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WGRI (1050 AM) is a commercial
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
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, United States, featuring an
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 ...
format known as "Inspiration 1050". Currently owned by Christian Broadcasting System, Ltd., the station's studios are located in Cincinnati, while the transmitter resides in
Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers, across from Cincinnati to the north ...
. In addition to a standard
analog transmission Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an an ...
, WGRI is relayed on Cincinnati
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
W276DD () and is available online. The station was originally established as WZIP and broadcast until 1960 in Covington proper. Shortly after relocating to Cincinnati, the station was sold to Carl Lindner Jr. and his two brothers; under Linder ownership, WZIP carried country music through the late 1960s and featured gospel music through the 1970s. WZIP was the first station to be purchased and owned by the nascent radio conglomerate
Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...
in 1981, upon which it was renamed WTSJ after one of Jacor's principal founders. Becoming WCVX in 2006, the current WGRI call sign and urban gospel format were adopted in 2013.


History


WZIP in Covington

Northern Kentucky Airwaves Corporation filed on February 4, 1946, for a new radio station on 1050 kHz to be operated at
Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers, across from Cincinnati to the north ...
, and was granted a construction permit on May 29, 1947. ( Guide to reading History Cards) In being granted the application, Northern Kentucky Airwaves, headed by Arthur Eilerman, prevailed over Northern Kentucky Radio, led by Arthur's brother, B.J. Eilerman; one witness at the hearing said the services proposed by both were "as like as peas in a pod". Taking the call letters WZIP, the station proceeded with construction; before signing on, however, it lost its planned general manager. Charles H. Topmiller had been the chief engineer of WCKY and planned to resign from that station to head up the new WZIP, but he was instead offered the post of manager at WCKY. WZIP began broadcasting October 5, 1947. It was the first radio station to operate from northern Kentucky since WCKY had moved across the Ohio River to Cincinnati in 1939; it operated from studios on the fourth floor of the former Peoples Savings Bank Building in downtown Covington, where WCKY's first broadcasts had been made in 1929. The full-service station was the first in the Cincinnati market to employ a Black disc jockey, Ernie Waites. At the end of 1957, WZIP, Incorporated, successor to Northern Kentucky Airwaves, filed to sell the station to a corporation controlled by Len Goorian, a longtime television personality in the area, and attorney Alfred B. Katz for $150,000. WZIP, by this point airing a "good music" format, scored a coup when it became the
Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...
affiliate for the Cincinnati area on July 21, 1958, replacing longtime Mutual outlet and network founder
WLW WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...
. Goorian and Katz filed to increase the station's power to 1,000 watts and relocated executive offices to the Hotel Vernon Manor, across the river in Cincinnati.


Move to Cincinnati

At the end of 1958, Goorian and Katz sold WZIP to a new corporation headed by Ed Skotch, Dan Balsamo, and Monte Fassnacht, known as Greater Cincinnati Radio. Major changes followed the approval of the purchase in early 1959. The station was approved to increase power to 1,000 watts, a filing made by the previous ownership, Following the example of the executive offices, Greater Cincinnati Radio filed to move WZIP's city of license and studios from Covington to Cincinnati, citing a desire to increase its identification with the Ohio city. The FCC approved the change on April 13, 1960. Just two months after the FCC approved the station's relocation to Cincinnati, Greater Cincinnati Radio was sold to the Lindner brothers—Carl, Robert and Richard—for $500,000. The Lindner brothers also owned the
United Dairy Farmers United Dairy Farmers (UDF) is an American chain of shops offering dairy products as well as coffee and gasoline. UDF was started by Carl Lindner Sr. and his children in 1938. Almost as soon as they started operations, the Lindners began work on ...
convenience store chain and Thriftway Super Markets in the Cincinnati area. The Lindners also received a construction permit to build a new FM radio station, WZIP-FM 92.5, but it would not sign on the air under their ownership, as WZIP-AM-FM was purchased by the '' Waukegan News-Sun'' newspaper in Illinois for $450,000 in 1961. That same year, Mutual moved from WZIP to WCKY. The ''News-Sun'' built WZIP-FM, which began broadcasting on August 17, 1964, and simulcast WZIP's programming during daylight hours. The next year, WZIP was sold to another out-of-town publishing interest: the Zanesville Publishing Company, publisher of the '' Zanesville Times-Recorder'' and owner of radio and television properties in Ohio and West Virginia, for $367,500. Unlike the last several sales of WZIP, this one brought a format change. At the start of 1966, WZIP flipped to country, becoming the Cincinnati area's third station in the format. WZIP changed hands yet again in 1970, when Margareta Sudbrink purchased the stations for $750,000. In February 1971, WZIP-FM became easy listening WWEZ; it moved to separate studios in Highland Towers, leaving WZIP in Vernon Manor. The country format on AM lasted until October 1, 1971, when the station flipped to gospel; the new format, the only religious station on the AM band in the area, propelled the station to higher revenue than it had achieved in any prior point in history. Sudbrink sold off WZIP and identically formatted WTOW in
Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...
, to its executive vice president, Hal Gore, at the end of 1974; WZIP cost $375,000. The purchase kickstarted a chain of gospel radio stations that had grown to six outlets by 1978. That year, Gore moved WZIP out of the Vernon Manor after a 20-year stay and into new quarters in a former post office building.


WTSJ

Hal Gore sold three of his stations—WZIP, WTOW and Toledo's WGOR—to Jaco Broadcasting, a company majority-owned by
Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...
, Inc., for $1.5 million in 1980. The principal of Jacor, making its first station purchases, was Terry S. Jacobs, senior vice president of Great American Insurance Company. The call sign changed to WTSJ on April 8, 1981. Four years after the purchase, and after the company had begun to buy stations in major markets, Jacor sold WTSJ and WTOW to American Sunrise Communications, a private company specializing in the operation of religious radio stations, for more than $2.4 million. As early as 1986, WTSJ was recognized as having been "the beginning of a major broadcast entity". American Sunrise sold five of its stations to Guardian Communications, which was owned by two employees of sister station KTSJ in
Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...
, for $5.6 million in 1990. Guardian was one of the largest contributors to a successful 1993 voter-approved amendment to Cincinnati's city charter that removed discrimination protections for gays and lesbians. Guardian, with its nine stations in
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
, Baltimore, Cincinnati,
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
and
Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...
, was put up for auction in 1996 in an event precipitated by one of the 1050 frequency's former owners. Carl Lindner, through Great American Insurance, owned 50 percent of the company at that time, and after cashing out its stake in
Citicasters Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was rooted in the family of William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United ...
, it opted to sell its stake in Guardian, prompting co-owners Mark McNeil and Richard David to follow suit.
Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wha ...
filed to purchase the Baltimore, Cleveland and Cincinnati stations for $3 million. Under Salem ownership, WTSJ adopted a
Christian radio Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...
format.


WCVX and WGRI

Salem retained ownership of WTSJ until 2005, when it traded it and WBOB (1160 AM) to Christian Broadcasting System in exchange for
WLQV WLQV (1500 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. It is owned by the Salem Media Group and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. It uses ...
in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. Christian Broadcasting System retained the Christian talk format on 1050 but assigned new WCVX call letters. The WCVX call letters and Christian format moved to the stronger 1160 AM signal on February 1, 2013. At that time, 1050 AM flipped to its present
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 ...
format and changed call letters to WGRI.


Translator

WGRI is additionally relayed over the following low-power FM translator:


References


External links

{{Religious Radio Stations in Ohio GRI Gospel radio stations in the United States GRI 1947 establishments in Kentucky Radio stations established in 1947