WWGE

WWGE is a commercially licensed AM radio station serving Cambria County, in west central Pennsylvania. WWGE operates at the federally assigned frequency of 1400 kilohertz and a maximum power output of 1,000 watts. The production studio is located in downtown Ebensburg, PA, and the transmitter is located on the campus of Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA. The station is licensed to the community of Loretto and is owned by Todd Bartley, through licensee Colonial Radio Group of Williamsport, LLC.

History

WWGE has roots that can be traced all the way back to November 1922, when it first signed on the air with the callsign WTAC. In the 9 decades that have passed, WWGE has seen a myriad of call letter and frequency changes along the way. WTAC signed on on the wavelength of "360 meters" (833 kHz) and went through three different channel assignments before settling on 1400 kHz in 1941.

The 1400 AM frequency first appeared in the region as one of many channel assignments for WJAC in Johnstown, which first signed on the air in 1925. WJAC later moved to 850 in 1963, leaving 1400 open and available.

1400 AM was picked up by St. Francis College (now St. Francis University) that year and signed on as WWSF October 7, 1963. The college continued its ownership of the station until about 1981, when it was sold to Sherlock-Hart Broadcasting, Rebranded as WAMQ, the new country-formatted station moved from the college campus to the First United Federal Building in Ebensburg, where it remained until it was sold in August 1992 to Sherlock-Hart Broadcasting employee Tom Stevens, who had worked for Sherlock-Hart Broadcasting's FM property WBXQ in Altoona (but licensed to Cresson).

Stevens changed to call letters to WJRV and the format to soft rock, and relocated the studios to his home. Unforeseen circumstances later forced the station to go silent and Stevens to sell the station in 1996 to Allegheny Broadcasting Corporation for $75,000. Under this new owner, the call letters were changed to WEBG (the call letters of another Ebensburg AM that had been given up years before) before being sold to Radiowerks in 1999.

Disappearance

During the summer of 2012 WWGE disappeared from the AM dial due to unknown circumstances, and the future of the station was also unknown.

Reemergence

During the summer of 2013, WWGE returned to the air under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Williamsport-based Pioneer Sports Productions, LLC. In February 2014, Radiowerks agreed to sell WWGE to Pioneer Sports Productions; the sale was consummated effective December 9, 2014, at a price of $45,000.

The current format includes classic hits as well as serving as the home for Saint Francis University Red Flash programming, local high school sports programming, PA Sports Now and PA Sports Saturday.

Owner Todd Bartley transferred WWGE's license to his wholly owned Colonial Radio Group of Williamsport, LLC on August 17, 2015.

Programming

WWGE is the flagship station for Saint Francis University Red Flash Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the NFL on Westwood One. WWGE also broadcasts local high school sporting events. The Jed Donahue Show and PA Sports Talk air regularly. When the station is not broadcasting athletics, it plays Adult Standards music.

Locations

The new studio is located in the Barnes Building, at 101 W. High Street, Suite 102-A in downtown Ebensburg. The station transmitter is located on the campus of Saint Francis University.

External links

• WWGE official website
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WWGE
• Radio-Locator Information on WWGE
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WWGE

Coordinates: 40°30′12″N 78°38′10″W / 40.50333°N 78.63611°W / 40.50333; -78.63611