"Froggy Land" redirects here. For the Croatian museum, seeFroggyland.
Logo of Froggy.
Froggy is abrand name radio format used for a variety ofradio stations in the United States, most of which broadcast acountry music format, with a few playingadult contemporary. (There was, however, anoldies-themed "Froggy" inErie, Pennsylvania: the formerWFGO; that station has since changed format and calls in 2007. Another oldies-based Froggy station,KFGI inAustin, Texas, changed formats in 1994.) Although the frog logo is shared among these stations, most of them are not associated with one another. The "Froggy" branding is particularly common among country stations currently or formerly owned by Forever Broadcasting or Forever Communications and Keymarketradio LLC, companies founded by Froggy creator Kerby Confer.
The Froggy format was conceived by Kerby Confer in 1988. Previously, Confer created a variety ofcountry radio station brands such as "Kissin'" (KSSN inLittle Rock, Arkansas) and "Beaver" (WBVR-FM inBowling Green, Kentucky). "Froggy" was first installed onWFRG-FM inUtica, New York, on February 1, 1988, with the branding "96 Frog". (The format and call letters have since switched frequencies and the station is now known as "Big Frog 104".) Other Froggy stations soon followed, includingKFRG inRiverside-San Bernardino, California, andWFGY inAltoona, Pennsylvania. For his work in developing the Froggy format, Confer was inducted into the Pennsylvania Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2016.[1]
The Froggy branded radio station uses jargon saturated withfrog-relatedpuns. Station disc jockey pseudonyms and program elements bear names making reference to things such as where the frog lives (in a pond), how a frog moves (hops), what noise a frog makes (cricket or ribbit), and other words that are related to frogs.
Examples of the "Froggy" theme use words like the following:
"Hop-Line", "Frogcast", "Froggy Fotos", "Local Hoppenings", "Hoppy Birthday", "Froggy Fun Fones", "Froggyland", "in the swamp".
Some of the stations incorporate the lingo into their coverage area. For example,WFGE in State College, Pennsylvania refers toHappy Valley, the area in and around State College, as "Hoppy Valley". Most also call their coverage area "Froggyland".
An occasional "ribbit" between songs is used sometimes as asweeper or in lieu of a jingle or dry segue.
Listeners are encouraged to contact the station: "give us a ribbit on the hoplines".
WFRG-FM in Utica, New York used to close out its weather "frogcast" with a jingle that sang "you sing 10 songs in a row and you're such a good friend of mine", to the tune ofThree Dog Night's "Joy To The World", whose first line was "Jeremiah was a bullfrog".
Weather forecasts often have frog-themed puns, most notably when there isfog it's described as being "froggy" instead of "foggy".
A few Froggy stations in Pennsylvania used a parody of "Mercury Blues": "Hey now Froggy/You sound so fine/Ridin' 'round in my Merc'y 49/Crazy 'bout my Froggy/I'm crazy 'bout my Froggy/Gonna turn up my Froggy, cruisin' up and down the road, uh-huh". These are called "Froggy Songs" that most stations play periodically throughout the day.WFGS in Murray, Kentucky previously offered some of the Froggy songs as freeringtones.
For the most part, the logo of a "Froggy" branded radio station is a smiling green frog. The font, color, position and angles can vary, however, the frog is generally green with a red tongue. The variations on the logo include the radio station's frequency as well as whether it is referred to as "Frog", "Big Frog", or "Froggyland".
Many of the Froggy stations that have the country format used the syndicated evening programLia, often putting "Leapin'" in front of her name to "frogify" her, until that show ended production in 2022.[2]
The "Froggy" moniker is regularly lampooned on theGlenn Beck Program; Beck's alter ego, "Flap Jackson", is the morning jock at the fictional "109.9 The Big Frog".
On the US television seriesThe Office, there is a Froggy 101 bumper sticker on the wall behind the reception desk and file cabinet, next to the desk ofDwight Schrute.The Office is set inScranton, Pennsylvania, whereWGGY uses the moniker "Froggy 101".
Confer's daughter, Kristin Cantrell,[3] established the Bigfoot Country brand for her stations when entering radio ownership. She also eventually acquired a prominent Froggy imitator,The Pig, in 2019. In October 2022, Cantrell's Seven Mountains Media purchased a majority of Forever Media's stations, including six Froggy stations.[4]
