The announcers will be the same and the enthusiasm for Hope College sports over the radio airwaves as strong as ever, but beginning with football this fall the game day action will be heard on FM 92.7 The Van instead of WHTC-AM 1450.
WHTC has been the flagship broadcaster of Hope College athletics since the 1950s. Both WHTC and The Van are owned by Midwest Communications Inc.
"After several decades of broadcasting Hope football and men's and women's basketball on WHTC we feel the time is right to move the broadcasts to our FM station 92.7 The Van," said Kevin Oswald, general sales manager. "This move will give our broadcasts a larger coverage area which will be beneficial to Hope College and its fan base and to the advertisers who support Hope sports on the radio and on-line."
"Hope College values its long-time relationship with the staff of WHTC," said Tom Renner, associate vice president for public and community relations at Hope. "There are few colleges who have the type of relationship Hope enjoys. The opportunity to expand the coverage area via 92.7 is exciting."
"This change affords WHTC, The Van and Hope College the opportunity to establish an even stronger relationship for years to come with Hope Sports programming now appearing on both stations as well as all games being streamed on the Internet," said Brent Alan, program director.
"I am also extremely excited to bring Hope Sports to our FM station, as listeners have been asking for a better signal at night when WHTC tends fade out in areas further away from our tower. With Hope Sports on 92.7 The Van we can now give a clearer signal to all areas up and down the lakeshore from Grand Haven to South Haven and East to Grand Rapids."
WHTC's commitment to Hope College will remain strong with fan favorites such as the Hope Sports Report weekday mornings at 7:17 a.m. and the Hope Sports Roundtable on Friday mornings continuing to air on WHTC.
Announcers Ron Wetherbee and Jerry Klomparens will be mikeside again this coming year, beginning Saturday, Sept. 5 for the football opener at Illinois Wesleyan University.
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