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You’ve heard of a “gym rat” right? Well, Dennis Kronenberg was a self-proclaimed “WOUB rat." He says that he lived at the station while he attended college at Ohio University in Athens.
“Growing up near Cleveland, radio was always something special to me, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it,” said Kronenberg. “So, when I found out you could work at WOUB as a student, it was a no-brainer. I got involved at WOUB as soon as I arrived in Athens.”
Athens was also special to Kronenberg as he was the last of five members of his family to attend Ohio University.
“Once I got to Athens, I didn’t want to leave,” said Kronenberg. “I stayed over breaks and worked at WOUB. There was only one time over the four years I was in school that I went back home to Cleveland over a break. Athens and WOUB were both just so special to me.”
Kronenberg split his time as best he could between radio and TV operations. He took on various duties with both.
“I was working at the station in the summer of 1973 when WOUC TV went on the air,” said Kronenberg. “I was the chief booth announcer for WOUB TV at the time. They needed a voice to sign the transmitter on at WOUC. I was literally the first voice heard on WOUC TV. Life is about memories and WOUB and WOUC made memories for me.”
Kronenberg also programmed an easy listening radio program that was simulcast each Sunday morning: The Sounds of Sunday. A high point of his time in radio operations was being able to travel to Pipestem, West Virginia to record The Pipestem Bluegrass Festival. The recordings were then brought back and edited into a program for the newly-created NPR network.
When Kronenberg graduated in 1975, he got his first job at WDTN TV in Dayton.That was the beginning of a career in broadcasting that has spanned nearly five decades. He was part of the team that built and launched CNN. Later Kronenberg managed the design and build-out of the satellite control facility for NPR in Washington, D.C. He has also provided technical consulting services to PBS.
“One of the roles I had at CNN was working Master Control. What made it so easy to do was my many years as a duty director at WOUB.”
From Atlanta, Kronenberg moved to Los Angeles where, among other positions, he served as a Technical Manager with ABC on the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1987 Pan American games.
“During the Olympics, I was responsible for setting up audio systems for foreign broadcasters and worked with other broadcast engineers from all over the world. The best part was that politics never came into play. Everybody was there to get the same job done and wanted to work together to bring the Olympics to the people of the world.”
Kronenberg also worked at NBC as a video tape engineer on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
“WOUB helped me to be confident enough to do both audio and video work throughout my career.”
For the last eleven years, Kronenberg has served as a transmission engineer for CGTN America, the Washington News Bureau for China Central Television (CCTV). CGTN America feeds English news programs worldwide for CCTV.
Kronenberg calls WOUB the springboard for his entire career.
“I was ahead of many students that came out of college with the same degree because of all the professional experience I had from WOUB,” said Kronenberg. “I am so thankful for my time at WOUB. It was my everything.”
About WOUB Public Media As a member station of both NPR and PBS, WOUB Public Media is a trusted source of news, local content and educational resources that have proven to be worthy of the time, effort and support of our users. WOUB, an experiential-learning unit of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University, is a non-profit, community-supported multimedia organization which provides online and broadcast services, along with non-broadcast educational services and student professional development. WOUB serves 55 counties throughout southeastern Ohio, western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky with its broadcast signals. WOUB Radio’s FM Network has transmitters in Athens, Chillicothe, Ironton, Zanesville and Cambridge, while WOUB AM serves the immediate Athens area. WOUB TV is made up of seven television channels (WOUB HD, WOUB Classic, WOUB World, WOUB Create, WOUB Ohio, WOUB Kids and WOUB Voicecorps Reading Service) which are broadcast from two transmitters.
Through its support of public service, teaching, research and administrative missions, along with its high-quality local content and programming, WOUB enriches, enhances and expands the lives and horizons of the people in the communities it serves, as well as Ohio University faculty, staff and students.