WGNZ
WGNZ "Good News 1110" is an AM broadcasting station operating at 1110 kHz licensed to Fairborn, Ohio with studios in Dayton, Ohio and transmitter in Xenia (the original city of license). It airs National/Local teaching programs with a Southern Gospel music format. Its power output is 5,000 watts day and 2 watts night with a critical hours authorization of 1,700 watts in addition to internet audiostreaming. WGNZ is also heard on FM translator W282CD 104.3 mHz in Dayton.
| City | Fairborn, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1110 kHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Southern gospel |
| Affiliations | Greenview Calvary Tabernacle |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | L&D Broadcasters Inc. |
| Sister stations | W282CD 104.3 FM in Dayton |
| History | |
| First air date | October 26, 1968 (as WELX) |
| Former call signs | WELX (1968-1984) WMMX (1984-1993) |
| Call sign meaning | Good Newz 1110[1] |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 36075 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 5,000 watts day 1,700 watts critical hours 2 watts night |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°39′53″N 83°56′38″W |
| Links | |
| Website | Official WGNZ site (with streaming audio) |
History
WGNZ was founded in 1968 as 250 watt daytimer WELX, by West Central Ohio Broadcasters Inc...as the AM sister of WHBM-FM (now WZDA). WELX (for: Ernie and Lowell
- Xenia the sons of founders Harry and Ernestine Miller) was sold in 1979 to L&D Broadcasters Inc.and returned to the air in 1980 airing soul gospel in the morning and early evenings and southern gospel in the afternoons. It was during the afternoon drive time when Rev. Norman Livingston of Dayton, a local independent church pastor who also promoted Southern Gospel Music concerts, began to work with WELX and became the afternoon co-host and eventually moved into managing and promoting the station in 1981 when soul gospel music was dropped in favor of full-time southern gospel music. In 1984, the station switched the call sign from WELX to WMMX "Message Music Radio" or "Gospel Music's Best MIX" Eventually that call sign was replaced with WGNZ and its new slogan "Good News 1110". The released call sign "WMMX" was taken by 107.7 FM. As of November 1, 2008 the old tower site has been razed. In the Summer of 2008 WGNZ built a new state of the art transmitter/tower facility.
WGNZ today
WGNZ is one of the last locally owned commercial stations in the Dayton, Ohio market. The station features National and Local Christian teaching/talk programs. As well as being the only radio station in the Miami Valley that is primarily Southern Gospel, but also features Bluegrass and Local Artists. WGNZ has streamed its programming on the internet Live since July 9, 1996. WGNZ was at that time the second Christian Radio Station in Ohio to stream "live" on the internet.
References
- "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
External links
- WGNZ in the FCC's AM station database
- WGNZ on Radio-Locator
- WGNZ in Nielsen Audio's AM station database