Cleveland Radio: After 34-Years, Bill Louis To Retire At WNCX

Bill Louis

WNCX 98.5 FM Cleveland personality and program director Bill Louis will soon turn off the mic after 34-years for the last time on Dec. 29.

“Once you hit 30 years doing something, the challenge is trying to change with the times,” said the 64-year-old Louis told The News-Herald.

“We’ve done our best to do that but at some point, you feel that it’s time for somebody else to grab that mantle, the baton and to keep the race running. NCX is a great station and has a great future. I’m proud to have taken it as far as I could, but it’s time to hand it off.”

While retirement has been on his mind for a while, Louis said the “emotional whitewater” of the last two years convinced him the time was right. In addition to losing family and a co-worker just prior to the pandemic, earlier this year fellow WNCX disc jockey and Cleveland’s favorite son Michael Stanley passed away from lung cancer.

“It was the accumulation of all of those things,” said Louis, a prostate cancer survivor. “Then finding out Michael was ill and having to sit on that for six months, that was really difficult.”

Louis’ career in radio broadcasting began when as a construction worker watching “The Prize Movie” he saw a commercial for the Ohio School of Broadcasting. He soon enrolled and before he knew it, he was on-air. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in Cleveland.

Over the next seven years, he would jump from job to job, moving up through various size markets in Atlantic City, Astbury Park, San Antonio and Miami. He then returned to Cleveland, getting a gig at WNCX, which had been on the air for less than 12 months.

In a business not known for job stability, Louis remained at WNCX for more than three decades.

What stood out early on about Louis’ on-air presence was his earnest delivery, quick wit and knowledge not only of the music but of Northeast Ohio’s rock ’n’ roll history.

“Next to the Cleveland Browns, I don’t think there’s anything more universally loved on the North Coast than classic rock,” Louis said. “I had the opportunity to reflect that love. I was at the World Series of Rock shows. I was at the old Agora. I was the fan’s fan, and I think that kind of came through with my point of view.”