YES host heading off to ministry

4/24/2006

For Vonda Kay, there s a sense of responsibility in hosting a morning show on a Christian radio station.

Every time we open up the mic and talk, we have a chance to speak to more people at one time than Jesus did in his entire three years of ministry, she said. That s a humbling thing. We have to make sure every word counts.

Her 13 -year run on Toledo s WYSZ-FM (89.3) is nearing an end, though. Her final show is May 5, then it s off to southern Ohio to become pastor of missions and outreach for Cincinnati Real Life Church.

She has been with WYSZ since its launch in 1992 and is the last remaining on-air personality from the original staff.

I m having a hard time saying good-bye, the Toledo native said. It s a whole lot more than just leaving a job.

Vonda Kay: Her final day at YES FM will be May 5.
Vonda Kay: Her final day at YES FM will be May 5.

WYSZ is part of a regional network of Christian radio stations collectively known as YES FM that carry the same programming. The other stations are in Lima (also at 89.3 FM), Wauseon (88.5), and Fremont (88.1).

Station manager Todd Hostetler estimates that 12,000 to 15,000 people are listening to YES FM at any given time. WYSZ is not listed in the Arbitron ratings because it is a noncommercial station.

Hostetler has been co-host of the morning show for more than nine years. Originally, he was going to fill in on an interim basis.

Their chemistry is like that of close siblings, Hostetler said.

It s definitely like family, which makes it so hard that she s leaving, he said.

YES FM s morning show The Groove House Extravaganzy airs from 6 to 9. The balance is roughly 60 percent music (contemporary Christian), 40 percent talk.

Vonda Kay says she and Hostetler are able to overcome what she calls a stigma with Christian radio by being real.

We just have fun, she said. If we think something is stupid and silly, we ll call it that.

Among her favorite topics: American Idol and coffee.

It s been a fun ride, she said.

When I started at YES FM, I took a broadcasting job, she said, but it grew into a ministry.

ROBINSON FOCUS: In a move designed to separate itself from the competition, WNWO-TV, Channel 24, will devote 30 minutes a day 5:30 to 6 p.m. weekdays to the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson.

News director Jonathan Mitchell said the segment, anchored by Tom Bosco and Jim Blue, will have a magazine-style format. He likened it to programs hosted by Bill O Reilly and Greta Van Susteren on Fox News Channel.

ADDED NEWSCAST: WNWO, which experimented with a 7 p.m. Saturday newscast during the Winter Olympics in February, has decided to go with one year-round. The NBC affiliate will keep its 6 p.m. newscast on Saturdays.

SOLO ANCHOR: WUPW-TV, Channel 36, news director Steve France has decided to go with Tiffany Tarpley as the only news anchor for the station s weekend newscasts. Myrt Price, who had been co-anchor for the past five months, will work weekdays as a reporter.