WGXI

WGXI (1420 AM) is a radio station licensed to Plymouth, Wisconsin and serving the Sheboygan area, which features a Soft/Gold AC format under the branding "Love 98-5.FM". In addition to an affiliation with John Tesh and Intelligence for Your Life, WGXI also carries local sports from Plymouth High School and other Sheboygan County area schools (boys varsity football and basketball), along with Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball and weather forecasts from WISN-TV in Milwaukee.

WGXI
CityPlymouth, Wisconsin
Broadcast areaSheboygan & Sheboygan County
Frequency1420 kHz
BrandingLove 98-5.FM
SloganAwesome Variety!
Programming
FormatSoft/Gold AC
AffiliationsCBS Radio News
Ownership
OwnerStu Muck and David Hendrickson
(Galaxie Broadcasting, LLC)
History
First air dateApril 1954 (as WPLY)
Former call signsWPLY (1954-1991)
WJUB (1991-2018)
Call sign meaningW-GalaXIe Broadcasting (station owner)
Technical information
Facility ID32846
ClassD
Power500 watts day
62 watts night
Repeater(s)98.5 W253CW (Plymouth)
Links
WebcastListen live
(currently restricted to 100-mile radius of Plymouth)
Websitelove985.fm

The station's studios are located on WI 57 North just east of Plymouth, with its transmitter behind the studio building. WGXI also utilizes an FM translator station, W253CW (98.5), which also broadcasts from the same transmitter and allows a clear stereo signal to be carried at all hours throughout most of Sheboygan County.

Station history

The station has carried adult standards since 2003, shifting to it shortly after WCLB in Sheboygan converted to ESPN Radio and the launch of WSTM, which allowed the offloading of some programming onto that FM signal. WGXI previously aired a Christian format, and as WPLY, adult contemporary, country music and Top 40 formats. It was the AM sister to WXER (104.5), also Plymouth-licensed, from its launch in 1990 until its 1995 sale to other interests who moved the station's broadcast facilities (though not main transmitter) closer to Sheboygan, where a secondary translator was eventually established.

After Evangel Ministries purchased WSTM in early 2017 with the then-WJUB to convert WSTM to its general CCM "The Family" format, WJUB was considered a surplus asset in the sale and was sold to Galaxie Broadcasting, a company made up of Stuart Muck and longtime WJUB on-air programmer and personality Dave Hendrickson, who have continued to maintain the station's format as-is since Galaxie's purchase was completed.[1] The first effect of the sale was the affiliation with the Marquette basketball network.[2]

In early 2018, the station also filed for an FM translator station with the FCC as part of the agency's January 2018 AM revitalization translator window;[3] if approved, it would transmit from Plymouth on 98.5 at 250 watts.[4] With WCLB signing on their translator in mid-November 2018, it will be the last of Sheboygan County's three AM stations to launch an FM translator.

The station changed its call sign to WGXI on April 5, 2018. Galaxie had attempted to re-acquire the former WPLY calls from the Roanoke, Virginia sports radio station that currently holds them, but was refused.

The translator did launch on October 30, 2019; with it, the standards format was dropped for a more FM-viable Soft/Gold AC format.[5] After gauging listener feedback during a break in the format between Thanksgiving and Christmas for Christmas music, a number of standards did return to the station's playlist.

References
  1. Jacobson, Adam (10 October 2017). "'The Breeze' Blows Toward A Galaxie". RBR. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  2. Pederson, Jeff (2 February 2018). "Falls radio vet steps into ownership role". Plymouth Review/Sheboygan Falls News. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  3. Venta, Lance (7 February 2018). "Looking At The 873 New Translator Applications". RadioInsight. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  4. Ellis, Jon. "2018 AM Revitalization Translators". Northpine. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  5. Ellis, Jon (30 October 2019). "Wis. Station Changes Format with Launch of FM Signal". Northpine. Retrieved 31 October 2019.

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