WZGM

WZGM
	MHz W241DD (Asheville)
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.961thebear.com

WZGM (1350

radio station broadcasting a classic country format. WZGM is licensed to Black Mountain, North Carolina

, United States.

History

Call letters used by this station have included WBMS and WAVJ.

Southern Gospel

format came late in 2008.

As of March 19, 2012 WZGM was being operated under a lease contract by News Talk 50, Inc., owned by Matt Mittan. The transitional programming at that time was: News Hour (11:00am–12:00pm),

Jason Lewis (syndicated, 6:00pm–9:00pm), Neal Boortz (syndicated) airs 9:00pm–12:00am, Overnight with Jon Grayson (syndicated, 1:00am–6:00am). On April 15, 2012 the station launched a new logo along with a new slogan, "AM 1350 WZGM - Your Independent Talk Alternative". As of now, the station has strong community content, in the form of grass roots driven shows. Since the start of April 2012. The transition of the station has made a lot of press in the region and even some coverage on industry publications such as Talkers Magazine

. In 2014, the format of the station moved away from political talk and focused solely on community talk and sports programming, with religious programming on Sunday mornings. Matt Mittan relaunched a new afternoon program at the end of 2014 called "Right Now! with Matt Mittan" which aired live Mon-Thur 4-6pm on WZGM.

In February 2015, Lanny Ford, general manager of WZGV and NFL executive Marty Hurney announced they were leasing WZGV and WZGM from HRN. Hurney had worked for WZGV since June 2014. Ford also said some WZGV programs would air on WZGM, which has added some sports-related programs and also broadcasts Appalachian State University sports.^[5]

Matt Mittan, as well as numerous local community hosts, continued to broadcast on the station daily under Mittan's company, NewsTalk 50, Inc, providing local and regional discussions covering news of western North Carolina. NewsTalk 50, Inc has grown to produce and distribute digital and radio programming for AM and FM stations across the state of NC as well, not just on WZGM. On September 21, 2020, The King's Radio Network added WZGM as a 'sister station' in the company's religious format radio stations.^[6]

In March 2023, WZGM announced plans to change to a mix of classic country music and Black Mountain community news and information as "96.1 the Bear".^[7]

References

^ "North Carolina Radio Stations". www.apartmentsusa.com. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
^ "Correction", Asheville Citizen-Times, February 11, 2004/
^ Tony Kiss, "New station features national, local talk shows", Asheville Citizen-Times, October 11, 2004.
^ Tony Kiss, "Take 5 Today", Asheville Citizen-Times, January 23, 2006.
^ Washburn, Mark (2015-02-05). "Hurney takes stake in running ESPN 730 radio". The Charlotte Observer.
^ "Our History". Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
^ Monk, Kerrigan (2023-03-07). "New country radio station to broadcast from Black Mountain". Asheville Citizen-Times.

External links

WZGM in the FCC AM station database
WZGM in Nielsen Audio's AM station database

[1] "North Carolina Radio Stations". www.apartmentsusa.com. Retrieved 2023-03-07.

[2] "Correction", Asheville Citizen-Times, February 11, 2004/

[3] Tony Kiss, "New station features national, local talk shows", Asheville Citizen-Times, October 11, 2004.

[4] Tony Kiss, "Take 5 Today", Asheville Citizen-Times, January 23, 2006.

[5] Washburn, Mark (2015-02-05). "Hurney takes stake in running ESPN 730 radio". The Charlotte Observer.

[6] "Our History". Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2023-09-11.

[7] Monk, Kerrigan (2023-03-07). "New country radio station to broadcast from Black Mountain". Asheville Citizen-Times.

[5]

[6]

[7]