WGST

This article is about WGST (AM). For former simulcast on WGST-FM 105.7, see WRDA (FM).
WGST
City Atlanta, Georgia
Broadcast area Atlanta metropolitan area
Branding Talk 640 WGST
Frequency 640 kHz
First air date February 1988 (as WPBD)
Format Talk
Language(s) English
Power 50,000 watts (day)
1,000 watts (night)
Class B
Facility ID 29730
Transmitter coordinates 33°45′46″N 84°27′31″W / 33.762916°N 84.458508°W / 33.762916; -84.458508
Callsign meaning Georgia School of Technology
Former callsigns WPBD (CP 1986, on-air 1988-1989)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stations WBZY FM, WWPW FM, WRDG FM, WUBL FM, WRDA FM
Webcast Listen Live
Website 640wgst.com

WGST AM 640 ("Talk 640 WGST") is a radio station licensed in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. WGST is a Class B station operating on the frequency of 640 kHz with 50,000 watts of power during the daytime, and 1,000 watts of power during nighttime hours; a two-tower directional antenna is used, with differing patterns daytime and nighttime based from its transmitter site in West Atlanta. The station broadcasts from studios located at the Peachtree Palisades building in the Brookwood Hills district of Atlanta, and is owned by the iHeartMedia, Inc. subsidiary Citicasters Licenses (formerly part of Jacor Communications), and serves the Atlanta metropolitan area media market with a talk radio format.

The facility at 640 started with an application in 1981, with a construction permit granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1985, and the broadcast callsign WPBD issued in 1986. After a series of extensions to the six-month permits and finally a minor modification, it finally went on the air in February 1988. After an initial dismissal later that year, permission to transfer the station to Jacor was granted in 1989, and the WGST format was moved from what is now WGKA AM 920. The station's nighttime radiation pattern has a null toward the northeast.

An English-language station for the bulk of its history, WGST became an affiliate of ESPN Deportes Radio on September 28, 2012. WGST returned to a talk format on June 3, 2013 with an all-syndicated format broadcasting in English.

History

1920s

WGST's original broadcast license for 710 kHz was issued by the Federal Radio Commission March 17, 1922 (or March 19, 1922),[1] with the call sign WGM.[2] The station's origin pre-dates the 1922 date when the station went by the experimental radio call sign of "4FT".[1] The owner was the Atlanta Constitution, responding to the rival Atlanta Journal 's new WSB. The FCC issued WGM's license days after WSB's March 15, 1922 grant on 740 kHz.[1][3] The current WGST call sign was assigned to the station after the station was donated to the Georgia School of Technology (now Georgia Institute of Technology) in 1923 following the station going out of business in late July of that year.[1][3] The WGM license was allowed to expire in August 1923, and new call signs issued to the school on January 13 (or 11) of 1924 as WBBF,[1][3] later becoming WGST in 1925 when the station moved to 1110 kHz.[4]

1930s

In 1930, WGST moved to 890 kHz.[5] The station moved to 920 kHz after the 1941 NARBA treaty created the clear channels in the U.S. and the use of the 890 kHz frequency was given to WLS, Chicago.[6] It was operated as a commercial radio station under a lease to Southern Broadcasting Company beginning in 1930, but the Georgia Board of Regents got back control of the station in 1946.[7]

1940s

In the 1940s, it was located in the Forsyth Building in downtown Atlanta. In 1944, funds from the station financed Georgia Tech's new Office of Long-Range Development within its College of Architecture, which created a "Master Plan" for the Institute's development and expansion.[8] WGST was a Mutual Broadcasting Company affiliate in 1949 and later became an ABC affiliate in 1950.[7][9] Before joining Mutual, WGST was a CBS affiliate.[10] The antenna was an unusual multi-strand horizontal between two supporting towers on the Forsyth Building, across from Georgia Tech's campus, for many years.

1950s-1960s

WGST was the first station to play rock 'n roll in Atlanta in the 1950s.[11] Radio personality Paul Drew had his debut on WGST with a weekend show "The Big Record."[11] Ray Charles' song "I Got a Woman" was recorded at WGST in the early 1950s.[12] In 1956, WGST moved to a studio facility next to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus. This facility was built on top of the Coliseum's locker rooms for the radio station, and it featured two large studios for live performances, complete with grand pianos, and remained in use by WGST into the 1970s. Starting in 1977 WREK occupied most of the original studios, including one of the two big rooms, until 2004 when they moved to their current studio in the Georgia Tech Student Center. During the 1960s, WGST was running a Top 40 radio format, but by the late-1960s had changed format to Easy Listening, in an attempt to cut-into WSB's audience.[13]

1970s

In 1971, WGST changed format from easy listening to Top 40, and was billed simply as "92". By 1972, the station had changed to a Solid-Gold Format. In 1973, it adopted a modified gold/current adult contemporary format. The station did fair in the ratings, and well at night, particularly in the male 25-49 demographics, boosted in part when WGST became the originating flagship station for the Atlanta Flames ice hockey broadcasts. The station continued with its long-running Georgia Tech Football Network and Georgia Tech Basketball broadcasts. By October 1977, WGST switched to an all-news format.[13] In 1973, it was declared surplus property and was sold for five million dollars to Meredith Corporation in 1974, ignoring opposition from alumni, state legislators, and even the governor.[11] However, interest from the trust fund created by the sale was used to upgrade Tech's student-run WREK (91.1 FM), which in 1978 moved to the Coliseum studios vacated by WGST in 1975. Meanwhile, WGST tried to compete with WSB by becoming a full service, top-40 station and hiring big name personalities such as Chuck Daugherty, Sam Holman from WABC, Tony Taylor from WNBC, and Skinny Bobby Harper, who was in Kansas City. But their ratings languished, despite the high-priced talent Meredith had assembled.[11][13]

