Carol Johnson and Briana Pace | Southern Indiana Business Report
Two pioneers in Orange County broadcasting signed off for the last time earlier this year when the sale of WFLQ-Q100 radio became final.
Bill and Catherine Willis went on the air in 1983 from a station atop a hill just off US 150 overlooking French Lick and West Baden Springs. For the next four decades, their station’s Modern Country format was heard across southern Indiana. The station reported local news and broadcast high school sports.
Christopher Ruth, who has been working at the station since 2021, and his wife Erica are the new owners.
For Christopher, station ownership is the culmination of a dream that started in high school. As a teenager he worked at WBAT in Marion, an AM station, calling in scores from high school sports.
“I had my tape deck and was recording shows for people,” he said. “I deejayed at dance and house parties.”
After high school he attended Tri-State University, now Trine, where he majored in broadcast communications and worked at the campus radio station. Following his graduation in 1993, he moved to Fort Wayne with the goal of finding a job in radio. He found work, but the pay wasn’t great, so he made a career change to sales and would spend the next 30 years in retail.
The radio dream never went away. Changes in his personal life opened a door he never expected and brought him to Orange County about eight years ago when he married his wife Erica, who is from Paoli.
The opportunity to shift careers arrived when Christopher had knee replacement surgery. He knew he could no longer work long hours and be on his feet all day. It was a perfect time to reconnect with his love of radio.
Bill hired Christopher to work as a part-time board operator. Over time, Christopher took on more responsibilities at the station as Catherine Willis reduced her role and advocated for him to get more hours. She also pushed for Christopher to be promoted to assistant general manager.
The last four years of working in radio “have been awesome,” Christopher said.
When the Willises made the decision to sell the station, Christopher saw an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
Over the past year, the Willises have been transitioning ownership of WFLQ to the Ruths. In January, the Federal Communications Commission accepted the application to transfer ownership from the Willises to Pivotal Opportunities, the Ruths’ LLC. Its anticipated sale was at the end of February and the Ruths – with Erica serving as chief financial officer – would take over March 1.
That didn’t happen. Due to the government shutdown in late 2025, the FCC was closed for an extended period of time, forcing many operations to take longer. The Ruths finally took over the station May 1, 2026.
Expanding the station’s reach and audience engagement is a top priority. As the new owner, Christopher plans to add live streaming which will allow listeners to listen to music, the news and live broadcasts of high school sports from anywhere.
“For listeners who don’t have radio access, they can go to the Q100 website and listen to a game wherever they are,” he said. “We get calls all the time from people who have moved away, a lot of them are grandparents, and they want to listen to the game because their grandkids are playing.”
A streaming link for the station is active on their website and in the fall, WFLQ will stream Springs Valley football games. Christopher hopes to add a live video streaming for events, plus a WFLQ app.
“We do a lot of interviews with local artists and the new artists,” Christopher said, “and it would be so much better for us if it was a live feed.”
He also anticipates increasing the station staff with two full-time sales reps and two part-timers to operate the board. They are actively hiring those positions, but a familiar face is helping out for now.
“In a weird twist, Bill now works for me as a salesperson,” Christopher said.
Bill is working part-time as a salesperson. Christopher emphasized that Bill should be working on retiring soon, so they are pushing hard to fill the jobs.
The station’s strength, Christopher said, is being the information source for the community.
“If the power goes out or if a blizzard happens, we’re going to update them when that happens,” he said.
When it comes to music, Christopher is passionate about up and coming local and regional artists.
“This area has so much talent and I want to promote those artists,” he said.
Christopher hopes to create a demo studio at the station so local artists can record a high-quality record that is playable on the radio.
“You’re looking at Nashville, Chicago, and you’re looking at $3,000, $5,000 for a new artist to get a very high-quality demo put together,” he said. “So that’s what entertained us on the idea of helping them out and figuring out a way we can record them and give them a demo. I jokingly say the cost would be me, like making them an ‘indentured servant’, where they give me two or three shows, but they get their demo.”
Like all media, radio has seen dramatic changes. Many smaller stations have been scooped up by larger stations, replacing local programming with automated formats.
“It’s huge that someone like us bought it, as opposed to a station from Louisville,” Christopher said. “What makes us unique is being in southern Indiana. We have fantastic tourism, three high schools and great people. That’s what we’re going to focus on and that’s what Bill and Catherine have done for 43 years.”
Christopher said the Willises did a great job in their four decades of station ownership and he’s excited to be the next owner of Q100.
“My best analogy is they kept a classic car running for 43 years, and now we’re just making a couple of just adjustments, so it runs well, and speeds on into the future,” Christopher said.
WFLQ has always had a strong audience in and out of Orange County and he plans to keep it that way.
“My goal is to not just do what’s good for the station,” Christopher said, “but to do good for everyone working at the station and the community.”