Turning a radio station around

MUNSTER | Known as a region institution, WJOB Radio will celebrate its 90th year in business in 2011 and is the only radio station in the United States owned by a Hispanic woman, WJOB's owners said Wednesday.

Those attending the Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce luncheon heard how this local radio station survived bankruptcy and how its owners, Alexis Vazquez Dedelow and Jim Dedelow, are turning the airwaves into an asset for the Calumet Region.

The Dedelows were featured speakers during the event at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts. David Ryan, Lakeshore chamber executive director, said he thinks of this husband-wife team as "Sweet and Crusty," with Jim Dedelow, an irreverent on-air host, as the "crusty" partner.

WJOB's story is intertwined with that of the Calumet Region, Vasquez Dedelow said, and that story is part of the couple's histories.

"I listened to sports on WJOB, and that's a major part of our focus now," she said. "We have high school sports, but we also started running college games and games from local universities like Purdue Calumet and from South Suburban College."

By 2002 and 2003, WJOB had fallen on hard times and was owned by a man from Rhode Island who didn't understand the area, she said.

"It was floundering in bankruptcy and was in receivership," Vasquez Dedelow said.

By the time the couple made the decision to bid on the radio station, the price had dropped drastically to $1.2 million. After two years of working with the bankruptcy courts, the Dedelows stepped into the radio station as owners March 10, 2004.

In the first few years, the couple tried a number of formats, including music. They soon realized WJOB is a community radio station and programming needed to emphasize that niche.

Today, the airwaves are filled from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with "a local flair," with a number of sometimes controversial on-air hosts and a blend of municipal programming, Dedelow said.

Dedelow, who spent 18 years as a trader with the Chicago Board of Trade, said he "lost all of our money twice. That's why Alexis is the owner. There's a built-in risk control."

There are overriding principals, he said, on which all businesses can focus.

"Do you know yourself and do you know your markets?" he said.