WGTS

WGTS

City of license	Takoma Park, Maryland
Broadcast area	Washington, D.C.
Frequency	91.9 MHz
Format	CCM and Talk
ERP	23,500 watts
HAAT	186 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	12460
Callsign meaning	Washington's Gateway To Service
Owner	Washington Adventist University Broadcasting
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wgts919.com

WGTS 91.9 FM is a Christian radio station broadcasting from Takoma Park, Maryland, USA, and serving the Washington DC Baltimore area in a contemporary Christian music format.

The station is owned by Washington Adventist University which is owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

History

In 1946, Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) started the station as an AM carrier current broadcasting to the dormitories. In 1957, CUC received an FM broadcasting licence from the FCC, enabling a larger population to receive its signal. In 1997, the station made the decision to drop its classical music programming which it held for approximately 20 years, in favor of contemporary Christian music (CCM), a format not offered in the Washington DC area. Since then, the station has seen significant growth in listenership and is now ranked as the second most-listened to non-commercial religious station in the country.

In 2004, WGTS expanded its coverage of the DC market when its application for a new tower located in Arlington, Virginia, was approved by the FCC. It almost doubled its previous coverage, reaching more of northern Virginia and northern and western Maryland.

2007 marks the 50th anniversary for the station and has plans to honor those who have helped maintain the station over the years. Over that period, WGTS has been a pioneer in radio in the Washington DC area. When the FCC decided it wanted to set aside all F.M. band frequencies below 92.1 MHz to be used as public educational stations (i.e. listener-supported) that could not sell advertising, WGTS was the first in the DC area to be recognized. This is one reason why it was able to get the 91.9 MHz frequency, being the last place on the dial before the commercial portion. It was also the first station in Washington to go stereo.

Many long-time listeners immediately recognize the voice of Dr. Gerry Fuller, who was the host of its long-running Saturday morning broadcast Breakaway (formerly Saturday Seminar). Fuller was a licensed DDS in the Washington area and hosted Breakaway for over 39 years, interviewing locally- and nationally-known authors, speakers and musicians who talk about God. Notable guests have included Dr. James Dobson and his wife Shirley, CeCe Winans, Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. Barry Black, Philip Yancey and Dr. Charles Stanley. Fuller also served as president of the board at the station and is still regarded as an honorable member. Fuller died July 1, 2012 at the age of 83.

Today, familiar names to listeners of the station include Brennan and Becky, the morning show team from 5:30-10a. Becky has been with the station since its format change in 1997 when she helped start the new morning team at that time. She has also worked locally as a traffic reporter for WTOP and WMAL before coming back to the station full-time. Brennan is the station's production director and has also worked in the Huntsville, Alabama, market at WOCG on the campus of Oakwood College. Rob Conway, the station's music director, has been with the station for ten years. Conway is the deejay from 10am to 3pm. Angela Stevens is the afternoon drive host, who came to the station from Clear Channel's Washington cluster in fall 2006 to take over on-air and promotions duties. Ty McFarland joined the station in spring of 2006 from KTSY in Boise, Idaho, a sister Adventist station, to be senior program director.

In 1996 Don Wheeler was replaced as general manager by John Konrad, who has worked at the station since the late 1980s, first as a high school student and then as a college intern.

It is with profound regret that Washington Adventist University (WAU), the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and WGTS 91.9 FM, announce the passing of the radio station’s beloved General Manager, John Konrad.

John passed away at 7:21 a.m. January 2, at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, surrounded by friends and family. He had been battling bilateral pneumonia since mid-December.

Format

WGTS features a limited rotation of Christian music for most of its programming, with a few locally produced religious talk programs at weekends. WGTS previously had a weekend night time show, Reflections, which played black Gospel music. However, when another station, WPRS-FM, began featuring that format full-time, WGTS dropped the show.

Corporate

WGTS is a non-profit, listener-supported radio station. It has two fund raisers a year, and is a federally recognized charity. The station is licensed to WGTS/Washington Adventist University Broadcasting, Inc., a self-supporting subsidiary of Washington Adventist University. Both the station's owners and studio are located in Takoma Park, immediately next to Washington D.C..

Proposed sale

According to a July 18, 2007, article in the Washington Times, sources close to the station said that the station would be sold to American Public Media (the parent company of Minnesota Public Radio) to produce a news/talk station similar to KPCC in Los Angeles. Several websites were set up to lobby for the Christian format of WGTS, which would probably be dropped should the station have been sold. It was believed that the offer by American Public Media was for approximately $20–25 million and that a $10 million initial offer by the WGTS board of directors to keep the station within Washington Adventist University was rejected. In a change of direction, on September 20, 2007, the college board voted to rescind any current discussions of selling WGTS.

External links

• WGTS Official Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WGTS
• Radio-Locator information on WGTS
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WGTS
• SaveWGTS.net Website
• SaveWGTS.org Website