WGCO

Last updated
WGCO
WGCO-FM new logo.png
Broadcast area Savannah, Georgia
(rimshots to Brunswick, Georgia & Jacksonville, Florida)
Frequency 98.3 MHz
BrandingHot 98-3
Programming
Format Top 40 (CHR)
Ownership
OwnerDick Broadcasting
OperatorDick Broadcasting Company, Inc. of Tennessee
History
First air date
1982 in Jesup
Former call signs
WSOJ (1982-1985)
WAJS (1985)
WZKS (1985-1989)
Call sign meaning
WGeorgia COast
Technical information
Facility ID 11674
Class C1
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 299 meters (981 ft)
Links
Webcast Listen live
Website hot983savannah.com

WGCO (98.3 FM, "Hot 98-3") is a commercial radio station licensed to Midway, Georgia. Owned by Dick Broadcasting, it broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format targeted towards Savannah and Brunswick. Its studios are in Savannah, while the transmitter is near Townsend, Georgia.

Contents

History

The station signed on the air on as a class A gospel station licensed to Jesup called WSOJ. In 1982, the station flipped (along with many others) to an audio simulcast of the new CNN Headline News. Shortly thereafter, the station went off the air. Gospel returned to the station in 1984, then country WAJS "The Great 98" a year later. Within a few months, the station became AC WZKS "Kiss FM". In 1989, the station's tower was moved to McIntosh County, closer to Savannah and began broadcasting oldies as "Oldies 98.3", and later "98.3 Cool FM" as the current call sign WGCO.

In 2005, the station flipped to an adult hits format under the Jack FM brand. On March 16, 2007, the station dropped the Jack FM format and returned to the oldies format once again, as the former name since 1989 as "Oldies 98.3" after a 'protest' was held by then-former morning host Chuck "Boom Boom" Cannon asking for the return of Oldies 98.3. On September 24, 2007, WGCO switched to a classic hits format as Big 98.3, playing a variety of songs from roughly 1964–1985, with the core being the 1970s.

On August 29, 2013, the station dropped the classic hits format and began stunting with a loop of Hank Williams Jr.'s "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", leading into a flip to classic country 98.3 Hank FM the next day. [1]

In September 2017, Dick Broadcasting [2] announced that it would acquire Alpha Media's clusters in Savannah, Kinston/New Bern/Jacksonville, and Myrtle Beach. Under the terms of the sale, however, a formal sale filing would not be made for the Savannah stations until August 2019, with Dick operating these stations under a local marketing agreement in the meantime. [3]

On May 25, 2018, the station began stunting with a heartbeat sound, and teasing that "something hot" was coming. On May 28, 2018, the station flipped to contemporary hit radio as Hot 98.3. The station will compete primarily with iHeartMedia's WAEV, giving it its first direct competitor since the flip of sister station WXYY to classic hip-hop. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWWQ</span> Radio station in Atlanta, Georgia

WWWQ is a commercial radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia, carrying a Top 40 (CHR) format known as "Q99.7". Owned by Cumulus Media, WWWQ serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as the regional affiliate for The Daly Download with Carson Daly and is the flagship station of The Bert Show and Elliott & Nina. WWWQ's studios are located in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, while the station transmitter resides in Atlanta's Druid Hills neighborhood. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WWWQ broadcasts over three HD Radio channels with the second and third subchannels simulcast over low-power FM translators and is available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KHKN</span> Contemporary hit radio station in Maumelle–Little Rock, Arkansas

KHKN is a radio station in the Little Rock, Arkansas area. The station's studios are located in West Little Rock, and the transmitter tower is located in Redfield, Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJSR</span> Classic hits radio station in Lakeside–Richmond, Virginia

WJSR is a broadcast radio station licensed to Lakeside, Virginia, serving Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia. WJSR is owned and operated by SummitMedia, and broadcasts a classic hits format. The station's studios are located west of Richmond proper in unincorporated Chesterfield County, and its transmitter is located in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSGA (FM)</span> Radio station in Hinesville, Georgia

WSGA, known as "92.3 Thunder Country", is a country music radio station targeted towards Savannah, Georgia. It is owned by Richard Pope, through licensee WRGO-FM Radio LLC. The call sign and format were on its sister station WTHG, which flipped to a classic rock format in late April 2006. On March 31, 2008, 92.3 flipped from "Freedom 92-3".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WRWN</span> Radio station in Port Royal, South Carolina

WRWN is a classic hits radio station licensed to Port Royal, South Carolina and owned by Dick Broadcasting, through licensee Dick Broadcasting Company, Inc. of Tennessee.

