Troy Community Radio began in a spare bedroom in 2012 with nothing more than a computer, a couple microphones, and the dedication of two men who are passionate about radio.
Scott Hornberger and Clint Myers, graduates of Troy High School in 1988, started TCR as a fun way to update and entertain the community with local news, weather, and a variety of oldies and popular music via streaming online audio. Both men wanted to develop a station that would be community focused. “Radio is supposed to be about community and connecting; that is what local radio is all about,” Myers said. This became the motivating force behind a hobby that is quickly becoming a more significant project than anyone anticipated.
On February 21, 2014, Troy Community Radio acquired 107.1, a low power FM signal reaching a 12-mile radius from the heart of downtown Troy to the borders of Tipp City and Covington. When the FCC made several low power FM signals available again last year after a temporary deregulation of new station applicants, Hornberger and Myers jumped at the opportunity. What began as a nostalgic idealism became a dream come to life. “It’s just one of those things, after you’ve done it, radio becomes a part of you that always wants to come out,” Myers said. “Scott and I just hadn’t gotten radio out of our system.”
Their resilience in facing the new processes behind radio broadcasting has become the defining factor of what looks to be a promising beginning. Hornberger and Myers underwent a lengthy, detailed application process that even extended through the government shut-down in October of 2013 until, finally, 107.1 was approved and a construction permit released. Utilizing a combination of old values and new technology, the station headquarters on the square is filled with old radio and audio artifacts alongside new computer components and microphones. The décor is representative of the cooperation of the old and new built into Troy Community Radio’s DNA.
At a time when the radio industry is dramatically changing with the introduction of the internet, cloud computing, and large media conglomerates, most of the radio pioneers and personalities are retiring or moving on to other lines of work while heterogeneous corporations take over with syndicated programming. “Scott and I didn’t wanna move to Wisconsin or Chicago to be on the air in our own home town. I like to talk to people on the air and then walk out the door and talk with those same people on the street,” Myers said. Troy Community Radio has already been taking their programming to the streets for events like the Strawberry Festival and the Mumford and Sons concert. According to Myers, “It’s important to us what matters to the people of our community. We want to paint pictures with words and music that fire people’s imagination and bring people together like radio used to do.”