WMGG (1470 AM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station licensed to Egypt Lake, Florida with a Spanish

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

format. WMGG serves the

Tampa Bay area The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, Florida, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, Florida, Clea ...

and is owned by Daniel de la Rosa, through licensee DRC Broadcasting, Inc. WMGG airs a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

language tropical

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, ...

. The station uses the moniker "Ritmo 101.9". WMGG's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off Cavacade Drive in Egypt Lake. It is powered at 2,800 watts by day. But at night, to protect other stations on

AM 1470 The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1470 kHz: 1470 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * LT20 in Junin, Buenos Aires. * LT26 in Colon, Entre Rios. * LT28 in Rafaela, Santa F ...

, WMGG reduces power to 800 watts. It uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

at all times. It is licensed to broadcast using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

technology under digital only MA3 operation, but has since switched back to analog only, despite "HD" remaining in the brand.

History

In 1954, the station first

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

as WDCL. Its

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

was

Tarpon Springs, Florida Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal point and underwent beautification in 2010. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 25,117 at the 2020 census. As of ...

, and it was a 5,000 watt

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 ...

, required to go off the air at sunset. WDCL was owned by the Freede-Miller Broadcasting Company, with Hal Freede serving as president and sales manager. J. McCarthy Miller was the general manager. In the late 1960s and parts of the 1970s, the station played a mix of

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently 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. "To ...

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 ...

with the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

WCWR. In the mid-1970s under the ownership of

Bud Paxson Lowell White "Bud" Paxson (April 17, 1935 – January 9, 2015) was an American media executive. In 1982, Paxson and his business partner, Roy Speer, co-founded the Home Shopping Club (now called the Home Shopping Network). He established Pax TV ...

, the station became a news/talk station, and also originated the

home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Rakuten.com and Amazon.com, ...

format through a radio program on the station; this would be the origination of what is now the cable network HSN and other competitors. On May 17, 1984, the station became an affiliate of Dan Ingram's Top 40 Satellite Survey. Prior to June 5, 2009, WMGG was 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 ...

music station branded as "Mega 1470." Prior to December 29, 2008, WMGG was an all-

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 ...

station as an

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

. As a result of Genesis Communications' announced purchase of AM 1470, where the news/talk format of WWBA now airs at 820 AM, WHBO's sports format moved to WWBA's former frequency, 1040 AM, in October 2008, and simulcast on 1470 in the short-term. The WHBO call sign moved to 1040, with 1470 receiving new call letters, WMGG. In 2011, WMGG switched to a

talk radio 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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format, picking up programs formerly on sister station 1040 WWBA (now WHBO). Effective May 4, 2018, WMGG was sold to Nia Broadcasting, Inc. It switched to a

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) ...

of the Regional Mexican music format heard on co-owned 96.1 WTMP-FM in

Dade City, Florida Dade City, officially the City of Dade City, is a city in, and the county seat of Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is located in the Tampa Bay Area, northeast of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The popu ...

. WMGG also switched its transmitter facilities to Egypt Lake, a suburb of Tampa, and no longer identifies

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin ( ) is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa Bay Area, Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater ...

as its

. WMGG is

diplex A diplexer is a passive electronic component, device that implements Frequency-division multiplexing, frequency-domain multiplexing. Two Port (circuit theory), ports (e.g., L and H) are multiplexed onto a third port (e.g., S). The signals on port ...

ed with co-owned AM 1150 WTMP.

HD Radio digital transmission

In October 2020, WMGG announced the station would be changing their AM band transmission to an exclusively digital signal, using MP3 mode HD Radio, and on January 12, 2021, switched off their analog AM signal. WMGG was the first radio station in the U.S. to use digital-only mode after the FCC approved the voluntary use of all digital transmissions on the AM band; it was the second station to go all-digital, after WWFD began operating under an experimental authorization as an all-digital station in July 2018. On August 31, 2021, WMGG flipped to Spanish tropical, branded as "Ritmo 101.9".,WMGG Sale Brings Ritmo To Tampa
Radioinsight - September 7, 2021 La Nueva de Tampa. Effective November 9, 2021, Nia Broadcasting sold WMGG and translator W270DU to DRC Broadcasting, Inc. for $600,000. Since then, the station switched back to analog only despite the "HD" remaining in the brand.

Previous logo

References

External links

* ;FM translator * * {{Spanish Radio Stations in Florida MGG MGG Tropical music radio stations