In a few months, Jacor Communications entered into a LMA with Bain Gocom for all of their radio stations in Youngstown and New Castle, including WRTK and WBBG.

Clear Channel Communications purchased WNIO along with WNCD (which switched dial positions with WBBG in late 2000) and WAKZ from Bain in 2005, after it had dropped its petition on January 14, 2004 to purchase those three stations along with WICT due to FCC objections,[3] and also included Clear Channel selling off their station clusters in New Castle and Johnstown to Forever Broadcasting, LLC.

In November 2010, Clear Channel announced that WNIO would drop its standards format in favor of Fox Sports Radio on December 27.

The move will coincide with the displacement of the network from crosstown WANR 1570 AM in Warren, which switched back to its former classic hits format under the moniker "The Blizzard.

With the new branding, WNIO also added sports gambling oriented programming from the BetR Network, during the evenings.