WMGO (1370 AM) is a

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 ...

broadcasting a full service format. Licensed to

Canton, Mississippi Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi, Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 13,189 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of th ...

, United States, the station serves the

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

area. The station is currently owned by WMGO Broadcasting Corp.

History

On July 10, 1952, the Madison County Broadcasting Company, owned by Annie Dee Davis, James T. Ownby, and J. Dige Bishop, received a construction permit 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 ...

for a new daytime-only radio station on 1370 kHz at Canton. Originally broadcasting with 500 watts, WMGO began broadcasting in 1953; it was approved to increase power to 1,000 watts the next year. The original owners filed to transfer control of the station to W. E. Farrar, R. E. and Lucille Hook, and Hugh Hughes in 1956; Hook bought out Farrar and Hughes the next year. In 1963, the Hooks sold the station to Roy James Loflin, Jr., and Wilbur Rodney Williams. As the sale awaited completion, the station was briefly taken off-air in April when a tractor plowed into the transmission line; the engineer intervened in time to prevent the driver from touching the electrified wiring. The new owners relaunched the station as WMGO on July 9, 1963, from new studios. Two years later, they sold WMGO to the Canton Broadcasting Corporation. Under Canton Broadcasting ownership, the station continued to have an almost entirely White air staff, with the only Black personalities featured on Sunday mornings. Canton retained the station for more than 15 years, selling to two men from

Fairhope, Alabama Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2020 Census lists the population of the city as 22,477. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolita ...

, in 1981; they owned the station until 1990, when it was sold to McCulloch. New investors were brought in in 1993. WMGO was joined by an FM sister station in 1997 when owner Jerry Lousteau built WMGO-FM 93.1, licensed to

Yazoo City Yazoo City is a U.S. city in Yazoo County, Mississippi. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's m ...

. In 2014, WMGO owner Lousteau revealed that political ads placed on the station against United States Senate candidate

Chris McDaniel Christopher Brian McDaniel (born June 28, 1971) is an American attorney, talk radio host, and far-right politician who has served in the Mississippi State Senate since 2008. A member of the Republican Party, McDaniel gained national attention ...

, linking him to the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

, had been placed by a Democratic Party operative. WMGO also broadcasts short form local news simply branded as "The Local Report". The program focuses on local news, weather, and obituaries in Canton, and airs at 7, 8 and 9 AM, and at noon and is anchored by WMGO owner Jerry Lousteau.

References

External links

MGO Magnesium oxide ( Mg O), or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium (see also oxide). It has an empirical formula of MgO and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2− ions ...

Urban contemporary radio stations in the United States {{Mississippi-radio-station-stub