WGCM (1240 AM) is

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 ...

licensed to

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport ( ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, and its co-county seat. It had a population of 72,926 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Mississippi, second-most populous ...

. It airs an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format and is owned by Lisa Stiglets and Elizabeth McQueen, through licensee JLE, Incorporated.

History

WGCM began broadcasting in 1928 and was owned by Gulf Coast Music Co.History Cards for WGCM
fcc.gov. Retrieved July 12, 2019. It briefly broadcast at 1350 kHz, before its frequency was changed to 1210 kHz later in 1928. Its frequency was changed to 1240 kHz in March 1941, as a result 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 ...

. By 1944, WGCM had become an affiliate of the

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

, which would become the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

in 1945.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1944
',

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

, 1944. p. 114. Retrieved July 12, 2019. In 1980, its call sign was changed to WTAM. The station aired an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

format as WTAM. Its call sign was changed back to WGCM in 1987, and it adopted a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1988
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1988. p. B-157. Retrieved July 12, 2019. By 1990, the station had adopted to an

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

format. By 1994, it had switched to a

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

format. In 1995, it adopted a classic country format.
Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1996
',

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (''B&C'', or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') was a telecommunications industry monthly trade magazine and, later, news website published by Future US. Founded in 1931 as ''Broadcasting'', subsequent mergers, acquisitions and ...

, 1996. p. B-233. Retrieved July 13, 2019. In 2016, the station began to be simulcast on a translator at 100.9 MHz, and it adopted an oldies format branded "Cruisin' WGCM".

Translator

WGCM is also heard at 100.9 MHz, through a translator in Gulfport, Mississippi.

References

External links

* * * {{Oldies Radio Stations in Mississippi GCM Oldies radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1928 1928 establishments in Mississippi Gulfport, Mississippi