WNGC

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WNGC
Broadcast areaNorth Georgia and the Atlanta metropolitan area
Frequency106.1 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding"North Georgia Country 106.1"
Programming
FormatCountry music
Ownership
OwnerCox Radio
WGMG, WPUP, WRFC and WGAU
History
First air date
May 1, 1948
Former call signs
WGAU
Call sign meaning
North Georgia Country
Technical information
ClassC1
ERP100,000 watts
Links
Website106.1 WNGC-FM official website

WNGC-FM (106.1 FM, "North Georgia Country 106.1") is a radio station in North Georgia that plays country music. Its city of license is Toccoa, Georgia.

Station history

WNGC has a rich history in Georgia broadcasting. On May 1st, 1948, the radio station signed on as WGAU-FM, broadcasting on 99.5 at 3600 watts, simulcasting sister station WGAU-AM. In 1956, the station moved to 102.5 because when Atlanta's channel 11 came on the air, it created a second "harmonic". During the 1962 year, WGAU-FM was broadcasting in stereo for 6 hours, the second in Georgia to do so. Also in 1962, WGAU-FM moved to 95.5. This was due to when Channel 8 came on, it created a "beat-frequency" with Channel 5 in the Athens area. Starting in 1963, and lasting until 1968, Clarke Broadcasting had an agreement with The University of Georgia School of Journalism to allow students to use WGAU-FM for 3 hours, using the format on the air at the time: beautiful music.

Then in March of 1968, WGAU-FM expanded its studios and became WNGC-FM. The following year, WNGC became North Georgia's FIRST full-time country music station, also one of the first in the nation to program country music full-time. In 1976, WNGC went 24 hours a day, and began broadcasting at 100,000 watts from a tower located in Neece, Georgia.

Then in 1999, Clarke Broadcasting (the owners at the time) sold the WNGC call letters/studio, along with sister WGAU-AM to Southern Broadcasting. They sold the 95.5 dial position to Cox Radio in Atlanta. Southern Broadcasting already owned WSTE-FM 106.1 in Toccoa/Gainesville, and decided to move 106.1 to Athens. Until the deal was finalized, WNGC was heard on 95.5 and 106.1. The transition was made at the end of a Georgia Bulldogs game, 95.5 went dead for a few seconds, and signed back on as 95-5 The Beat, (WBTS-FM) and 106.1 became WNGC-FM.

Prior to December 1996, 106.1 was a light rock station before switching to country and calling itself "South 106." The studios had moved from Toccoa to Gainesville and finally to Athens. Its signal was hard to pick up in the Atlanta area outside of Gwinnett. In the spring of 1999, WSTE built a new tower because at the time they were still in competition with WNGC, before the two stations merged. The purpose of the deal was to try to reach a larger audience and give the two Atlanta country stations WKHX "Kicks" 101.5, and WYAY (at the time Y106) some competition.

While WNGC's City of License is in Toccoa, the transmitter is located in Lula, Georgia (in northern Hall County). WNGC's signal can be heard in Downtown Atlanta, Greenville, South Carolina and in parts of Asheville, North Carolina, However the main coverage area is in the northeast corner of Georgia (Gainesville-Toccoa)and the Athens metro area (where the studios are located). Attempts were made in 2001 to move the transmitter to Sugar Hill in Gwinnett County, but those plans were scrapped.

In January 2008, it was announced that WNGC was sold (along with sister stations WGMG,WPUP,WRFC and WGAU ) to Cox Radio in Atlanta. Also with WYAY-FM's (Eagle 106.7) demise as a country music station in March 2008, WNGC will become the dominant country music station in North Georgia. On March 7, 2008, WNGC stated running ads inviting former Eagle 106.7 listeners to switch to 106.1 WNGC.

