WGGI (AM)

Last updated
WGGI
Simulcasting WFGI-FM Johnstown
Broadcast area Somerset, Pennsylvania
Frequency 990 kHz
BrandingFroggy 95.5
Programming
Format Country
Affiliations Compass Media Networks
Westwood One
Ownership
Owner
  • Seven Mountains Media
  • (Southern Belle Media Family, LLC)
WFGI-FM, WJHT, WKYE, WNTJ, WOWQ, WRKW
History
First air date
January 15, 1951 (as WVSC)
Former call signs
WVSC (1951–2004)
WNTW (2004–2013)
WLLI (2013–2017)
WNTI (2017–2023)
Call sign meaning
Froggy
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 56364
Class D
Power 10,000 watts day
100 watts night
Translator(s) 103.5 W278CR (Somerset)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website froggy95johnstown.com

WGGI (990 kHz) is an American AM radio station, licensed to serve Somerset, Pennsylvania; the seat of country music for Somerset County. The station broadcasts with a maximum output power of 10,000 watts during the day and greatly reduces power to 100 watts at night, using a two-tower directional antenna system. The station is a simulcast of WFGI-FM in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Contents

History

Beginnings as WVSC

The station signed on, as WVSC, on January 15, 1951, and was the first radio station located in Somerset County. Licensed to Somerset Broadcasting Co., the owners were T. H. Oppegard, President and General Manager, and Carl R. Lee, Sales Manager and Chief Engineer. The call sign stood for "We're the Voice of Somerset County". The station for many years programmed a full-service format of news, sports, and talk, much of it local. WVSC was also the longtime local voice of ABC News, including the legendary Paul Harvey. The station was joined by an FM sister station, WVSC-FM, on June 15, 1966.

Purchase by Ridge Communications

On May 11, 1970, WVSC-AM-FM were purchased by Ridge Communications, headed by I. Richard Adams. It would be under Ridge Communications' ownership that WVSC would see its biggest growth.

WVSC managed to survive an aggressive new AM competitor, WADJ, which came on the air in 1981. That same year, Ridge Communications decided to expand its coverage area by successfully applying for a license for a new AM station northwest of Somerset in Indiana County. However, Ridge was unable to raise the capital necessary to put the new WRID (which stood for RIDge Communications) AM 1520 in Homer City on the air, and the construction permit and license were sold to the newly formed Raymark Broadcasting, of Indiana. That station is known today as WCCS, which coincidentally was the original call sign for competing station WOWQ, which had given up the WCCS call sign for WWZE.

In the mid-1980s, WVSC, which had been a daytime-only station for many years, successfully petitioned the FCC for limited nighttime power. WVSC began operating at 75 watts at night by the end of the decade.

Sale to Forever Broadcasting

In 1997, Ridge Communications decided to sell WVSC-AM-FM to Forever Broadcasting of Altoona, which had been looking for an FM property to expand its popular "Froggy" branded country music format to the Johnstown area. WVSC remained the same, while WVSC-FM took on a new call sign and the country format and became known as "Froggy 98", the same moniker as its flagship station in Altoona. In 2004, WVSC gave up the final trace of its historic call sign when it began simulcasting the news/talk/sports format of its sister operation, WNTJ in Johnstown, and took on the call sign WNTW.

WLLI

WNTW continued to operate under the news/talk/sports format. However, the simulcast was expected to end by the end of 2007, as Forever Broadcasting agreed to sell WNTJ's AM 850 signal (which now bears the WKGE callsign) to Michigan-based Birach Broadcasting Corporation for $230,000. That sale was completed on April 10, 2008. As the sale included only the transmitting facility and license but not the programming or format, Forever Broadcasting moved the WNTJ format and call sign to the former WPRR at AM 1490 (which, ironically, was the original frequency of WNTJ). That station was owned by 2510 Licenses LLC but operated by Forever Broadcasting through a local marketing agreement until Forever Broadcasting reacquired the frequency outright at the end of April 2011. On January 9, 2013, the station changed its call sign from WNTW to WLLI. With this change, the simulcast with WNTJ was ended and the station became known as 990 the fanatic, becoming a member of the CBS Sports Radio Network. In the spring of 2016, the simulcast with WNTJ returned. The station still aired Pittsburgh Pirates baseball, Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, Pittsburgh Steelers football, and local high school football as a part of the simulcast.

Previous use of WNTI

WNTI was until 2015 the FM station of Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The station was taken over by WXPN, the University Pennsylvania station. [2] The call sign was changed to WXPJ.

On January 16, 2017, WLLI changed its call sign to WNTI.

