WGOG

WGOG (101.7 FM) is a commercial American radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve the tri-county area of Oconee, Pickens, and Anderson, SC. The official city of license, and studio location, is Walhalla, South Carolina. WGOG is owned by Appalachian Broadcasting Co., Inc.[2]

WGOG
CityWalhalla, South Carolina
Frequency101.7 MHz
Branding101.7 WGOG
SloganGolden Corners Radio Station
Programming
FormatCountry
AffiliationsWestwood One, NBC News Radio/United Stations Radio Network
Ownership
OwnerAppalachian Broadcasting Co., Inc.
Sister stationsWSNW
History
First air dateApril 19, 1991 (as WGOG-FM at 96.3)
Former call signsWGOG-FM (1991-2002)
Former frequencies96.3 MHz (1992-2015)
Call sign meaningW Garden Of the Gods (town nickname)[1]
Technical information
Facility ID2462
ClassA
ERP6,000 watts
HAAT92 meters
Transmitter coordinates34°51′33.00″N 83°3′31.00″W
Links
Websitewgog.com

WGOG broadcasts a country music format and carries syndicated programing from Westwood One and ABC Radio News/United Stations Radio Network, and broadcasts local sports talk programming and news.

History

WGOG's first broadcast originated April 15, 1959, from the same studios it continued to occupy, on Westminster Highway in Walhalla. WGOG originally broadcast at 1460 kHz AM. As a corporation, founded by the late Dorothy Friend and Edith Mooneyham, WGOG was the sole property of Oconee Broadcasting Incorporated. Misses Friend and Mooneyham operated Oconee Broadcasting (WGOG) for nearly 25 years, with various formats, and "mixture" formats, dependent upon the current entertainment trend. WGOG was always dedicated to broadcasting local, regional, and national news. In the 1960s, WGOG changed its frequency to 1000 kHz AM, assuming a "clear channel" status (clear channel is a radio term meaning the channel is clear of interference). During the 1970s, WGOG was known as "Clear Channel 10 Country, WGOG."

In 1984, Misses Friend and Mooneyham sold WGOG to Luzanne Griffith, who had worked at WGOG years before as Traffic Manager and Receptionist. With the sale, Oconee Broadcasting Incorporated was re-incorporated into Appalachian Broadcasting Incorporated. Under the Direction of Ms. Griffith, WGOG moved to FM transmission on 96.3 MHz in 1991. For a time, WGOG-FM operated along with WGOG AM (at 1000 kHz), which was eventually dropped.

In 2001, Ms. Griffith retired and sold WGOG to Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting, Inc of Toccoa, Georgia. The sale included a promise by the new owners that WGOG would continue to be a locally oriented operation.

On August 19, 2009, WGOG filed to move its license to Powdersville, where it would operate on 105.5 FM.[3] Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting Company would have used this facility to start a new radio station, WESL, to serve the Easley and Powdersville areas.[4] WGOG's programming and call letters would have moved to the company's construction permit for 95.9 FM in Pendleton; co-owner Terry Carter told The Anderson Independent-Mail that the 95.9 transmitter location in Seneca would allow WGOG to serve an area more densely populated than that served by the station's existing transmitter near Tamassee.[4] To comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations that required Walhalla to remain the city of license for a radio station, Georgia-Carolina proposed to move WSNW from Seneca to Walhalla;[4] this led Cox Radio to object to the moves, as it was planning to change the city of license of WHZT from Seneca to Williamston, which would have left Seneca with no radio stations.[5] Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting dropped its plans to move WGOG and WSNW on July 18, 2012;[6] the application was dismissed on August 6.[3] In 2014, Georgia-Carolina sold the 95.9 facility to Salem Communications; it signed on as WLTE in 2015.

As of 2018, WGOG's news coverage is headed by Dick Mangrum, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who joined WGOG in 1984. Gary Bryant is the station's General Manager and Kyle Brown hosts the "Golden Corner's Morning Show" heard each weekday morning. Gary Butts serves as Operations Assistant.

In September 2010, former owner of WGOG Luzanne Griffith died.

In March 2015, WGOG contracted to air "The Evening Sports Page", a live, local, sports talk show hosted by longtime sports talker Ron Scarborough.

On August 5, 2015 WGOG moved from 96.3 FM to 101.7 FM.

In late winter of 2018, morning show host Kris Butts announced his decision to leave the show, and radio, to enjoy other journeys. Following his departure, Gary Butts hosted mornings for a short period of time while the company completed the hire of a former WGOG employee, Kyle Brown.

gollark: Good news. Krist is up*.* down
gollark: Krist is down.
gollark: @ItzAtomikHD#0000, did you end up making the potatOS bypass work?
gollark: PotatOS best language.
gollark: Also old CPUs and stuff.

References
  1. Butts, Kris. "Call Letter Origins". oldradio.com. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  2. "WGOG Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  4. "New FM radio station planned for Powdersville". The Anderson Independent-Mail. October 23, 2009. Archived from the original on October 26, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  5. "RE: WHZT(FM), Seneca, South Carolina…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 16, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  6. "Re: JOINT REQUEST FOR WITHDRAWAL OF PLEADINGS, WITHDRAWAL OF UNGRANTED APPLICATION. SURRENDER OF NON-FINAL CONSTRUCTION PERMITS, AND CONTINGENT GRANT OF RELATED APPLICATION" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. July 18, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
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