For the radio station in Florida that previously used these calls, see
WFLF (AM)
.
Radio station in Cassopolis, Michigan
WGTO
(branded as "97.1 & 910 MeTV FM") is a
radio station
broadcasting a
soft oldies
format. It is licensed to
Cassopolis, Michigan
, broadcasting on AM 910 kHz and is under ownership of Langford Broadcasting. Much of the programming comes from
MeTV FM
.
History
[
edit
]
WGTO was designed and built by longtime Chicago radio personality Larry Langford in 1987 as WLLJ and originally featured an
urban contemporary
format. WGTO was the last station to be built under the AM daytime rules of the
Federal Communications Commission
. After the
construction permit
for this station was authorized in 1986 no further applications were accepted for stations wanting to operate daytime only. WGTO uses two towers in a directional pattern. The station now operates with 35 watts of nighttime power.
In 2007, Langford purchased a competing radio station in the same county and now became the owner of both WGTO and
WDOW
, which has since gone silent to allow
a station in Kalamazoo
to broadcast on its frequency.
On October 30, 2009, WGTO began broadcasting on 101.1 FM (translator W266BS licensed to Cassopolis, Michigan) as "Classic Hits 101". They continue to broadcast their AM signal as well. In June 2016, the FM translator moved to a new frequency of 96.3 MHz with call sign W242CN. The new translator broadcasts with an ERP of 250 watts, the maximum allowed for translators, and extends WGTO's FM coverage from the immediate Cassopolis/Dowagiac area to include a larger portion of southwestern Michigan as well as the
Elkhart, Indiana
, area. Effective January 25, 2018, the translator moved to 96.7 MHz, as W244DS. The translator was moved in fall of 2018 to 97.1 with tower located to provide local coverage of South Bend Indiana and Niles Michigan. The South Bend location gives Larry Langford a second South Bend opportunity as he was the original owner and founder of
WUBU
in South Bend known as Mix 106. He transferred those call letters from
Portage, Michigan
, where he owned
WUBU (96.5 FM)
, before bringing in partner Abe Thompson and moving WUBU to South Bend. Kool FM now resides on a tower owned by
Federated Media
.
On July 4, 2020, the station was changed over to the
MeTV FM
radio format from
Weigel Broadcasting
; the station will be cross-promoted on Weigel's three area television stations, including
WBND-LD2
, an owned-and-operated
MeTV
station. The shift was made in an effort to differentiate its playlist from higher-rated classic hits stations while still maintaining a familiar format to the station's loyal listeners, along with bringing a station with a
cult following
from the area's
Chicago
area commuters into the South Bend market.
[1]
Since the summer of 2021 WGTO has also been heard on a second translator, W248AP (97.5 FM) in
Valparaiso, Indiana
.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Active
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- Allegan
- Alpena
- Benton Harbor/St. Joseph
- Bridgeport
- Cassopolis
- Grand Rapids
- Hart
- Ludington
- Munising
- Newberry
- Reed City
- Walled Lake
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41°57′14″N
86°00′59″W
/
41.95389°N 86.01639°W
/
41.95389; -86.01639