WMGX

WMGX
City Portland, Maine
Broadcast area Greater Portland
Branding Coast 93.1
Slogan Portland's Adult Hit Music Station
Frequency 93.1 MHz (also on HD Radio)
Translator(s) 105.5 W288CU (Portland, relays HD2)
First air date June 10, 1977
Format Adult Top 40
HD2: News/Talk (WGAN simulcast)
ERP 50,000 watts
HAAT 135 meters
Class B
Facility ID 58548
Callsign meaning W MaGic X (former branding)
Owner Saga Communications
(Saga Communications of New England, LLC)
Sister stations WBAE, WCLZ, WGAN, WPOR, WGIN, WYNZ, WZAN
Webcast Listen Live
Website coast931.com

WMGX is a radio station in the United States, licensed to Portland, Maine. The station broadcasts on 93.1 MHz FM with a Adult Top 40 format and is under ownership of Saga Communications.

History

WMGX launched on June 10, 1977 by Sunshine Broadcasting and played a soft rock format as "Magic 93".[1] Artists included James Taylor, Carole King, Cat Stevens and Carly Simon. Announcers did not talk over the music. Several songs were played in a row, with no talking between the songs.

From the mid-to-late-1980s and through the 1990s, WMGX was owned by the Portland Radio Group, LLC., which also operated talk radio station 560 AM WGAN, country station 101.9 WPOR and "Oldies" (1950s' and early-1960s' popular music) station 100.9 WYNZ. WMGX had a unique format, blending classic, soft, and progressive rock with adult contemporary music. At this time, the station claimed that "[It] never [played] the same song twice [in one 24-hour period]," a boast that it later backed up with a monetary prize to anyone who caught the station doing so.

On March 9, 2006, 29 years after the station's launch, WMGX changed format. The station then became "Coast 93.1", with a hot adult contemporary format, playing music for the "80s, 90s and Now".

WMGX eventually dropped their "80s, 90s and Now" slogan and changed it to "Today's Best Mix" in order to reflect their choice to mainly play songs from the current and recent Top 40 charts, minus any songs deemed too hard-edged or rap-oriented. Songs from the last couple of decades also are heard but WMGX rarely plays any song recorded before 1990.

As of April 2016, in order to compete more with the long dominant Top-40 Station WJBQ, WMGX shifted to an Adult Top 40 format under the branding of "Portland's Adult Hit Music Station." The station currently acts as a hybrid between a Hot AC and a Mainstream Top 40 station.

The Coast Morning Show

The Coast Morning Show with Blake Hayes and Eva Matteson was voted Portland's #1 morning show according to the Portland Phoenix. Mondays are "Missed Connection Monday," when they read different posts from Craigslist's Missed Connections Section. Every Wednesday is "Vents" Day where listeners call in and "vent" about problems that they might be having. Thursday is "Blown Off" Day where Blake and Eva try to figure out why a listener was "blown off" by a person they went out on a date with. Fridays are "Tell Us Something Good" where listeners get a chance to call in and tell everyone something good.

Blake Hayes is open about being gay and sometimes discusses life as a gay man.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1979 (PDF). 1979. p. 98. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  2. ↑ http://coast931.com/blake-hayes/

Coordinates: 43°41′17″N 70°15′25″W / 43.688°N 70.257°W / 43.688; -70.257

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