Current disc jockeys and programs

  • Moby in the Morning, mornings (Former Kicks 101.5 morning man, now has his morning show syndicated, and Ron Michaels, who was Moby's producer on Kicks, is now his sidekick.)
  • Shana Vaughn, mid-days
  • George Mason-Dixon & Scott Howard, afternoons
  • Walker, evenings
  • Lia Knight, nights
  • Danny Wright, overnight
  • "Normal" Saturdays: North Georgia Night Train, Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40, KB Travis, WNGC's Classic Country Saturday Night with Mark Overby (During football season, program depends on time of the game).
  • "Football" Saturdays (September-December): UGA Football & The Fifth Quarter Show with Dave Johnston and former UGA kicker Kevin Butler live from Applebee's in Athens.
  • Sundays: North Georgia Night Train, The Gospel Greats, Racin' Country USA, Scott Smith, CMT's Country Countdown USA, Bill Cody's Classic Country Weekend
  • Fill-ins: Mark Overby, Cheri Drake, Steve Bentley, KB Travis, Scott Smith & Luke "Nekkid Cowboy" Teague

Current on-air personalities Shana Vaughn & Scott Howard were part of the old "WNGC Morning Crew". Weekend/fill-in host Mark Overby was at one time an intern with the show who also did producing and stunts, and now hosts WNGC's Classic Country Saturday Night. Shana Vaughn would move to middays in November 2004. When the "WNGC MORNING CREW" left the station in June of 2005, Scott Howard became the sportscaster for "Moby In The Morning", and eventually was paired up with George Mason-Dixon. Scott can also be heard along with Larry Munson on UGA football games, with Howard doing play-by-play for away games. Howard is also the play-by-play man for UGA men's basketball. Dave Johnston, from sister station 960 The Ref, now covers sports for WNGC in the mornings.

Former personalities

  • Tim Cicciarelli: Former morning show host, currently running a video production company in Athens.
  • Ted Clark: Former morning show host, currently producer for Atlanta's Morning News with Scott Slade and co-host of Arum and the Kickstand at WSB-FM in Atlanta.
  • John Dupont: Former afternoon news anchor
  • Sabrina Gibbons: Former morning show co-host, currently at WSB,sometimes seen on WSB-TV as host of the Georgia Lottery Drawings.
  • Jennifer Griffies: Currently at WSB.
  • Beth Larsen: Currently at WGMG.
  • Rob Lee: Currently working for WKHX and WYAY-FM.
  • Melissa Meadows: last heard as "Wylie Rose" on WKHX in Atlanta; moved to Nashville.
  • Paul Rea: Currently at WSAV-TV in Savannah.
  • Deborah Reece: Currently with WSB, studio producer for the Clark Howard Show, still heard on the station doing commercials for St.Mary's Hospital in Athens.
  • Christine Short: Currently at KFBK in Sacramento, CA
  • BJ Williams: Married to Joel, also working at WDUN
  • Joel Williams: Currently at WDUN in Gainesville, producer for UGA football.
  • Mike Wooten: Former news director, currently spokesman for the Athens-Clarke County School System.
  • Rusty Gates
  • Chuck Reynolds
  • Bucky Smith : currently at 94.9 The Bull in Atlanta.
  • Chris Jackson
  • Todd Berry
  • Gerry Marshall: Retired from WDEN in Macon,GA in 2004.
  • Matt Caesar- former mid-day news reader and WSB personality, now programing director at sister station WGAU.
  • Mike Andrews: Currently a university instructor in northeast China after having worked for the PLA for two years.

The Georgia Bulldogs

WNGC-FM is one of the many stations that carry The University of Georgia Football Games (along with sister WRFC-AM), something it has done since January 30, 1991. WNGC was also the home of UGA men's basketball until 2005. It can now be heard on sister station 960 WRFC-AM and on Bulldog 103.7 [WPUP-FM].

Previous callsigns for 106.1

  • WLET-FM 1978-1985
  • WZLI 1985-1992
  • WLET-FM 1992-1997
  • WSTE-FM 1997-1999
  • WNGC 1999-Now

Previous frequencies for WNGC

  • 95.5 (as WGAU-FM 1962-1968 WNGC-FM 1968-1999)
  • 102.5 (as WGAU-FM/1957-1962)
  • 99.5 (as WGAU-FM/1948-1957)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WNGC&oldid=244535075"