1980s

By the early 1980s, with its ratings on the decline, the station adopted its long running news/talk format. In 1989, the owners of WGST, Jacor Communications, saw the opportunity to purchase the new WPBD operating at 640 kHz.[14] WGST was then moved to 640 kHz since the station could operate with 50,000 watts during the daytime and 1,000 watts at night, a substantial increase in daytime power and signal coverage area from the former 920 kHz. The license for 920 kHz was then sold to Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs religious broadcasting group.[14]

1990s

Sean Hannity replaced Neal Boortz—there were several hosts in that time slot between Boortz and Hannity—when Boortz left for WSB in 1992 and stayed until Roger Ailes offered Hannity a position on Fox News Channel in 1996. During his time at WGST, he was given the nickname "Hanni-Pie The Tin Man" by fellow host Kim Peterson. The station was also the home for Atlanta Braves baseball game broadcasts for 3 years, from 1992-1994. WGST was the station that carried Sid Bream's winning slide in Game Seven of the 1992 NLCS. In May 1994 the station was outbid for Braves broadcast rights by WSB, which had carried the games from 1966 until 1991. WGST was also the home of the Atlanta Hawks until 1995, after which the Hawks followed the Braves to WSB. WGST carried NASCAR races in 1996 and 1997. It was the home of the Atlanta Falcons in 1998 when the team made its only Super Bowl appearance.[15]

The station was simulcast on WGST-FM 105.7 from 1993 until 2000.

2000s

2005 marked a year of change for WGST. Following the reacquisition of Atlanta Braves baseball radio rights,[15] the station changed its moniker to "Braves Radio 640 GST" to reflect the new rights (the contract ended after the 2009 season). Subsequently, many out-of-Atlanta area fans complained about the change from WSB, noting WGST's signal was much weaker at night than that of WSB. To remedy the situation, WGST sister station WKLS-FM (96 Rock) began broadcasting Braves games. Also, as part of a Clear Channel corporate change, WGST switched to Fox News Radio as its news provider. On March 20, 2006, WGST's moniker became "Atlanta. Talk. Radio." In March 2005, WGST dropped Paul Harvey from its radio line-up.

On November 21, 2006, WGST announced that morning show host Tom Hughes had resigned, and that midday host Denny Schaffer, and afternoon drive talk host Kim Peterson (The Kimmer) and their staffs had been fired.

On February 5, 2007, it was announced that veteran Atlanta morning show hosts Randy Cook and Spiff Carner would be joining the WGST team for a new live and local morning show.

On September 24, 2007, it was announced that Glenn Beck would be returning to WGST in the 9am to noon slot on Thursday, September 27, 2007. The syndicated Glenn Beck Show was previously heard on WGST from 2001 to 2005. Beck took over Mike McConnell's weekday spot, though McConnell was still heard on weekends.

On October 9, 2007, morning co-host Spiff Carner was fired by WGST, after 8 months on the air. Randy Cook remained on the newly named "The Morning Drive with Randy Cook". Spiff was later hired to co-host the "Spiff and Fred" show on WYAY-FM. Clear Channel management did not renew Randy Cook's contract in July 2009. "The Morning Drive" was hosted by comedian Mike Stiles from July 13 to July 24, 2009, before being replaced by syndicated programming.

From July 27, 2009 to November 12, 2010, the lineup has consisted of "The Wall Street Journal This Morning" from 5am to 6 am, Michael Smerconish from 6 am to 9 am, the Glenn Beck Program from 9 am to noon, The Rush Limbaugh Show from noon to 3, Dave Ramsey from 3 to 7, Mark Levin from 7 to 9 (11 to midnight during baseball season) and "Coast to Coast AM" with George Noory during the overnight hours. Flagship Atlanta Braves coverage is also broadcast during baseball season.

2010s

Since November 15, 2010, local radio personality Rob Johnson has served as morning drive host. On January 11, 2011, it was announced that the Savage Nation would join the WGST line up, one day after being cut by WSB in a schedule change. Beginning in early 2012, Atlanta local Dave Merlino joined Rob Johnson's morning show, now billed as "The Rob and Dave Show". The weekday lineup was The Rob & Dave Show (6 - 9 AM), Beck (9 AM - Noon), Rush Limbaugh (Noon - 3 PM), a local version of The Rusty Humphries Show (3 - 6 PM), Levin (6 - 9 PM), Savage (9 PM - Midnight), Noory (12 AM - 5 AM), and The Wall Street Journal report.

On September 26, 2012, it was reported by several major news outlets that WGST would be changing its format;[16] Johnson, Merlino, and Humphries were terminated, Limbaugh's show was sold to WSB, Beck's show went to WCFO,[17] and Savage ended up quitting his show at the same time, in a coincidental action. On September 28, 2012, at 3 PM, following Rush Limbaugh's program, WGST switched to ESPN Deportes Radio.

On April 23, 2013, less than eight months after switching formats, it was announced that WGST would return to a news/talk format beginning June 3, 2013, with all syndicated programming, including Glenn Beck (starting July 22 for contractual reasons) and Dave Ramsey.[18]

In the early 2010s, WGST was simulcast on an HD Radio digital subchannel of sister station WUBL FM 94.9, and then also on W222AF FM 92.3. The station was in turn also carried on audio-only digital subchannel 32.21 of low-powered digital television station WANN-CD in Atlanta, as Clear Channel's other Atlanta holdings are. These three stations aired "Comedy 92-3" rather than WGST, beginning soon after the switch to Spanish. WUBL HD-3 and WANN-CA then again began carrying WGST after ESPN Deportes was switched to WWPW FM 96.1 HD-3, which also provides the required simulcast for W222AF.

Former WGST on-air staff

Previous logo

References

External links

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