Ohio Dominican & "The River" Announce Partnership

June 17, 2004

Panthers Hire Veteran Announcer Randy Rhinehart

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Dominican University football fans throughout Central Ohio will be able to listen to the play-by-play of the Panthers' 2004 inaugural football season on the Ohio Dominican Sports Radio Network. WCVO - The River 104.9 FM (Gahanna, Ohio) will be the Panthers' flagship station. The 6,000-watt station will add two of their affiliates in Zanesville and Mt. Gilead to the radio network.

"We are extremely grateful to WCVO and General Manager Dan Baughman for the commitment they have shown to our university as well as our athletic programs," said Dave Archibald, Vice President for Enrollment & Marketing. "Attracting a radio station the caliber of WCVO is a great way to point our football program in the right direction."

"We look at this as a tremendous opportunity to partner with Ohio Dominican University as a part of our overall mission to serve the community," said Baughman. "We are elated to be a part of Columbus history in helping launch ODU's football program."

The three-year deal with ODU marks the first time that WCVO has served as the radio home for a college football program. The agreement calls for the live broadcast of all 10 regular season football games, a 30-minute pre-game show, and a 15-minute post game show that will include comments from coaches and players.

With a combined signal strength of 28,000 watts, the Ohio Dominican Sports Radio Network will cover 35 Ohio and West Virginia counties and will have a potential listening audience of more than several million people. The network includes Ohio stations in Zanesville (WCVZ 92.7 FM) and Mt. Gilead (WVXG 95.1 FM), and will also cover Tiffin in the north and Washington Court House in the southern part of the state. It will stretch as far west as Springfield and as far east as Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Randy Rhinehart, who also serves as Sports Director and News Anchor for WMNI-AM, WBZX-FM and WEGE-FM, will be the play-by-play voice of Panther football. A veteran announcer, Rhinehart also has been the television play-by-play host for Sport Television over the past 20 years. He has the distinct honor of being the only person to do play-by-play for ten different Ohio State University sports, including football and basketball. Also joining the broadcast team will be sideline reporter Matt Waddell.

"Randy is going to be a tremendous asset to our athletic program. With more than 20 years of radio experience, he is a true professional behind the microphone. The combination of WCVO and Randy will allow us to produce a first class product over the airwaves," Archibald added.

Ohio Dominican opens the 2004 inaugural season on the road against Walsh University on Saturday, September 4 beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Canton, Ohio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.