WMGF (107.7
FM) 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 ...
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
Mount Dora, and serving
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
and
Central Florida
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...
. It is owned by
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 ...
and airs an
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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
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, ...
, switching to a
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
for much of November and December. Its offices and studios are on Maitland Center Parkway in
Maitland
Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...
.
WMGF broadcasts 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 hav ...
(ERP) of 98,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s from a
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 ...
on Miller Road in
Orange City, Florida
Orange City is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 10,599. It is a part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area, which was home to 590,289 peop ...
. The station can be heard as far as
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
to the north, as far as
Sebastian
Sebastian may refer to:
People
* Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films and television
* ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film
* ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film
...
to the south, and is one of the few Orlando stations that covers
Ocala
Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida.
Home to ...
and parts of
Gainesville. WMGF broadcasts using
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
technology. One
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
airs
smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.
History
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...
, informally using 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 assigne ...
of a past Orlando jazz station,
WLOQ
WLOQ (96.3 FM) is a radio station in Oil City, Pennsylvania, United States, broadcasting the K-Love network and owned by the Educational Media Foundation.
From 1993 to 2022, the station was a locally owned station owned by WKQW (1120 AM), l ...
. Another subchannel rebroadcasts the
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. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
programming of co-owned
WFLF 540 AM
The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 540 kHz: 540 AM is a Canadian and Mexican clear-channel frequency. CBK (AM), CBK, Watrous, Saskatchewan, Watrous-Regina, Saskatchewan, CBT (AM), CBT Gr ...
.
History
WHIY and WORJ
In February 1966, 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 WHIY, powered at 28,000 watts and owned by the Orlando Radio & TV Company. In 1969, Orlando Radio & TV bought WORL Orlando (now
WIWA in
Eatonville Eatonville may refer to:
* Eatonville, Florida, United States
* Eatonville, Minnesota, United States, an alternative name for the former Dakota village Ḣeyate Otuŋwe
* Eatonville, Mississippi, United States
* Eatonville, Ontario, a neighbourhood ...
), operating the two stations together from offices and studios in Orlando. In the early 1970s, 107.7 began airing a
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 ...
format, switching to the
call letters
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 ...
WORJ, standing for "Orange," a major crop in Central Florida. By the late 70s, the station had switched to an
album rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orient ...
format, calling itself "Zeta 7."
Joy 108 WJYO
In 1978, Sudbrink Broadcasting bought the station. In 1981, the call letters switched to WJYO, airing a
soft 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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...
format as ''Joy 108.'' (The WJYO call sign is now used on a
Christian radio
Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...
station in
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...
at 91.5 FM.) In 1987, the station was bought by Metroplex Communications of Orlando. In 1993, Paxson Communications, owned by Florida millionaire
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 later established Pax T ...
, bought the station for $5.6 million, coupled with WWZN (now
WPRD
WPRD (1440 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish Variety format. Licensed to Winter Park, Florida, United States, WPRD is owned and operated by J & V Communications, Inc.
WPRD serves as the main flagship station for J & V Communication ...
). Paxson changed the call sign to WMGF, calling the station ''Magic 107.7''.
Purchase by Clear Channel
In 1997, Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner of iHeartMedia, acquired the station, continuing its soft AC format.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1999 page D-96
/ref> On January 25, 2008, it was announced that WMGF would be one of several Clear Channel radio stations to be sold, in order to remain under 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 ...
ownership caps following the sale of Clear Channel to private investors. Those stations would be placed into the Aloha Station Trust
Aloha Station Trust, LLC was a privately owned trust company that owned radio and television stations previously owned by Clear Channel Communications, forerunner of the modern iHeartMedia.
After Clear Channel was acquired by private equity inte ...
. But those plans changed and WMGF remains under iHeart ownership.
WMGF was, for a time, an affiliate of the ''Delilah After Dark'' and John Tesh
John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...
syndicated radio shows. Both were dropped in fall 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. Nights and weekends, the station adopted Clear Channel's Premium Choice music service. The station's playlist
A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...
was coordinated with the national Premium Choice playlist around the clock, which gave the station a more uptempo sound. Around Fall 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, the station had its playlist return to local programming.
