| WGOW | |
| City: | Chattanooga, Tennessee |
| Area: | Chattanooga metropolitan area |
| Branding: | NewsRadio 1150 |
| Frequency: | 1150 kHz |
| Airdate: | (as WAPO) |
| Format: | News/talk |
| Class: | B |
| Facility Id: | 54526 |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
| Former Callsigns: | WAPO (1936–1969) |
| Owner: | Cumulus Media |
| Licensee: | Radio License Holding CBC, LLC |
| Sister Stations: | WGOW-FM, WOGT, WSKZ |
| Website: | wgowam.com |
WGOW (1150 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is owned by Cumulus Media, and broadcasts a news/talk format. Cumulus also owns 102.3 WGOW-FM, which simulcasts some shows shared with 1150 WGOW, but has its own schedule most of the day. The radio studios and offices are on Pineville Drive in Chattanooga.
By day, WGOW transmits with 5,000 watts non-directional, but at night, to avoid interfering with other stations on 1150 AM, WGOW reduces power to 1,000 watts and uses a directional antenna with a three-tower array. The transmitter is on Daugherty Lane in Chattanooga's Moccasin Bend neighborhood, near the Tennessee River.[1]
Weekdays begin with a local news and information show, "The Morning Press," hosted by Jim Reynolds, Kevin West and Brian Joyce. The rest of the schedule is made up of nationally syndicated conservative talk programs, mostly from co-owned Westwood One: Chris Plante, Dan Bongino, Michael Knowles, Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, John Batchelor. Heard overnight and early mornings are Red Eye Radio and America in the Morning.
Weekends feature shows on money, health and technology. Weekend programs include Kim Komando, Jim Bohannon, Free Talk Live and Tom Sullivan. WGOW is an affiliate of the Tennessee Titans Radio Network.[2] Most hours begin with world and national news from ABC Radio News.
The station first signed on in 1936 as WAPO at 1420 kilocycles.[3] It was Chattanooga's second station, after WDOD 1280 AM (now dark).
WAPO was owned by W. A. Patterson and had its studios on Foust Street at Rossville Boulevard. It was powered at only 1,000 watts and was a daytimer, required to go off the air at sunset. By the early 1940s the frequency was changed to 1150, giving WAPO full time authorization.
It was purchased by Ted Turner in 1968. (Turner went on to found CNN, the Cable News Network). The station changed its call sign to WGOW and adopted a Top 40 format on January 1, 1969. By the early 1980s, the station had evolved into more of a full service adult contemporary format. It added more talk shows during the 1980s, and in the 1988, WGOW officially switched to the current talk radio format.
In 2005, the station made waves by moving popular midday syndicated host Rush Limbaugh to sister station 102.3 WGOW-FM, resulting in a slight increase in ratings for the FM station, but a precipitous ratings drop for the AM. Limbaugh subsequently returned to the AM lineup in 2006.