WMGA (97.9 FM, "The River") is a classic hits and

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 ...

formatted

broadcast 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), ...

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

Kenova, West Virginia Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States, situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. The city's name is a portmanteau of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia (Va), owing to its location where the three states me ...

, serving

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

Ironton, Ohio Ironton is a city in Lawrence County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 10,571 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in southern Ohio, southernmost Ohio along the Ohio River, it is northwest of Huntingt ...

, and

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon the southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West ...

. WMGA is licensed to Fifth Avenue Broadcasting Company, Inc.

History

On July 26, 2012, WMGA changed its format from

soft AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

(as "Magic 97.9") to

hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

, branded as "Hits 97.9". In May 2017, WMGA changed its format to 1980s music, retaining the "Hits" branding. On February 26, 2018, WMGA changed its format from 1980s hits to

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

, branded as "97.9 The River". On October 19, 2023, 97.9 the River was the very first radio station in the United States to flip to all

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

for the 2023 holiday season. No media outlets had noticed WMGA's change until October 31, when

WMXL WMXL (94.5 Hertz, MHz) is a Commercial radio, commercial FM radio, FM radio station city of license, licensed to Lexington, Kentucky. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., who determines its programming in New York using automation, non-loc ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, was thought to have been the first for that year (which would have been, in reversal of the Christmas creep trend, the latest such first overall flip in over a decade); ''Radio Insight'', which tracks such format flips, later added an addendum to that report that "we have been told" WMGA had been doing so since October 19. ''Inside Radio'', which also identified WMXL as first, stated that WMGA had "slipp(ed) under the radar." Following the Christmas music stint, on December 26, 2023, the station, still under the "River" branding, shifted to an

format focused primarily on 1960s and 1970s music. The format shift was deemed a "very personal" project for Kindred president/CEO Mike Kirtner, who had grown up in the Huntington area and claimed said music was deemed a "forgotten generation" by most radio outlets in the area.97.9 The River Shifts to Oldies
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References

External links

97.9 The River Online
* {{Oldies Radio Stations in West Virginia

MGA Mga () is an types of inhabited localities in Russia, urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Kirovsky District, Leningrad Oblast, Kirovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Population: The name is almost certainly derived from the iden ...

Classic hits radio stations in the United States Oldies radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 2006 2006 establishments in West Virginia