WGIV (1370

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) 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 ...

licensed to

Pineville, North Carolina Pineville (; locally ) is a suburban town in the southernmost portion of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. Part of the Charlotte metropolitan area, it is situated in the Waxhaws region between Charlotte and Fort Mill. As of ...

, and serving the

Charlotte metropolitan area The Charlotte metropolitan area is a metropolitan area of the U.S. states of North and South Carolina, containing the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. The metropolitan area also includes the cities of Gastonia, Concord, Huntersville, and ...

. It airs an

mainstream urban Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ' ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. WGIV is owned by Frank Neely, but the station is operated by Steve Hedgwood's Core Communications, which owns a similar trimulcast in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

of W233BF, WIPK and WFDR. By day, WGIV 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. To protect other stations on

1370 AM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1370 kHz: 1370 AM is a regional broadcast frequency, on which Class B and D stations broadcast. Argentina * LRA 54 in Ingeniero Jacobacci, Rio Negro ...

, it reduces power at night to 67 watts. WGIV is

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) ...

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

s W277CB at 103.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

and W263CY at 100.5 MHz, both of which are licensed to Charlotte.

History

This is the second local station to use the WGIV call letters; the original WGIV (at 1600 AM) was the first station in the Charlotte radio market to target the

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

audience full time. The current incarnation of WGIV started as

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

WLTC in the late 1940s, and was licensed to serve Gastonia. For the majority of the station's existence, WLTC aired

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 ...

and Southern gospel. A midday gospel show was hosted by Tillie Lowery. After 25 years of hosting the program, Lowery retired in 1995. In the late 1980s, WLTC was acquired by Ford Broadcasting in China Grove. The format would go full-time Southern gospel. In 1998, Ford sold the station to current owner Frank Neely, who owned WGCD. WLTC would change formats to

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genr ...

. On September 16, 2005, WLTC changed call letters to the then-discarded WGIV. Shortly afterwards, WGIV would relocate their tower to a location southwest of

Uptown Charlotte Uptown Charlotte, also called Center City, is the central business district of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The area is split into four wards by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets, and bordered by Interstate 277 and Int ...

, and would be relicensed to Pineville. For the next eight years, the station would air a full-service format aimed towards African-Americans, usually with urban gospel in the mornings, talk shows in the middays, and urban AC music in the afternoon and evening hours. WGIV would acquire the W277CB translator in 2010. On March 30, 2014, WGIV changed formats to

, branded as "Streetz 103.3." The full-service urban format moved exclusively to wgivcharlotte.com. The station competed against WPEG, which had not had a competitor since December 2010, when Rhythmic-formatted WIBT flipped to a more

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

direction. WGIV received new competition in August 2015, when WQNC relaunched their hip hop-intensive mainstream urban format. In December 2020, WGIV began simulcasting on WDYT.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WGIV
(covering 1947-1979 as WLTC) * * * * {{Urban Radio Stations in North Carolina GIV Mainstream urban radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in North Carolina