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Blue Ridge Broadcasting Selling 1010 WFGW

E

eacalhoun1

I read in the FCC Daily Digest today that Blue Ridge Broadcasting has applied to sell WFGW to

HUMBERTO MARTINEZ AND MARGARITA DEL ROSARIO TOTH of Charlotte

I guess it's another sign of the state of AM radio, but sad to see a station name synonymous with the Rev Billy Graham cease to exist. The AM has been through many changes - especially starting with the dismantling of its array on US 70 between the RR tracks and I-40 to make way for the expansion of Ingles' distribution several years back. I still miss the Southern Gospel format, as it was the most polished one would hear anywhere.
 
I wish there was an FM station in Charlotte or Greenville-Spartanburg that has a Southern Gospel format. But I guess they figure it wouldn't get ratings. But I do enjoy Sunday in the South on WSSL-100 on Sunday mornings. And growing up I used to watch the Gospel Singing Jubilee on WBTV every Sunday morning. My favorites were the Happy Goodmans. More recently, I have enjoyed the Bill Gaither Homecoming reunions.
 
I was given the privilege of building and putting that southern gospel format on the air. Many, many good days in that building on US 70. Sure do hate to see WFGW go into the sunset. I feel like part of me just died.
 
At least the call letters will survive. They have planted them on 106.7 FM in Norris, Tn. that they recently purchased.
 
knoxbob said:
At least the call letters will survive. They have planted them on 106.7 FM in Norris, Tn. that they recently purchased.
Click to expand...

Thumbs up; LIKE; Ditto...

Wish we had a "like" button on this board ;D

Also, Tom Taylor noted (in his morning newsletter) that WFGW stood for "From God's Word". I had long thought it stood for William Franklin Graham, Jr.? Seems I saw this indicated on the back of an old post card which depicted the exterior of the US 70 studios. This 60s-era postcard showed the building only had the WFGW calls displayed - no WMIT - but it displayed both AM and FM frequencies.
 
With all due respect to Mr. Taylor, we in the building were always told it stood for "William Franklin Graham"s Wife."

WFGW was special to her, and major changes to that station and property did not happen until she left for heaven.
 
eacalhoun1 said:
I read in the FCC Daily Digest today that Blue Ridge Broadcasting has applied to sell WFGW to

HUMBERTO MARTINEZ AND MARGARITA DEL ROSARIO TOTH of Charlotte
Click to expand...

Anybody knows what format the new owners will be airing?
 
When I was going to see one of my relatives in North Carolina in the 1990s, I saw the big billboard that not only advertised both 1010 WFGW and 106.9 WMIT as "The Carolina's Christian Voice", but it had a picture of a big microphone in the center. The logo font for WFGW/WMIT I saw on the billboard probably dated back to the early 1970s, but it may have been the late 1960s.

I also remember that for a time in the mid to late 1990s, WFGW was known as "Christian 1010" and if I am not too badly mistaken, they were still playing southern gospel music.
 
WFGW was the big deal in the 60s and early 70s before FM took off. It began to be mostly simulcast in the 80s as AM was dying and the ground system deteriorated. In the early 90s Harold Munn rebuilt 1010, with all new copper and a fourth tower to get some nighttime coverage. That's when the southern gospel began, with what we called "classy southern" mixed with some national programs like Focus on the Family, Charles Stanley, Adrian Rogers, etc. That format gave WFGW some new life for a while. When Franklin Graham essentially took the reigns, WFGW's days were numbered.
 
I used to love seeing those towers to the left of the interstate on our way to Raleigh. What are. They using for towers now? The station also had really good audio for an AM. Preacher dude must have had a great experience working there. Can you elaborate on the processing for 1010?
 
Jeff Laurence said:
I used to love seeing those towers to the left of the interstate on our way to Raleigh. What are. They using for towers now? The station also had really good audio for an AM. Preacher dude must have had a great experience working there. Can you elaborate on the processing for 1010?
Click to expand...

Regarding the towers...WFGW's signal is now diplexed with 1350 WZGM on a single tower just SW of Swannanoa. The best vantage point for seeing the tower is if traveling eastbound on I-40 from Exit #55 which is the "East Asheville-VA Hospital-TO US 70" Exit. About a mile before reaching Exit #59, the Swannanoa exit, you can see the tower on the right side of the interstate. Actually, the tower will come into view, about the time you travel under the overpass (which is not an exit). The tower is a little over halfway up the hillside - it's not at the very top. The auto repair shop on the road which parallels I-40's eastbound lanes is at the foot of this hill. I only list the repair shop as a reference to the hill, because if you try to look by the time you get to the repair shop the hill itself begins blocking the view of the tower.
 
So the station has *no* COL coverage at night. On the old site, I could hear WFGW well in the Rock Creek area 16 miles away but when they went DA and 500 watts...... POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFF !

Powell
 
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