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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Quincy/Hannibal/Keokuk |
| Frequency | 105.1MHz |
| Branding | WGEM Sports Radio 105.1 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WGEM-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | August 1,1947 |
Former call signs | WQDI (1947–1953) |
Call sign meaning | Gem City (civic slogan of Quincy) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 54281 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 26,500watts |
| HAAT | 209 meters (686 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°57′4.2″N91°19′53.5″W / 39.951167°N 91.331528°W /39.951167; -91.331528 (WGEM-FM) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WGEM-FM (105.1MHz; "Sports Radio 105.1") is aradio station inQuincy, Illinois, broadcasting asports radio format.
Since 2023, WGEM-FM is the only radio station owned byGray Media — owner ofWGEM-TV in Quincy — which primarily owns television stations (and is the third-largest owner of television stations in the U.S.). It is affiliated withESPN Radio.
The station signed on August 1, 1947, as WQDI.[3][4] It wasQuincy Newspapers' first broadcasting station, signing on five months beforeWGEM; it was also the first FM station in the market.[4] The WQDI callsign was retained until 1953, when the station became WGEM-FM to match the AM station andWGEM-TV.[5][6]
For much of its early history, WGEM-FM was a simulcast of WGEM.[7] This ended by 1976, when the station implemented acountry music format;[8] "Gem Country" lasted until 2002, when it gave way to anews/talk format.[9]
On February 1, 2021,Gray Television announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire all Quincy Media television and radio properties for $925 million in a cash transaction. This included WGEM (AM) and WGEM-FM, as well as WGEM-TV.[1] The acquisition was completed on August 2.[10] At the time of the acquisition, Gray's only other radio property wasKTXC inLamesa, Texas, which was in the process of being divested in an unrelated concurrent deal;[11] by 2023, the WGEM radio stations were the only radio stations in Gray's holdings.[12]
In the later years of the news/talk format, WGEM-FM's programming was primarily centered around the local morning show "News Talk Live!", as well as simulcasts of WGEM-TV's newscasts andNBC Nightly News.Syndicated programming includedClassic Radio Theater,Dave Ramsey,Markley, Van Camp and Robbins,Ben Shapiro, andRed Eye Radio.[13]
WGEM-FM dropped the news/talk format in favor of thesports radio programming previously heard on WGEM, primarily supplied byESPN Radio, on March 1, 2023. The AM station had gone off the air in June 2022 due to technical problems; its programming had continued to be heard onFM translator W255CY (98.9), which shut down on March 1.[12] The station continues to air weather updates and breaking news coverage.[14] While most of WGEM's programming, including the local "WGEM SportsCenter" morning program,Quincy University athletics, and high school sports, moved to WGEM-FM,[13] the FM station's existing carriage ofSt. Louis Cardinals baseball was retained in lieu of WGEM's affiliation with theChicago Cubs.[14] Competing talk stationWTAD immediately acquired the rights to carryThe Dave Ramsey Show.[14]