WPGG
City | Atlantic City, New Jersey |
---|---|
Branding | WPG Talk Radio 104.1 |
Slogan | South Jersey's Talk Station |
Frequency | 1450 kHz |
Translator(s) |
104.1 W281BH (Absecon) |
First air date | 1940 (as WFPG) |
Format | Talk radio |
Language(s) | English |
Power | 1,000 watts (unlimited) |
Class | C |
Facility ID | 10448 |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°22′42″N 74°26′53″W / 39.37833°N 74.44806°W |
Callsign meaning | World's Play Ground G |
Former callsigns |
WFPG (1940-1970s) WIIN (1970s-1988) WFPG (1988-2002) WKXW (2002-2006) WENJ (2006-2012) |
Affiliations |
Premiere Networks Westwood One |
Owner |
Townsquare Media (Townsquare Media Atlantic City License, LLC) |
Sister stations | WFPG, WENJ, WSJO, WPUR |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | wpgtalkradio.com |
WPGG (1450 AM; "WPG Talk Radio 104.1") is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and the broadcast license is held by Townsquare Media Atlantic City License, LLC. Operating with non-directional 1,000 watts day and night, the station can be heard throughout New Jersey's Ocean, Atlantic, and Cape May Counties and into southern Delaware, coastal Maryland, coastal North Carolina, the southern side of much of Long Island, NY, and southern parts of Cape Cod, MA. Since October 22, 2012, the station broadcasts a talk radio format under the branding "WPG Talk Radio 1450." In May, 2016, reflecting the frequency of its FM translator, 104.1 W281BH, the station rebranded as "WPG Talk Radio 104.1." WPGG's transmitter is located in Atlantic City, while its studios are in, and translator transmits from, Northfield, New Jersey.
History
The 1450 frequency in Atlantic City first hit the airwaves in 1940 with its original call letters of WFPG, which stood for "World's Famous Play Ground." For several decades, WFPG aired a full service format, which included a mixture of adult standards, big band, and easy listening music, from studios on the world famous Steel Pier on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
Towards the late 1970s, when casino gambling arrived in Atlantic City, WFPG became "Win 1450" and changed its call letters to WIIN. In 1985, Rog Tees took over as news director and hired anchors, Jeff Scott, Greg Gaston, Carla Contento Kenny, and Vince Scanlon, along with sports director Jim Wise and sports anchor Greg Toland. When the all-news/talk anchors departed for other positions in larger markets, ratings plummeted. By 1988, the WFPG call letters, which had remained in use on a co-owned FM station, had returned to the AM facility.
For much of the 1990s, syndicated talk programs such as Bob Grant, Mike Gallagher, and Art Bell were mainstays of the station's line-up.
In 1999, WFPG became one of the first affiliates of the Comedy World Radio Network. A year later, Comedy World went out of business and the station resorted to simulcasting WFPG-FM during most hours.
Shortly after entering the new century, WFPG and its sister stations were purchased by the Millennium Radio Group, which also owns New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. In March, 2002, New Jersey 101.5 began using 1450 as its South Jersey shore simulcast facility, with a call letter change from WFPG to WKXW.
In 2003, the New Jersey 101.5 simulcast moved to WXKW at 97.3 and ESPN Radio sports programming took its place. In June 2006, 1450 AM changed its call letters to WENJ to reflect its ESPN Radio branding.
In June 2009, the ESPN format was moved to the more powerful 97.3 WENJ-FM signal and WENJ began to carry ESPN Deportes Radio. This lasted until January 2011, when ESPN Deportes was dropped for a simulcast of WENJ-FM.
On October 22, 2012, WENJ dropped the sports simulcast for talk, branded as "WPG Talk Radio 1450" with new call sign WPGG, paying tribute to the original WPG, a radio station owned by the city of Atlantic City from 1925 to 1938. WPGG's line-up features Harry Hurley in mornings, Glenn Beck, Dave Ramsey, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, John Batchelor, and Red Eye Radio, along with news from Fox News Radio and Fox Business. For the 2016 season, WPGG airs Penn State Nittany Lions football and Philadelphia Flyers hockey.
In November, 2015, WPGG began simulcasting its programming on WSJO 104.9-HD2. In April 2016, W281BH, a translator at 104.1 FM, began simulcasting WSJO 104.9-HD2, which brings WPGG's programming to 104.1 in the greater Atlantic City area. In May 2016, WPGG renamed itself to "WPG Talk Radio 104.1."
External links
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WPGG
- Radio-Locator Information on WPGG
- Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WPGG