WKZV is a non-commercial Christian FM radio station licensed to Tybee Island, Georgia. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation, and serves the Savannah metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located west of the city in unincorporated Chatham County.

WRVZ is an FM radio station licensed to Miami, West Virginia. Owned by WVRC Media, it broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary format serving the Charleston area.

WVBW-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, and broadcasting to the Hampton Roads area. WVBW-FM airs an urban adult hits radio format and is owned and operated by Max Media. The studios and offices are on Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPBG</span> Radio station in Peoria, Illinois

WPBG (93.3 FM) is a radio station with a classic hits format, and is licensed for Peoria, Illinois. The station was formerly known as 93.3 WMBD-FM, as well as KZ-93 (WKZW) through 1994, "Mix 93.3" prior to its conversion to oldies/classic hits. The station is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KVYB</span> Californian radio station

KVYB is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Oak View, California, United States, and serves the Oxnard—Ventura, California area. Owned by Cumulus Media, the station airs a contemporary hit radio (CHR) format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKSI-FM</span> Radio station in Stephens City, Virginia

WKSI-FM is a Contemporary Hit Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Stephens City, Virginia, serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. WKSI-FM is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc.

WQSL, also known as "The River", is a variety hits radio station licensed to Jacksonville, North Carolina. The station simulcasts on WQZL 101.1 FM Belhaven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGHL</span> Radio station in Shepherdsville, Kentucky

WGHL is a commercial radio station located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, broadcasting to the Louisville, Kentucky area. The station's studios are located in downtown Louisville and the transmitter site is in Jefferson Memorial Forest on the southern edge of Louisville/Jefferson County proper. WGHL is owned by Alpha Media.

WQZL, also known as "The River", is a radio station licensed to serve Belhaven, North Carolina. It has a format of variety hits as "92.3 & 101.1 The River". The station's antenna is in Washington, but the signal reaches New Bern, Greenville, and Washington, North Carolina.

WGBL is a radio station based in Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi broadcasting a classic hip-hop format and new hip-hop. The station is managed by Alpha Media, owned by Telesouth Communications, Inc. and broadcasts their format with an ERP of 4.3 kW. WGBL broadcasts from the same transmitter tower as former sister station, WLGF, in Orange Grove.

WXYY, known as G100.1, is a radio station broadcasting a rhythmic contemporary format. Licensed to Rincon, Georgia, US, the station serves the Savannah and Hilton Head areas. The station is owned by Dick Broadcasting, through licensee Dick Broadcasting Company, Inc. of Tennessee. The studios and offices are on the south side of Savannah and the transmitter is in Rincon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKND (FM)</span> Radio station in Port Sulphur–New Orleans, Louisiana

KKND is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Port Sulphur, Louisiana, and serving the New Orleans metropolitan area. The Cumulus Media station airs an urban gospel radio format. The studios and offices are located at the Place St. Charles building in Downtown New Orleans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKSG (FM)</span> Radio station in Kentucky, United States

WKSG is an FM radio station broadcasting and licensed to Garrison, Kentucky, United States; the station is currently owned by Strong Tower Christian Media. and serves Portsmouth, OH and the OH-KY-WV Tri-State area. The station's transmitter tower is located in Greenup County near the community of Garrison and the Lewis County line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nash (brand)</span> Media brand and network owned by Cumulus Media in the United States

Nash is a media brand owned by Cumulus Media. It covers country music-related properties owned by Cumulus, including radio stations, digital properties and publications, Nash TV, concerts promoted by Nash FM stations, and associated programming syndicated by Westwood One—including The Ty Bentli Show, Nash Nights Live with Shawn Parr and The Blair Garner Show. The Lia Show, which has been separately syndicated by Westwood One in the evening hours, will replace Garner in August 2020. Its name comes from Nashville, Tennessee, the center of the commercial country music industry in the United States, which in turn was named for colonial-era politician and Continental Army General Francis Nash. The Nash FM branding is similar to the Hank FM branding in that these stations play over 1000 songs as opposed to other stations which play 300 to 600 songs.

The following is a list of events affecting radio broadcasting in 2018. Events listed include radio program debuts, finales, cancellations, and station launches, closures and format changes, as well as information about controversies.

References

  1. "Hank Enters Savannah". RadioInsight. 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  2. http://www.dickbroadcasting.com/stations.php Dick Broadcasting Stations
  3. Venta, Lance (2017-09-05). "Dick Broadcasting Acquires Three Markets From Alpha Media". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
  4. "Hot 98.3 Launches In Savannah". RadioInsight. 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2018-05-28.

31°36′47″N81°21′36″W / 31.613°N 81.360°W / 31.613; -81.360