WGAR-FM
Country music radio station in Cleveland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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WGAR-FM (99.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and features a country music format. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves Greater Cleveland and surrounding Northeast Ohio as the local affiliate for The Bobby Bones Show. WGAR-FM's studios are located at the Six Six Eight Building in downtown Cleveland's Gateway District and the transmitter is in nearby Parma.
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Broadcast area | |
Frequency | 99.5 MHz (HD Radio) |
Branding | 99.5 WGAR |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | Country music |
Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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History | |
First air date | December 15, 1952 (71 years ago) (1952-12-15) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | George A. Richards, founder of WGAR (1220 AM), now WHKW |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 47740 |
Class | B |
ERP | 50,000 watts |
HAAT | 152 meters (499 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°22′18.00″N 81°43′4.00″W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
Website | wgar |
Signing on in 1952 as the FM extension of WGAR (1220 AM), WGAR-FM mostly operated in obscurity until 1970, when management instituted a progressive rock format as WNCR. Airstaff turnover, conflicts with management and increased competition from other rock stations led to a format change to Top 40 in 1973, country music in 1974 and again to easy listening as WKSW in 1975. Returning to country in 1980, WKSW became WGAR-FM in 1984 in tandem with WGAR, with the AM simulcasting the FM from 1986 to 1990. WGAR-FM has remained in the format ever since, even with multiple ownership, management and airstaff changes. Since 1999, iHeartMedia (known as Clear Channel Communications until 2014) has owned WGAR-FM as part of their Greater Cleveland cluster.
Along with a standard analog transmission, WGAR-FM broadcasts over one HD Radio channel[2] and is available online via iHeartRadio.