 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this article. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "WGSO" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Broadcast area | New Orleans metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 990kHz |
| Branding | WGSO 990AM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Brokered programming -Talk |
| Network | Townhall News |
| Affiliations | Genesis Communications Network Westwood One Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Northshore Radio, Inc |
| History | |
First air date | January 27, 1946; 79 years ago (January 27, 1946) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 52433 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 600watts day 310 watts night |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wgso.com |
WGSO (990AM) is aradio stationlicensed toNew Orleans, Louisiana. The station is owned by Northshore Radio, Inc, anon-profit corporation. The station seeks donations on its website and on the air. It airs a mix ofbrokered programming andtalk. It carriesThe Mark Levin Show fromWestwood One weeknights and updates fromTownhall News. Theradio studios are on Carondelet Street.
By day, WGSO is powered at 600watts, using anon-directional antenna. But990 AM is aclear channel frequency so WGSO must reduce power at night to 310 watts to avoid interference to other stations. Thetransmitter is off River Road inJefferson, Louisiana, near theMississippi River.[2]
The stationsigned on the air on January 27, 1946; 79 years ago (January 27, 1946).[3] It was originally adaytimer, required to go off the air at sunset. It used thecall signWJMR and was owned by George Mayoral, broadcasting from the Jung Hotel. WJMR was thesister station to FM outlet WRCM (now 97.1WEZB) which actually went on the air the year before. In 1953, Mayoral added WJMR-TV, New Orleans' second television station, nowWVUE-DT.
AM 990 went through a series of call letter and format changes over the years. In the mid-1950s it was home todisc jockey "Poppa Stoppa," whose program featured a new sound for its time, "Rock and Roll music." In 1964, when WJMR-TV was sold, AM 990's call sign was changed toWNNR (Winner Radio). It returned to the WJMR call letters between 1969 and 1972 but became WNNR again on January 24, 1972.
In the 1980s, it got approval from theFederal Communications Commission to stay on the air around the clock. The station briefly becameWLTS in the fall of 1984. Those call letters lasted less than a year.
On June 4, 1985, 990 AM becameWYAT. Those call letters capitalized on the local New Orleans expression "Where y'at?" The station aired asyndicatedOldies format with some local DJs during the day.
On December 1, 1993 the station becameWGSO, airing anall news radio format. It used an audio feed ofCNN Headline News for national news, with some local news inserts. In 2001, the station gave New Orleans its first Business Talk format. The station was billed as "City Business 990," touting its relationship with the localCity Business newspaper. From 2004 to 2006, it was known as "BizRadio 990." During this time there were local hosts most of the day discussing money and business topics for investors. The station used syndicated programming in the evening andCNN Headline News in late nights.
Post-Katrina (2007), the station used the "Voice of the Northshore" moniker, aiming its news & traffic reports atSt. Tammany Parish. This was problematic, as the station's signal on the Northshore ofLake Pontchartrain is weak during the day and practically unlistenable at nighttime power.
By 2009, the station changed management and adapted "Speakin' Easy New Orleans Style" as the station moniker. The lineup included local programming during the day (including Jeff Crouere, Tom Fitzmorris and Tim McNally) and syndicated programs at night, such asMichael Savage, Dr.Joy Browne, and Dr. Ronald Hoffman.
29°57′25″N90°9′33″W / 29.95694°N 90.15917°W /29.95694; -90.15917