AM Technical Profile: WGAD

Frequency:

930

Format:

Variety Hits

Transmitter Location:

[map] [street view] Barely visible from Sutton Bridge Road and the part of I-759 near exit 2, to the south, in Gadsden.

Power (ERP):

Day: 5 kW

Night: 500 watts

Antenna:

Day: 1 tower

Night: 4 towers [pattern - PDF]

Other Information:

[FCC]

[Radio-Locator]

[Wikipedia]

History:

A 1957 edition of the Radio Annual lists this station as WETO, licensed to Gadsden, with 1 kW days, owned by Cary L. Graham.  It says 930 kHz came on in 1950,  so it must have become WJBY sometime later.

 

It appears a snafu has caused a loss of any history for this station as the previously-printed information actually pertained to once-WGAD at 1350 kHz.  The station was apparently WKFX from December 1981 to August of 1986.  From then on it was WJBY again.  In 2007 the station was sold to Coosa River Communications, who owned WGAD in Rainbow City.  They did a switcheroo and moved the WGAD calls and format here.

 

It was reported in the summer of 2010 that WGAD and WJBY were simulcasting. On 17 October 2010, the operators of 1350 WJBY relinquished ownership of the station to Gadsden Broadcasting for not making payments.  The WJBY calls went back to 930 kHz and the WGAD calls to 1350, putting both calls back where they originally came.  The oldies format also moved back to 1350, and Fox Sports radio moved here.  A Gadsden Times story says that 930 will be dark for a while, as WJBY was evicted from its studio space.  The Times offers an update on the station as of June 2011, citing the need for various technical improvements.  The article also notes that WJBY will likely return to its former gospel format.  The station was expected to be on air by August 2011, and to pick up a translator at 99.3 MHz by September.  Instead, it may not have come back on until later, and the translator went to WGAD instead.  In 2012 the station was sold to local owner Jeff Beck, bringing WGAD and WJBY together again, along with FM country station WTDR.  In September 2012 WGAD became WTDR (AM) and WJBY once again became WGAD.  Because this station's call sign history wasn't confusing enough, right? Even the people who work there must be confused — a listener from the area reports that, as of 24 October 2012, they're still calling themselves "The New WJBY".  That finally changed around the time the gospel moved aside for a variety hits format.  The station now correctly identifies as "930 WGAD".