WGIR (AM)

Coordinates: 43°0′57.3″N 71°28′46.24″W / 43.015917°N 71.4795111°W / 43.015917; -71.4795111 (WGIR)
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
WGIR
FCC
Facility ID35237
ClassB
Power
  • 5,000 watts day
  • 1,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
43°0′57.3″N 71°28′46.24″W / 43.015917°N 71.4795111°W / 43.015917; -71.4795111 (WGIR)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewgiram.iheart.com

WGIR (610

studios and offices are on Foundry Street in Manchester. Much of the programming and news, but not the commercials, can be heard on co-owned WQSO 96.7 MHz in Rochester, serving the New Hampshire Seacoast
.

The

AM 610, it reduces power at night to 1,000 watts. It uses a directional antenna
at all times.

Programming

Weekdays begin with a local news and interview show, "New Hampshire Today", hosted by Chris Ryan, also heard on several other stations in the state.

.

Weekend feature programs on money, health, law, technology and the Paul Parent Garden Club, as well as best-of editions of weekday programming. Some weekend shows are paid brokered programming. Syndicated weekend shows include The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte, Sunday Night Live with Bill Cunningham and Somewhere in Time with Art Bell. Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio, followed by New Hampshire news from local reporters.

WGIR is the

WPKX and 96.7 WQSO. The network airs college football, hockey and basketball from the University of New Hampshire
.

History

Early years

The station

NBC Blue Network affiliate.[5] WMUR carried the Blue Network line up of dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio". The Blue Network later became ABC Radio.[6]

An

MHz was added on December 21, 1947, which largely simulcast the AM station. Plans for an FM station had been in place for seven years. However, few people owned FM radios at the time and management doubted the FM station would ever be profitable. WMUR-FM was shut down December 27, 1950. The frequency is now occupied by WZID.[4][7]

WMUR-TV

A few years later, Murphy decided to apply for a

construction permit, and WMUR-TV signed on March 28, 1954.[4][8]

Because WMUR radio was an ABC affiliate, WMUR-TV picked up programming from the ABC Television Network. WMUR and WMUR-TV broadcast from a Victorian-style house on Elm Street in Manchester.

Change in ownership

Murphy decided to sell the WMUR stations in the mid-1950s,

CBS Radio programming in 1957.[11]

Girolimon sold WGIR to Knight Quality Stations in 1961.

NBC Radio.[13] Under Knight, the station decided to reenter FM broadcasting, and WGIR-FM at 101.1 MHz signed on June 5, 1963.[14] It largely simulcast the AM station in its early years.[15] In 1977, the simulcast ended as WGIR-FM switched to a soft rock format.[16]

Evolving to talk

Through the 1960s and 1970s, WGIR had a

adult contemporary, while adding more talk shows.[18] On December 31, 1984, WGIR ended all remaining music programming to become a full-time news/talk station.[19][20][21] In 1990, the station swapped affiliations with WFEA and returned to ABC News Radio.[22]

Knight Quality Stations announced the sale of its eight New England radio stations, including WGIR, to Capstar Broadcasting Partners in April 1997;

CNN Radio
.

iHeart ownership

Capstar and Chancellor Media announced in August 1998 that they would merge (

Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst was a major shareholder in both companies);[29] upon the merger's completion in July 1999, the combined company was named AMFM Inc.[30][31] AMFM was in turn acquired by Clear Channel Communications (forerunner to iHeartMedia) in a deal announced on October 4, 1999,[32][33] and completed in August 2000.[34] For a time, Clear Channel added WGIR programming to a fourth station, WTSL 1400 AM in Hanover.[35] WGIR picked up Fox News Radio for its news network in the mid-2000s after Clear Channel signed a larger agreement with the service.[36]

WGIP left the network in 2009, after it was placed in the Aloha Station Trust and sold off due to the privatization of Clear Channel; it became classic hits-formatted WXEX,[37] and is now K-Love station WPKC. WGIN also stopped carrying WGIR programming in April 2011, switching to sports programming. It became WPKX in February 2012.[38] Most of WGIR's programming and news remains available on the Seacoast through sister station WQSO (96.7 FM).

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WGIR". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WGIR-AM
  3. ^ "Chris Ryan Named Host Of WGIR-A/Manchester-WQSO/Portsmouth, NH's 'New Hampshire Today'". All Access. December 30, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "NHAB Alumni: Francis P. Murphy". New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters. October 29, 2001. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  5. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1943 (PDF). 1943. p. 112. Retrieved February 14, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1956 (PDF). 1956. p. 202. Retrieved February 14, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "WMUR-FM discontinues operation after December 27, 1950". Photo of the Month. ggn information systems. July 2005. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c Rapsis, Jeff (March 4, 2004). "WMUR At 50". The Hippo. Archived from the original on December 17, 2004. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  9. ^ "WMUR Manchester Sale Filed". Broadcasting-Telecasting. February 6, 1956. p. 6.
  10. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1957 (PDF). 1957. p. 174. Retrieved February 14, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1958 (PDF). 1958. p. A-331. Retrieved February 14, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "NHAB Alumni: Bernie Mack". New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters. October 29, 2001. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  13. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-62 (PDF). 1961. p. B-111. Retrieved February 14, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ a b Broadcasting Yearbook 1981 (PDF). 1981. pp. C-147–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  15. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1964 (PDF). 1964. p. B-97. Retrieved February 16, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1978 (PDF). 1978. p. C-136. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-09. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  17. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1973 (PDF). 1973. p. B-125. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-08. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  18. ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1988 (PDF). 1988. p. B-179. Retrieved April 5, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ "NHAB Alumni: Bob Frisch". New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters. October 29, 2001. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  20. ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-189. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-09. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  21. ^ Holmes, Steven A. (February 11, 1992). "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Republicans; Bush Steps Up Campaign as Buchanan Lays Out an Agenda". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2010. ...WGIR-AM, a news-talk radio station...
  22. ^ Brouder, Ed (January 1, 2009). "WFEA History - 1990s". Man from Mars Productions. Retrieved February 15, 2010. On January first it [WFEA] switched from ABC to NBC, allowing cross-town rival WGIR to sign with ABC News.
  23. ^ Fybush, Scott (April 17, 1997). "In the Zone". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  24. ^ "Cash-Rich Capstar Continues Capitalization". Radio & Records. April 25, 1997. p. 6.
  25. Austin Business Journal
    . January 9, 1998. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Fybush, Scott (September 25, 1998). "WNFT, WNTN Sold". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  27. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 1, 1998). "WNNZ Sold to Clear Channel". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  28. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 9, 1998). "Clear Channel Gets Jacor". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  29. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (August 28, 1998). "Chancellor, Capstar ink merger". Variety. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  30. ^ Fybush, Scott (May 21, 1999). "NHPR Goes North". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  31. Austin Business Journal
    . July 13, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  32. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 8, 1999). "The Big Get Bigger -- Again". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  33. CNN Money
    . October 4, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  34. ^ "Clear Channel brings AMFM into focus". Variety. August 30, 2000. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  35. ^ Fybush, Scott (August 23, 2004). "Rochester Loses Pete Dobrovitz". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  36. ^ "Clear Channel tunes in Fox News as primary news provider". San Antonio Business Journal. American City Business Journals. December 6, 2004. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  37. ^ Fybush, Scott (March 16, 2009). ""Now," NY's K-Rock is History". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  38. ^ Fybush, Scott (April 11, 2011). "WBEN Adds FM". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved April 30, 2011.

External links