WWGR (101.9 FM), commonly called Gator Country 101.9, is 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 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 ...

based in the

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 ...

area. The station, which 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 ...

, operates at 101.9

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 ...

with an ERP of 100 kW. This power gives it one of the best radio signals in all of Southwest Florida. Its transmitter is located off Corkscrew Road in Estero. This incredible signal also has its disadvantages, having exceptional interference with 101.9 "FM 101.9" WQMP, 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 Popular culture, mainstre ...

station licensed to Daytona Beach, but serves Orlando. The Sebring, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Avon Park areas are the most affected by this interference with powerful radios receiving those two stations almost as one.

History

WWGR signed on in 1969 as WHEW-FM, and was a station that targeted the greater Fort Myers area as a

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

station during the 1970s and 1980s. During that time, the station struggled to find a strong hold on the market's country music listeners. That coupled with the increased competition from

WCKT WCKT (107.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station located in Lehigh Acres, Florida, broadcasting to the Fort Myers, Florida area. WCKT airs a country music format branded as "Cat Country". WCKT originally signed on in 1976,airing a ...

made it a very tough course for the station to sustain. In the 1990s, WHEW-FM transformed to what is currently WWGR when the station was bought by Renda Broadcasting. Immediately following the sale of the station, the station took over the name Gator Country 101.9 Music, "Southwest Florida's Country Station". In April 2013, two presenters at WWGR told listeners

dihydrogen monoxide The dihydrogen monoxide parody involves calling water by an unfamiliar chemical name, most often "dihydrogen monoxide" (DHMO), and listing some of water's properties in a particularly alarming manner, such as accelerating corrosion (rust) and ...

, a scientific description of water, was coming out of their water taps as part of an

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

hoax and were suspended for a few days by the station's general manager, Tony Renda. Renda later told NewsPress: "It is one thing when radio stations change their format or other crazy things they do. But you are messing with one of the big three, food, water or shelter. They just went too far; I just knew I didn't like that." The prank resulted in several calls by consumers to the local utility company, which sent out a release stating that the water was safe.

WWGR today

In 2005, WWGR moved from its home in Fort Myers to

Bonita Springs (beautiful), eng, beautiful springs , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Bonita_Beach.JPG , imagesize = 250x200px , image_caption = Bonita Beach , image_flag ...

just across the street from the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track. This new building houses WWGR and sister stations

WSGL WSGL is a commercial radio station located in Naples, Florida, broadcasting on 104.7 FM. WSGL airs a hot adult contemporary music format branded as "Mix 104.7". Although the station's format is Hot AC, WSGL reports to Mediabase as a mainstream ...

WJGO WJGO is a commercial radio station licensed to Tice, Florida Tice is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 4,853. It is part of the C ...

, and

WGUF WGUF (98.9 kHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Marco, Florida, and broadcasting to the Naples area of Florida's Gulf Coast. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by Renda Broadcasting. The station is known as Naples' FM Talk ...

References

External links

WWGR official website
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WGR WGR (550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—utilized by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Ham ...

Mass media in Fort Myers, Florida Renda Broadcasting radio stations 1969 establishments in Florida Radio stations established in 1969 {{Florida-radio-station-stub