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| Broadcast area | Monmouth andMiddlesex counties |
| Frequency | 106.3MHz |
| Branding | "Thunder 106" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Press Communications, LLC |
| WHTG,WWZY,WBHX,WBBO | |
| History | |
First air date | October 11, 1961; 64 years ago (1961-10-11) |
Former call signs | WHTG-FM (1961–2010) |
Former frequencies | 105.5 MHz (1961–1965) |
Call sign meaning | K-98.5 (previous branding on a different frequency) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 72324 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 1,100 watts |
| HAAT | 161 meters (528 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°16′41.00″N74°04′51.00″W / 40.2780556°N 74.0808333°W /40.2780556; -74.0808333 (WKMK) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | thunder106 |
| Satellite station | |
| WTHJ | |
| |
| Broadcast area | Ocean,Burlington, andAtlantic counties |
| Frequency | 106.5MHz |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Press Communications, LLC |
| History | |
First air date | 1970; 55 years ago (1970) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies | 106.3 MHz (1970–2006) |
Call sign meaning | Thunder Country Jersey |
| Technical information[2] | |
| Facility ID | 49984 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 1,450watts |
| HAAT | 208 meters (682 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°37′53.00″N74°21′12.00″W / 39.6313889°N 74.3533333°W /39.6313889; -74.3533333 (WTHJ) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
WKMK (106.3FMThunder 106) is acountry music radio station, licensed toEatontown, New Jersey and servingMonmouth andMiddlesex counties. WKMK programming is simulcast onWTHJ (106.5 FM)Bass River Township, New Jersey, which servesOcean,Burlington, andAtlantic counties. The stations are owned by Press Communications with studios located inNeptune, New Jersey. WKMK's transmitter is located at exit 105 of theGarden State Parkway inTinton Falls. WTHJ's transmitter is located on the tower ofPhiladelphia television stationWWSI, located inTuckerton.
WHTG-FM first signed on at the 105.5 MHz frequency on October 11, 1961, as the sister station ofWHTG (1410 AM). The station was named for Harold and Theo Gade, its first owners and operators. Until its 2000 sale, the station operated from a small house inTinton Falls,Monmouth County. Eventually, the Gades' daughter Faye became general manager of the station, and assumed ownership of the station in 1985.
Interference with WDHA in northern New Jersey resulted in the move to its current 106.3 MHz frequency in 1965, which had been vacated in 1963 when WFHA in Red Bank, NJ, discontinued operations. Primarily abeautiful music station, it also broadcastadult standards and big bands in the evenings, simulcasting on its sister station until July 1984.
Under programming director Rich Robinson, the FM station adopted a format mergingadult contemporary music andalternative rock, with the AM station retaining its existing format. The station's branding from this point emphasized its frequency over its call letters, becoming known asFM 106.3. WHTG-FM gained near-immediate attention for breaking artists then-unknown in the United States, spotlighting emerging local bands, such asDramarama, along with national alternative artists such asThe Bolshoi,Flesh for Lulu,Social Distortion, andHüsker Dü.[3]Matt Pinfield, later known for hostingMTV's120 Minutes, started at WHTG in December 1984, becoming programming director by his departure in the 1990s.[4]
This facility was originally allocated toOcean City and broadcast from that city as WSLT-FM on 106.3 MHz, beginning in 1970. The station broadcast with beautiful music, adult contemporary and classical formats until a local marketing agreement led to a country format and the new call sign of WKOE. More format changes ensued, but none of them made much of an impact on the Atlantic City market and the owners eventually applied to move the station to its present location and frequency. On July 6, 2006, WKOE swapped frequencies with WBBO, which had been simulcasting WHTG-FM on 98.5 FM and was known asB98.5 prior to that. From August 2005 to January 2009 it simulcasted G 106.3 in Ocean County and South Jersey. On January 19, 2009, the format switched to top 40 along with WHTG-FM. On December 8, 2010, the WBBO call sign reverted to the FM station on 98.5 MHz licensed to Ocean Acres, near Manahawkin. Concurrently the station on 106.5 MHz in Bass River Township, became WTHJ.
The WHTG cluster was sold to Press Communications in 2000. The last song played on FM 106.3 wasBlink-182's "Man Overboard", before the station switched to the slightly moreactive rock-leaningG106.3 on November 3, 2000. It would later evolve into an alternative rock station playing current and classic hits from the genre, as well as heritage artists such asThe Cure andR.E.M. The station, billed "G106.3, Your Rock Alternative", echoed FM 106.3's original alternative-era slogan from 1985 to 1989.
G 106.3 also featured special programming on weekend mornings. The Saturday Morning Breakfast Club took a nostalgic look at alternative rock from the 1980s, while Common Threads (a program that dates back to the FM 106.3 era and originally featured themed sets of songs) showcased modern acoustic music. With the acquisition of WBBO, G106.3 became known as "G-Rock Radio", with a simulcast on 106.3 and 98.5. In July 2006, WBBO's 98.5 signal was moved to 106.5. During this time, G-Rock was trimulcasted on 98.5, 106.3, and 106.5 to assist listeners in the frequency transition. G-Rock later dropped their weekday noon request show called "90's at Noon" for a more 80's influenced request show known as "The Retro Request Hour". Another specialty show heard on Sunday nights called The Underground, which featured indie bands as well as b-sides and unknown tracks from current played artists, which was dropped in March 2007. On June 24, 2007, specialty programming on Sunday nights returned with "The Punkyard with Pete Lepore", which consisted of two hours of punk music. By spring 2008, other weekend programming on G Rock included the all-request "Radio Kaos with Scott Lowe" from 7 pm – midnight Saturdays. There also was "Queens of Noise with Terrie Carr" on Sundays from 9-10 pm, which featured female-fronted bands and solo rock artists.
On January 19, 2009, the previous alternative rock format heard on WHTG and WBBO was dropped in the middle of the day with no advance notice in favor of a Top 40 format, known as "Hit 106". The last song wasLe Disko byShiny Toy Guns.
A Facebook group known as Bring Back GRock! formed to protest the format change. Membership in the group peaked at over 10,700. A protest outside of Press Communications was held the week of the change, attended by about 200 people.[5] In a letter posted in response to the protest, CEO of Press Communications Robert McAllan lambasted the G Rock Radio fans for their perceived reluctance to fill outArbitron surveys, adding that he hoped that they would tune into the new station, which countedJustin Timberlake,50 Cent,Pink andFall Out Boy among its core artists.[6]
On September 15, 2010, at 3:00 pm, Press Broadcasting's "Thunder" country format swapped formats and call signs with Hit 106, with "Thunder" now broadcasting on the renamed WKMK and WBBO-FM and the hit music format moved to the 98.5 frequency in Ocean Acres, now known as WHTG-FM.[7]
