WGNE-FM (99.9
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
FM radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radio ...
licensed
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Middleburg, Florida
Middleburg is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) within Clay County, Florida, Clay County in the U.S. state of Florida, located southwest of downtown Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville and northwest of Green Cove Springs, ...
, and serving the
Jacksonville metropolitan area
The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the metropolitan area centered on the principal city of Jacksonville, Florida and including the First Coast of North Florida. According ...
. It is owned by
Renda Broadcasting
Renda Broadcasting (RBC) is a privately held Pittsburgh-based radio broadcasting company founded by chief executive, Tony Renda.
Renda Broadcasting operates stations in Pennsylvania and Florida. Most stations are identified as “A hometown radio ...
and airs a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
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, ...
as "99.9 Gator Country", and primarily competes against
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
-owned
WQIK
WQIK-FM (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a country music radio format. Overnight, WQIK carries the radio syndication, syndicat ...
.
WGNE's studios and offices are in the
Arlington district of Jacksonville. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
on a tower that also broadcasts
WTLV
WTLV (channel 12) is a television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Orange Park–licensed ABC affiliate WJXX (channel 25). Both stations share studios on East Adams Stre ...
and other Jacksonville TV and FM stations.
History
On July 14, 1972, the station first
signed on
Signing may refer to:
* Using sign language
* Signature
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
as WIYD, licensed to
Palatka, Florida
Palatka () is a city in northeastern Florida and it is the county seat of Putnam County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,558 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Putnam County. Palatka is the principal city of the Palatka Mi ...
, a town about 50 miles south of Jacksonville. It aired a
beautiful music
Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...
format as "Wide FM," and was the FM
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
to
WWPF, both stations owned by Hall Communications. Because it broadcast from a tower only 180 feet tall, it was limited to serving the Palatka-
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
area.
In 1978, the AM station switched its
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 assigne ...
to WIYD, while the FM station was sold to the Sis Radio Company and became WIYD-FM. The new owners got a
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
from 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 jurisdiction ...
to construct a tower more than 900 feet tall, making 99.9 audible from Jacksonville to
Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...
.
In 1981, the station was sold to the Ronnette Communications Corporation, with studios and offices moving to
Ormond Beach
Ormond Beach is a city in central Florida in Volusia County. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan ...
, and flipped to
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 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. "Top 40" or " con ...
outlet WNFY. In the Jacksonville
radio market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
, it competed with long time Top 40 AM radio leader WAPE (now
WOKV WOKV may refer to:
*WOKV (AM) 690 in Jacksonville, Florida
*WOKV-FM 104.5 in Jacksonville, Florida
*WGRR or WOKV (1978–1981), 103.5 MHz in Hamilton, Ohio
*WBOB (AM) or WOKV (1981–1991) 600 kHz in Jacksonville, Florida
*WMUV
WMUV (100.7 FM) ...
) and FM challenger WIVY (now
WEZI). In about a year, WAPE left the Top 40 format for
Oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
.
In 1983, the station switched its call letters to WNFI, while remaining Top 40. Its tower was now nearly 1,300 feet tall, with a power of 100,000 watts, allowing WNFI to be heard over much of the northern section of Florida's Atlantic coast. In 1993, the station was sold again, this time to the Daytona Beach Broadcasting Corporation. The station remained Top 40, but the call letters were switched to WFKS to fit the new moniker "Florida's Kiss-FM."
In 1996, Renda Broadcasting paid $6.5 million for WNFI and WKQL (now
WMUV
WMUV (100.7 FM) is a commercial Christian radio station that broadcasts to the Jacksonville, Florida area. The station is licensed in Brunswick, Georgia to Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation and is owned by Nancy Epperson. ). Renda switched WNFI's format to Country, renaming the station WGNE-FM and using the moniker "99.9 Froggy-FM." In 2005, the station's studios and offices moved to Atlantic Boulevard in Jacksonville.
In the early 2010s, the station's
city of license
In American, 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 broa ...
was moved to
Middleburg, Florida
Middleburg is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) within Clay County, Florida, Clay County in the U.S. state of Florida, located southwest of downtown Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville and northwest of Green Cove Springs, ...
, an unincorporated community in
Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman:
* Clay County, Alabama
* Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County)
* Clay County, Flor ...
, which borders Jacksonville. WGNE switched to a tower on
Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...
Boulevard in Jacksonville used by
WTLV
WTLV (channel 12) is a television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Orange Park–licensed ABC affiliate WJXX (channel 25). Both stations share studios on East Adams Stre ...
and other Jacksonville TV and FM stations. While the move improved the station's signal to office towers and apartment buildings in Jacksonville, as well as its northern suburbs, it reduced coverage to the south. The power was cut by more than half and the antenna height was reduced by 300 feet. WGNE switched its moniker to "99.9 Gator Country."
On-air personalities
Steve Sutton- Sutton's radio career began in 1993 at WJRX in MacClenney. Sutton went on to the Hoyle & Fizz Show on WAPE in the morning, hosted a talk show on WCRJ-AM at lunch, and continued traffic reporting in the afternoon with Trane on the Radio at WAPE. In 1995, he began working full time at WAPE on Big Ape Morning Zoo alongside Eden Kendall, Amadeus, Hoyle, and Ashley King. After almost 12 years of the Big Ape Morning Zoo being on air, in December 2006 Sutton, Kendall, and Amadeus left WAPE. After about 6 months of being off the air, on June 20, 2007, the trio took over the morning show at 99.9 Gator Country.
Eden Kendall- Kendall is a graduate of the University of Florida and the mother of two children. Kendall worked on Big Ape Morning Zoo alongside Steve Sutton, Amadeus, Hoyle, and Ashley King. After almost 12 years of the Big Ape Morning Zoo being on air, in December 2006 Sutton, Kendall, and Amadeus left WAPE. After about 6 months of being off the air, on June 20, 2007, the trio took over the morning show at 99.9 Gator Country. As well as working on Gator Country's "Hometown Morning Show" Kendall also hosts WJXT's daytime broadcast, River City Live. During the Jacksonville Jaguar's football season Kendall can also be seen on WCWJ's "The Mark Brunell Show.
Amadeus- Amadeus moved to Jacksonville when he was in the 4th grade. After high school, Amadeus began working at Publix and took a part-time job at Turtle's Records & Tapes. On January 1, 1990, Amadeus left Turtle's Records and Tapes to work part-time at 95.1 WAPE. In 1996, Amadeus got the opportunity to join the Big Ape Morning Zoo. in December 2006 Sutton, Kendall, and Amadeus left WAPE. After about 6 months of being off the air, on June 20, 2007, the trio took over the morning show at 99.9 Gator Country. Amadeus also hosted the CW-17 Weekend Showplace for 17 years.
Brian Jordan- Jordan was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. Jordan worked at WAPE for 4 years. After taking a 2-year break Jordan began working at 99.9 Gator Country.
Matt Basford- Basford was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida and attended Hofstra University in New York. His career in radio began at the age of 16 years old when he worked WJAX, now known as WAPE. He has worked in radio in Chicago, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, and NPR in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, Basford worked as an actor in television and film as well as doing some improv and stand up comedy. Basford moved back to Jacksonville in 2000 and now works on 99.9 Gator Country and WEJZ.
References
External links
99.9 Gator Country*
{{Country Radio Stations in Florida
Radio stations in Florida, GNE-FM
Country radio stations in the United States
Renda Broadcasting radio stations
1972 establishments in Florida
Radio stations established in 1972