WGAC (580 kHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. The station carries a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

format

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

with co-owned 95.1

WGAC-FM WGAC-FM (95.1 Hertz, MHz) is a radio station located in Augusta, Georgia. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the town of Harlem, Georgia, Harlem and broadcast on with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 5. ...

Harlem, Georgia. The stations are owned by

Beasley Broadcast Group Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc., based in Naples, Florida, is an owner/operator of radio stations in the United States. , the company owns 57 stations under the Beasley Media Group name. History The company was founded in 1961 by George G. Bea ...

, Inc., through licensee Beasley Media Group Licenses, LLC. The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

s and offices are on Jimmie Dyess Parkway in Augusta. WGAC is a rare radio station that uses

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

sites in different states. In the daytime, WGAC is powered at 5,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, using a non-directional antenna off King Street in

Martinez, Georgia Martinez ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is a northwestern suburb of Augusta and is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area. The population was 34,535 at ...

. But at night, to avoid interfering with other stations on 580 AM, WGAC reduces power to 840 watts, using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a four-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

, off Old Sudlow Lake Road in

North Augusta, South Carolina North Augusta is a city in Aiken and Edgefield counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, on the north bank of the Savannah River. It lies directly across the river, and state border, from Augusta, Georgia. The population was 24,379 at the ...

Programming

On weekdays, WGAC has local shows in AM and PM

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, with nationally syndicated shows heard the rest of the day. Weekdays begin with "Augusta's Morning News" with John Patrick, Mary Liz Nolan and Steve Smith. In late afternoons, Austin Rhodes hosts a conservative talk call-in show. Also on the schedule are

Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...

Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American radio personality who offers financial advice. He is the founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions and a co-host of '' The Ramsey Show'', a nationally syndicated radio program. He ...

, Mark Levin, '' Coast to Coast AM with

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is radio syndication, syndicated to ...

'' and '' America in the Morning with John Trout''. Weekends feature shows on money, gardening, golfing, cars, technology, religion and law. Syndicated weekend shows include Kim Komando, ''

The Motley Fool The Motley Fool is a private financial and investing advice company based in Alexandria, Virginia. It was founded in July 1993 by co-chairmen and brothers David Gardner and Tom Gardner, and Todd Etter and Erik Rydholm. The company employs over 3 ...

'', '' Handel on the Law'' and '' Somewhere in Time with Art Bell'' as well as repeats of weekday shows. WGAC broadcasts games of the Augusta GreenJackets

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team. Most hours begin with world and national news from

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

History

In 1940, WGAC signed on the air. It originally broadcast on 1210 kilocycles at only 250 watts, a fraction of its current power. It was owned by Twin States Broadcasting. WGAC was an

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Co ...

affiliate, carrying its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports,

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

s and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

broadcasts during the "

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

." In 1941, after the enactment of the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, ; ) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreements also addressed how frequency assignments were d ...

(NARBA), WGAC moved to AM 1240. A few years later, WGAC got approval from the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) to move to 580 kHz, with a big increase in power, 5,000

s by day and 1,000 watts at night. The Blue Network became the ABC Radio Network. In 1978, the

acquired WGAC-AM and later, added an FM station (95.1) which is licensed to Harlem, Ga. and simulcasts the WGAC-AM programing.Broadcasting Yearbook 2010 page D-157
/ref>

References

External links

WGAC official website
{{Authority control

GAC Gac or GAC may refer to: *Gấc, pronounced �ək̚˧˦ a Southeast Asian fruit of the species ''Momordica cochinchinensis'' *Gać (disambiguation), a common Polish place-name Acronyms Companies and organisations * GAC Group, a Chinese automo ...

News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1981

Programming

History

See also

References

External links