WGAC-FM is a radio station located in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...

. The station is licensed by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) to the town of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and broadcast on 95.1 FM with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

(ERP) of 5.7 kW. It simulcasts a news/talk format with WGAC 580. Its studios are located just two blocks from the Augusta-Richmond County border in unincorporated

Columbia County, Georgia Columbia County is a county located in the east central portion of the US state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 124,035. The legal county seat is Appling, but the ''de facto'' seat of county government is Evans.

and the transmitter is in

Grovetown, Georgia Grovetown is a city in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Augusta metropolitan area and the Central Savannah River Area. The 2019 population estimate was 15,152. The mayor is Gary Jones. History From the building of the ...

at the interchange of Interstate 20 and GA 388.

History

WGAC-FM signed on in November 1992 as an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

outlet named "Channel Z 95.1", giving the area its first station playing that type of music. Although the station had a small but loyal audience, it was handicapped with a signal that covered 2/3 of the Augusta/ Aiken market. It was nominated in 1996 for "Small Market Station Of The Year" as well as then-Music Director Johnny Cage for "Music Director Of The Year" by

Billboard Radio Monitor ''Billboard Radio Monitor'' was a weekly music trade publication that followed the radio industry and tracked the monitoring of current songs by format, station and audience cumes. The magazine was a spinoff of ''Billboard magazine'' and was most ...

and was voted "Best Radio Station" in 1995 and 1996 by readers of "Augusta Magazine". The "Channel Z" era of WGAC-FM from 1992-1996 has been referred to as "purest form of rock ‘n’ roll to be found anywhere on Augusta airwaves." That era has been memorialized on th
Channel Z 95.1 Preservation Project website
The station signed a local marketing agreement on December 10, 1996 with Beasley Broadcasting (who later purchased it) and the format was flipped to 1970s oldies as "Z95". After about a year with mostly dismal ratings, the station flipped to active rock as "95 Rock" in September 1998.http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1998/RR-1998-09-18.pdf On August 10, 2011, WCHZ's rock format moved to 93.1 FM WGAC-FM, a much lower powered signal licensed to Warrenton, GA, moving the FM simulcast of the talk format from 93.1 WGAC-FM to the stronger 95.1 WCHZ. Five days later, the stations also swapped call signs.

References

External links

WGAC official website
* {{coord missing, Georgia (U.S. state) GAC-FM Radio stations established in 1992 GAC-FM

History

See also

References

External links