Board Blog: Outlet Identities are More than a Name

Last Updated on February 21, 2018 by askcbiorg

Twenty years ago this October, Sen. John H. Glenn returned to space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. This past week the nation celebrated Glenn’s first space flight in which he was the first American to orbit the Earth 56 years ago, Feb. 20, 1962.

Lisa Marshall, CBI Vice President

Glenn is no doubt an American hero but he also serves as the admirable namesake of our radio station. Glenn grew up in our small college town and attended Muskingum University. WMCO, founded in 1961, went through a series of nicknames and slogans in its first three decades. But the 1998 management staff saw a chance to rebrand the station’s identity with Glenn’s upcoming mission. Two of those students had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to broadcast the Discovery launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. To prepare for the event, the faculty station manager charged the staff to create a new slogan for the station. “The Orbit” was born and WMCO has ever since branded ourselves with Glenn’s legacy.

Listen: WMCO Space Shuttle Discovery launch, Oct. 29, 1998. Commentator: Scott Sellins.

Orbits donned in black and magenta school colors proudly make up our logos, facility signage, and apparel. Our converged media organization is named “Orbit Media.” We even distribute Orbit Gum during remotes and parades.

During the spring 2017 semester, our media production senior capstone course produced a new 20:00 welcome video for the local John & Annie Glenn Museum. The museum resides within Glenn’s boyhood home in our college town. That venture took our class to Washington, D.C. and around the Ohio region to collect interviews and historical footage, including a private tour of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museums to see Friendship 7 and Discovery up close and personal. The welcoming hospitality shown to us from the Smithsonian Institution, NASA, Ohio State University, and so many other people along our journey was unimaginable. No matter where our class visited or who we talked to along the way, everyone had something in common…preserving the spirit of Glenn’s achievements.

I’m often asked about the meaning behind our station’s unique slogan. It’s always an honor to tell the special story. While that 1998 group of students may have not imagined the galaxies “The Orbit” would travel in 20 years, our organization is grateful for the opportunity to serve Glenn’s legacy every day on the air. Watch the trailer to “John Glenn: An American Hero,” which was a Documentary/Public Affairs finalist in the 2017 CBI National Student Production Awards.