WGKA

WGKA
City Atlanta, Georgia
Broadcast area Atlanta metropolitan area
Branding 920 The Answer
Slogan News. Opinion. Insight.
Frequency 920 kHz
First air date 1922 (as WGM at 710)
Format Talk
Power 14,000 watts daytime
490 watts nighttime
Class B
Facility ID 65976
Transmitter coordinates 33°48′36″N 84°21′22″W / 33.809863°N 84.356117°W / 33.809863; -84.356117
Callsign meaning Glen Karron Associates[1]
Former callsigns WGM (1922-1923)
WBBF (1924-1925)
WGST (1925-1989)
WAFS (1989-2004)
Former frequencies 710 kHz (1922-1925)
1110 kHz (1925-1930)
890 kHz (1930-1941)
Owner Salem Communications
(Pennsylvania Media Associates, Inc.)
Sister stations WNIV / WLTA, WAFS
Webcast Listen Live
Website am920theanswer.com

WGKA AM, "The Answer", is a radio station based in Atlanta, Georgia which broadcasts a syndicated talk radio format. It is owned by Salem Communications and has many of the same hosts, such as William Bennett, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Medved, Dennis Prager, and Mike Gallagher, heard on other Salem-owned radio stations across the U.S.. Weekends consist of local hosts Sam Memmolo & Sam Mahdavi (Auto Repair), Bob & The Rodman (Home Repair), John Adams (Real Estate) Gene Henssler (Financial Advice) and Dishing With Donna (Food).

There was also once a WGKA station on 1190 AM, exclusively devoted to classical music.

The WGKA facility was originally WGM AM 710 when FRC-licensed to the Atlanta Constitution in March 1922, just days after WSB AM 740 (now 750) was licensed to competitor newspaper the Atlanta Journal, making them the first two radio stations in the South. It went out of business the next year and was donated to the Georgia School of Technology, where it was relicensed a few months later as WBBF. The station became WGST (Georgia School of Technology) in 1925 when it changed frequency to 1110. It moved again to 890 before that was assigned as a clear channel to WLS AM 890 from Chicago, finally landing on 920 after the 1941 NARBA treaty shifted many stations up by up to three channels (30 kHz). It retained its broadcast callsign even after the Georgia Board of Regents sold it out from under the school as "surplus property" (replaced with college radio station WREK FM 91.1). It kept that callsign for more than six decades until it became WAFS in 1989, and then WGKA in 2004.

The 920 kHz frequency in the Atlanta radio market was the previous home of WGST, which now broadcasts at 640 kHz after a 1989 frequency swap. The WGKA call sign was previously assigned to the frequency of 1190 kHz which is now the frequency of radio station WAFS (AM), also owned by Salem Communications, again due to a frequency swap in 2004. Prior to that time, indeed from the 1950s, it was assigned to 1600 kHz.

Like WGKA AM, WGKA-FM 92.9 was a classical-music station in Atlanta from the 1950s to 1971. Although it existed in the days before NPR, it occasionally carried programs which were not locally produced, such as BBC Music Showcase, hosted by British composer/lecturer Antony Hopkins (not to be confused with film actor Anthony Hopkins). Several of the hosts who once worked at the station, such as Jonathan Phelps and David Jacobs, switched to working at WABE FM when WGKA-FM was sold and their program format changed.Lee Nance and Arthur Borgeson were also hosts. The station's call letters also changed to WZGC, which still exists on 92.9 today.

In its earliest days, WGKA was owned by Glenkaren Associates,Locke E Glenn, hence the acronym. Glenkaren Associates also owned a hi-fi audio store adjoining the radio station.

On January 5, 2015 WGKA rebranded as "920 The Answer".[2]

References

  1. ↑ Atlanta Area AM Radio Stations
  2. ↑ Salem Rebrands Talkers as The Answer
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.