By March 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, the station was placed on the Mediabase add board. When Clear Channel had another round of lay-offs in Fall 2012, the station's program director was let go. In 2013, a new PD was hired who organized a playlist of softer 70s
Ribosomes ( ) are macromolecular machines, found within all cells, that perform biological protein synthesis (mRNA translation). Ribosomes link amino acids together in the order specified by the codons of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules to for ...
, 80s
Ribosomes are a large and complex molecular machine that catalyzes the synthesis of proteins, referred to as translation. The ribosome selects aminoacylated transfer RNAs (tRNAs) based on the sequence of a protein-encoding messenger RNA (mRNA) ...
, and 90s
The 90s ran from 90 AD to 99 AD.
Significant people
* Titus Flavius Domitianus, Roman Emperor (AD 81– 96)
* Nerva, Roman Emperor (AD 96
AD 96 ( XCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Jul ...
hits. By July 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, the station changed its slogan to "More Variety from the 80s to Now." With the new handle, the station eliminated 1970s music, moving to a playlist of 80s, 90s and 2000's music. From 2017 to 2020, WMGF played 80s music every Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. Since then, the station rotates playing a different decade of 80s, 90s, and totally 2000's music every weekend.
Weekday mornings, WMGF features the "Magic Morning Show" hosted by Chad Pitt and Leslye Gale. Gale co-hosted with John Forsythe from 2010 to 2018, when Forsythe retired after a 50-year career in radio. Outside of key hours on weekdays, the station is mostly voice-tracked.
Although not a Christian music station, WJYO produced a syndicated program on Sunday mornings called "Glory of Joy", which aired contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
. The program continued after the switch to WMGF. Another weekend staple on WMGF is ''American Top 40
''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
: The 80s'' distributed by Premiere Networks
Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...
, a subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of iHeartMedia.
HD Radio
HD2
WMGF is licensed for HD Radio operations and carries Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.
History
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...
network programming on its HD2 subchannel. In August 2011, the HD2 subchannel began simulcasting on an FM translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
at 102.5 MHz. The translator, W273CA
W273CA (102.5 MHz, "La Z 102.5") is a non-commercial FM radio station translator in Orlando, Florida. It is owned by the Central Florida Educational Foundation, airing a Christian Spanish format branded as "La Z 102.5". From 2011 until February ...
, was leased by Clear Channel, calling itself "102.5 WLOQ," although those call letters were not officially assigned to the station. The translator restored the smooth jazz format for analog radio listeners in the immediate Orlando area several weeks after the original 103.1 WLOQ dropped the format in favor of Spanish tropical music
Tropical music ( es, música tropical) is a term in the Latin music, Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Music of Cuba, Cuba, Music ...
as WHKQ (now WFYY
WFYY (103.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Windermere, Florida, and serving Greater Orlando. The station is owned by JVC Media, LLC, and airs a rhythmic-leaning Top 40 (CHR) format.
The studios and offices are on Lucien Way in Ma ...
). W273CA's area of strongest coverage includes the western suburbs of Orlando, including Winter Garden
A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime.
History
The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtro ...
, Pine Hills, Ocoee, and Clermont.
The simulcast on 102.5 FM ended on February 12, 2014, when W273CA flipped to a simulcast of co-owned 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. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
station WFLF. Smooth Jazz WLOQ continues as the HD2 channel of 107.7 and on the iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
streaming service on line, although it is no longer available on conventional radios in Orlando.
HD3
WMGF's HD3 subchannel rebroadcasts the 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. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
programming of co-owned WFLF 540 AM
The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 540 kHz: 540 AM is a Canadian and Mexican clear-channel frequency. CBK (AM), CBK, Watrous, Saskatchewan, Watrous-Regina, Saskatchewan, CBT (AM), CBT Gr ...
.
References
External links
*
WORJ Tribute Site
WLOQ (WMGF-HD2) website
*
{{IHeartMedia
MGF
Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1966
IHeartMedia radio stations
1966 establishments in Florida