hardee's burger establishment.

Shine.fm Expansion

In August 2010, station manager Justin Knight officially announced the expansion of WONU to a new station. WONU purchased the new station with though donations and listener support. It will be based out of Morris, IL and operate at 89.3 on FM. Through this purchase and the money raised for the expansion, WONU will be pursuing its expansion into HD Radio. HD Radio has been planned and explored for three years at the station, and over those years the equipment had been upgraded to support the new format.