WGOC is an AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

broadcasting in

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, ...

, under a Business Radio format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1320

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

and is under ownership of

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

History

The station signed on the air in 1951 under the call letters

WKIN WGOC is an AM broadcasting, AM radio station broadcasting in Kingsport, Tennessee, under a All-news radio, Business Radio format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1320 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. History The station signed on the ai ...

and was soon owned by

Cy Bahakel Cy Nesbe Bahakel (April 12, 1919 – April 20, 2006) was an American politician. He was a North Carolina state senator and a media magnate. He was a member of the Democratic Party. His son-in-law is former US Representative Robert Pittenger (R- ...

. The station was originally daytime-only and, over the years, increased its power to 5,000 watts. In the 1960s and 1970s the station was a popular

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

outlet with a personality-DJ format. Some key names over the years included: * Bill Austin * Eddie Skelton * Joe Mills * Phil Roberts * John Selby Engineer * Gary Morse * Dick Winstead ("Richard Bailey Winstead," "Dickie-Doo") * Wayne Bernard ("Nard") (now known as Charlie Chase) * Mike Casey ("The Mighty Casey") * Charlie O'Day ("Good-Time Charlie") * Oscar Harris ("The Big O") * Ron Mack * Jonathan Lee Forrester * Terry Thomas * Ken Maness * Roger Lynn * Ric Darby * Reggie Jordan ("The Hit Man") * Jeff Taylor ("The Rocket Man," "J. Rocket") * Chuck Carroll ("The Funky Ol' Chuck-A-Luck") * Bill Meade * Bob Gordon ("Robert W. Gordon") * Mike Lee * TB Scott * Dave Miller * Steve Howard * John R. Kelly * Robin Hyatt * Gary Trudeau * Mark Evan McKinney * Tom Shannon ("Curly") * Steve Gilly * Don Dale * Dave Jeffries * Darwin Paustian * Dick McClellan * "Lonesome" Jim Edwards * Chuck Ness * "Professor" Matt Stevens * Fred Williams * Claude "Red" Kirk * Dave Ray * Joseph Reed (Jay Lee) Nighttime service was added in 1981 with a new 4-tower directional array at the intersection of East Stone Drive and New Beason Well Road in Kingsport, and a nighttime power of 500 watts. The 5-kW daytime operation was consolidated to this site as well in about 1990. In 1982 WKIN changed to a country format under the branding "A Great Brand Of Country." Variations of country and classic country would continue over the next couple of decades. The WGOC call letters were on 640 AM from April 9, 1993 until Feb. 26, 2007, when the call letters were moved to what had been WKIN, 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. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

and

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

station.

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia ...

, which had owned WJCW and WQUT since 1977, bought WGOC and WKIN in 2000. Prior to its current programming, WGOC was broadcasting a

Classic Country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

/ Bluegrass/

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

format. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.

References

External links

WKIN studio, exterior, 1953WKIN studio, interior, 1953
GOC Cumulus Media radio stations {{Tennessee-radio-station-stub