WNOW-FM
| City of license | Gaffney, South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Charlotte/Metrolina |
| Branding | "Poder FM" |
| Slogan | ¡Puras Buenas! |
| Frequency | 105.3 MHz |
| First air date | 1959 |
| Format | Regional Mexican |
| ERP | 51,000 watts |
| HAAT | 395 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 23006 |
| Former callsigns | WAGY-FM (1959-1970s) WAGI-FM (1970s-2007) |
| Owner | Gaffney Broadcasting (LMA to Davidson Media Group) |
| Sister stations | WNOW (AM) |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | poderpurasbuenas.com |
WNOW-FM, also known as "105.3 Poder FM", is a Regional Mexican radio station currently licensed to Gaffney, South Carolina targeting the Charlotte/Metrolina market. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to transmit on 105.3 FM with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 51 kW. The current transmitter is located on the WBTV tower, north of Gastonia, North Carolina.
Starting in 2011, WNOW-FM aired SportsCenter from ESPN Deportes and hourly sports updates.[1]
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[edit] History
105.3 signed on as WAGY-FM in 1959, as the FM sister to WAGY AM 1320 in Forest City, North Carolina. The station at the time was partially owned by Raymond Parker. WAGY-FM was sold entirely to Parker, who with his wife, Bright G. Parker, formed "Gaffney Broadcasting" in the early 70's moved WAGY-FM into Gaffney pairing it with their AM WEAC, now known as 1500 WZZQ, and changing the call letters to WAGI-FM, increasing the power to 100 kW in the process.
WAGI's longtime slogan was "The Upstate Power Station" and was nicknamed for many years by the locals as "Waggie".
The station had featured a mixture of Country and Southern Gospel music for many years.
WAGI broadcasted local as well as national news from the NBC Radio Network as well as local sporting events from Gaffney High School, namely Gaffney Indians football. Also, the station had a morning show called "Carolina in the Morning" and a popular show called "Swap & Shop" (heard at 6:35am, 12:15pm, & 5:15pm Monday to Saturday) where listeners could call in to buy, sell, or trade items.
[edit] The end of WAGI
After Raymond Parker, the owner of WAGI, died in 2005, his will stipulated that the station be sold upon the death of his wife, Bright G. Parker. Parker's will stated that the station was to remain in Gaffney, though this was ignored by the executors of his will. Upon her death in 2006, the station was sold to Davidson Media under a lease/purchase agreement.
In late April 2007, it was announced that the station was sold to local interests in order to ensure that the station remains in the community. Shortly after midnight on April 21, 2007, WAGI ceased operations and then began broadcasting a Regional Mexican format as WNOW-FM, under a Local Marketing Agreement. Listeners were told that WAGI's former programming could be found on sister 1500 WEAC (now WZZQ).[citation needed] Unless the listener was in Cherokee County, it was nearly impossible to receive the AM broadcast, due to its low power 1,000 watt daytime only transmitter. WZZQ transmits from the original WAGI studio on Providence Road in Gaffney and broadcast in the daytime only until August 23, 2009, when an FM station was added at 104.3 to add nighttime programming and a wider signal range.[2]
A construction permit was granted to move 105.3 in order to move its transmitter location to the Kings Mountain/Gastonia area in North Carolina, atop Crowder's Mountain (the same location of 101.9 WBAV-FM, with similar coverage). However, this was changed; the station moved to the WBTV channel 3 tower, north of Gastonia, North Carolina, in June 2009. [3]
Gaffney Indian Football moved to 103.3 WOLT, broadcasting from Greer. The current Cherokee County coroner, Dennis Fowler (who is a well-known WAGI personality), is still the announcer for the games. During the games, former commercials featured on WAGI could be heard. These commercials were primarily for the Gaffney area.[citation needed] For the 2009 season, the games moved to WZZQ's FM translator.[2]
Starting in 2011, WNOW-FM began airing North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball games, as well as any football games kicking off after 5 pm. This is because the Tar Heel Sports Network's main Charlotte station, WFNZ, has a weak signal at night.
[edit] References
- ^ Washburn, Mark (2011-02-09). "WNOW-AM adds ESPN Deportes". The Charlotte Observer. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/02/09/2047022/wnow-am-adds-espn-deportes.html. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
- ^ a b Spencer, Janet (2009-08-24). "New FM station to provide 24-hour service to Cherokee County". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. http://www.goupstate.com/article/20090824/ARTICLES/908249950/1083/ARTICLES?Title=New-FM-station-to-provide-24-hour-service-to-Cherokee-County. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=23006
[edit] External links
- WNOW-FM's website
- Poder FM 105.3's website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WNOW
- Radio-Locator information on WNOW
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WNOW
- Gaffney Ledger Editorial on the WAGI format change
- WZZQ High Speed Stream
- WZZQ Dial-Up Stream.
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