WMGO

Radio station in Canton–Jackson, Mississippi
32°37′36″N 90°1′47″W / 32.62667°N 90.02972°W / 32.62667; -90.02972

WMGO (1370 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a full service format.[1] Licensed to Canton, Mississippi, United States, the station serves the Jackson, Mississippi area. The station is currently owned by WMGO Broadcasting Corp.[2]

History

On July 10, 1952, the Madison County Broadcasting Company, owned by Annie Dee Davis, James T. Ownby, and J. Dige Bishop, received a construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission for a new daytime-only radio station on 1370 kHz at Canton.[3] Originally broadcasting with 500 watts, WMGO began broadcasting in 1953; it was approved to increase power to 1,000 watts the next year.[3] The original owners filed to transfer control of the station to W. E. Farrar, R. E. and Lucille Hook, and Hugh Hughes in 1956; Hook bought out Farrar and Hughes the next year.[3]

In 1963, the Hooks sold the station to Roy James Loflin, Jr., and Wilbur Rodney Williams. As the sale awaited completion, the station was briefly taken off-air in April when a tractor plowed into the transmission line; the engineer intervened in time to prevent the driver from touching the electrified wiring.[4] The new owners relaunched the station as WMGO on July 9, 1963, from new studios.[3][5] Two years later, they sold WMGO to the Canton Broadcasting Corporation.[3] Under Canton Broadcasting ownership, the station continued to have an almost entirely White air staff, with the only Black personalities featured on Sunday mornings.[6] Canton retained the station for more than 15 years, selling to two men from Fairhope, Alabama, in 1981;[7] they owned the station until 1990, when it was sold to McCulloch.[8] New investors were brought in in 1993.[9]

WMGO was joined by an FM sister station in 1997 when owner Jerry Lousteau built WMGO-FM 93.1, licensed to Yazoo City.[10] In 2014, WMGO owner Lousteau revealed that political ads placed on the station against United States Senate candidate Chris McDaniel, linking him to the Ku Klux Klan, had been placed by a Democratic Party operative.[11]

WMGO also broadcasts short form local news simply branded as "The Local Report". The program focuses on local news, weather, and obituaries in Canton, and airs at 7, 8 and 9 AM, and at noon and is anchored by WMGO owner Jerry Lousteau.

References

  1. ^ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Summer 2009. Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  2. ^ "WMGO Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  3. ^ a b c d e FCC History Cards for WMGO
  4. ^ "Tractor Put Radio Station Off The Air". Clarion-Ledger. UPI. April 9, 1963. p. A-6. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  5. ^ "Something New With Radio!". Clarion-Ledger. July 7, 1963. p. E-4. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  6. ^ Rucker, LaReeca (February 18, 2006). "Journey Awards to honor 3". Madison County Herald. pp. 1A, 6A. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  7. ^ "Station sold". Northside Sun. August 13, 1981. p. 5A. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  8. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 30, 1993. p. 91. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  9. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. April 2, 1993. p. 8. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  10. ^ Baswell, Allen (July 2, 1997). "Radio station sets air date for July". Yazoo Herald. p. 8B. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  11. ^ Hall, Sam (August 5, 2014). "Radio station owner: Brand behind KKK ads (audio)". Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

External links

  • ‹The template AMQ is being considered for deletion.›  WMGO in the FCC AM station database
  • WMGO in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
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Radio stations in the Jackson, Mississippi, Metropolitan Area
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Columbus-Starkville-West Point
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Vicksburg
See also
List of radio stations in Mississippi

1 = Audio for TV channel 6 (WJMF-LP/Ind)


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