Sale to Seven Mountains Media

It was announced on October 12, 2022 that Forever Media was selling 34 stations, including WNTI, WNTJ, and the entire Johnstown cluster, to State College-based Seven Mountains Media for $17.375 million. [3] The deal closed on January 1, 2023. [4]

Froggy 95.5 simulcast

On May 4, 2023, WNTI changed its call sign to WGGI. The next day, rather than using Seven Mountains Media's standardized "Bigfoot Country (Legends)", WGGI changed its format from news/talk to a simulcast of country-formatted WFGI-FM 95.5 FM Johnstown. [5] This made Johnstown one of the largest Seven Mountains Media clusters that does not use "Bigfoot Country" in its branding.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXPN</span> Public radio station in Philadelphia

WXPN is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows. WXPN produces World Cafe, a music program distributed by NPR to many non-commercial stations in the United States. The station's call sign, which is often abbreviated to XPN, stands for "Experimental Pennsylvania Network". The broadcast tower used by WXPN is located at, in the antenna farm complex in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.

WOGG is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Oliver, Pennsylvania, United States, the station is currently owned by Forever Media, and simulcasts with sister stations WOGI and WOGH.

WFGY is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Altoona, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC, and broadcasts a Froggy-branded country format.

WFGI-FM is a Froggy branded country music formatted radio station in Pennsylvania serving the Johnstown area. The station is owned and operated by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC.

WIFT is a country music formatted broadcast radio station licensed to DuBois, Pennsylvania, serving the DuBois/Punxsutawney/Clearfield area. WIFT is owned and operated by Kristin Cantrell, through licensee Southern Belle, LLC.

WKGE was a radio station licensed to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and broadcasting with 10 kW day and night. Its final owner was Edward A. Schober through licensee Zip2, LLC. The station operated for 99 years, from 1925 to 2024, in its last two decades spending much of its existence simulcasting other stations. WKGE used a complex directional antenna to protect other stations on 850 kHz, a factor in the station's closure.

WJHT is a radio station licensed to serve Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC. This station was assigned the WJHT call sign by the Federal Communications Commission on July 13, 2006.

WKYE is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC, and broadcasts an adult contemporary format.

WNTJ is a radio station licensed to serve Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. The station, established in 1946, is currently owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC.

WOWQ is an American FM radio station physically located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but licensed to the community of Central City, Pennsylvania. The classic hits formatted station currently is a simulcast of WOWY 103.1 FM State College. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, LLC.

WFGI was an American radio station broadcasting at a daytime power of 250 watts, and a nighttime power of five watts. The station was last licensed to Keymarket Licenses, LLC and served the area around Charleroi, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh.

WYLE, branded as Willie 95.1 & 97.5, is a classic country formatted FM radio station in Grove City, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle Media Family, LLC. The station originates its programming from facilities it shares with WKST and WUZZ in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

WBHV was an American radio station, licensed to the community of Somerset, Pennsylvania. The station was licensed to operate on 1330 kHz, with a daytime power of 5,000 watts, and a nighttime power of 35 watts. The station had been owned by Results Radio Company.

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WKPQ is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Hornell, New York, United States, the station serves the Elmira-Corning area including the Canisteo valley and northern Pennsylvania. The station is currently owned by Seven Mountains Media.

WLLI is an FM radio station stunting with a Christmas music format. Licensed to Munfordville, Kentucky, United States, the station serves the Bowling Green area. The station is currently owned by Royse Radio, Inc.

WLYE-FM is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Glasgow, Kentucky, United States, the station serves the Bowling Green area. The station is currently owned by Forever Communications, Inc. and features programming from Fox News Radio and Real Country.

WOGH is a Commercial radio stationlicensed to Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. It serves Western Pennsylvania including part of Greater Pittsburgh, as well as the West Virginia Panhandle and Eastern Ohio. It is owned by Forever Media and airs a Country music format known as "Froggy 103.5".

WTJF-FM is a radio station broadcasting a Sports format. Licensed to Dyer, Tennessee, United States, the station is owned by Forever Media, through licensee Forever South Licenses, LLC.

WJPJ is a Spanish radio station licensed to serve Humboldt, Tennessee. The station's broadcast license is held by Palmer Johnson, Inc.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WGGI". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ Falsone, Nick (October 12, 2015). "WXPN to take over Centenary College radio station in $1.25M deal". Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ "SEVEN MOUNTAINS MEDIA TO ACQUIRE 34 STATIONS FROM FOREVER MEDIA". RadioInsight.com. October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Seven Mountains Media-Forever Media Deal To Close Jan. 2". October 12, 2022.
  5. ↑ Seven Mountains Media Completes Johnstown & Somerset PA Revamps Radioinsight - May 5, 2023

40°01′31″N79°05′42″W / 40.02528°N 79.09500°W / 40.02528; -79.09500

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