WSGW (AM)

WSGW (790 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Saginaw, Michigan, owned by Alpha Media. It simulcasts a news-talk radio format with sister station 100.5 WSGW-FM. The two stations identify themselves as "100.5 and 790 Newsradio WSGW." The studios are on Tittabawassee Road.

WSGW
Broadcast areaMichigan Tri-Cities
Frequency790 kHz
BrandingNewsRadio 790 - WSGW
Programming
FormatNews - Talk
NetworkCBS News Radio
AffiliationsCompass Media Networks
Premiere Networks
Westwood One
Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Tigers
Michigan Wolverines
Saginaw Spirit
Ownership
Owner
WCEN-FM, WGER, WSGW-FM, WTLZ
History
First air date
1950
Call sign meaning
W SaGinaW
Technical information
Facility ID22674
ClassB
Power5,000 watts day
1,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
43°27′40″N 83°48′48″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewsgw.com

By day, WSGW is powered at 5,000 watts. But at night, to protect other stations on 790 AM from interference, it reduces power to 1,000 watts. It uses a directional antenna with a six-tower array. The transmitter is on Uncle Henry Road in Blumfield Township.[1]

Programming

Weekdays on WSGW-AM-FM begin with The Morning Team, a news and interview show hosted by Charlie Rood, Denyse Sharron and Pat Johnson. Veteran broadcaster Art Lewis hosts his own talk show in late mornings, featuring interviews with local newsmakers and phone calls from the public. Agriculture director Terry Henne hosts The Farm Show just before noon, focusing on local weather, market conditions, and agriculture news. The rest of the day, nationally syndicated programs include Markley, Van Camp and Robbins, The Sean Hannity Show, The Tom Sullivan Show, The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and America in the Morning with John Trout.

On weekends, WSGW-AM-FM air specialty shows on health, money, technology, the outdoors, farming and home repair. Weekend syndicated programs include The Kim Komando Show and Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Most hours begin with an update from CBS News Radio.

The station is a longtime affiliate of the Detroit Tigers radio network. It also carries the University of Michigan Wolverines. and Detroit Red Wings. Local minor league hockey team the Saginaw Spirit and Saginaw Valley State University athletics are also heard. When two games occur at the same time, WSGW 790 AM and WSGW-FM 100.5 will split their programming to carry both sporting events.

History

WSGW first signed on the air on August 11, 1950 (August 11, 1950). The station had studios at Genesee and Washington Avenues on the third floor of the Mason Building in downtown Saginaw.[2] The six tower directional antenna complex is near Indiantown north of M-81 east of Saginaw.

The station was started by John Lord Booth, of Detroit who founded Booth American Company. In 1973 Booth built new studios at 1795 Tittabawassee Road shared with then sister station WIOG. Then in 1988 the facility was tripled in size with a major expansion. The Booth family operated the station for 45 years until 1995 when the station was sold to another Detroit area media family called Fritz Broadcasting. During the period of deregulation just prior to the turn of the century, the station changed hands several times with brief ownerships by 62nd Street Broadcasting, Citadel Communications and Wilks Broadcasting.

NextMedia bought the station in 2002. Digity acquired WSGW in 2014, which was sold to Alpha Media in 2015.[3]

WSGW was the home for big-name syndicated personalities Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity throughout the 2000s. However, in January 2009, WSGW swapped programming with its FM sister station. The swap meant WSGW no longer had to interrupt their shows for sports broadcasts while still keeping top rated The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show in the market. WSGW 790 AM subsequently picked up personalities Tom Sullivan and Dennis Miller, replacing the latter with Dave Ramsey in 2015.

Technical

WSGW 790's low dial position and corresponding long wavelength, along with a complex antenna array provides a strong signal to the Tri-Cities area and eastern portions of the Thumb. Adjacent channel interference from AM 800 CKLW in Windsor, Ontario limits WSGW's signal to the south and east. On most days, WSGW can be received as far west as Grand Rapids and north along the I-75 corridor to places like West Branch and Gaylord.[4]

WSGW's technical history can be traced back to October 1945 when Booth Radio applied for a construction permit to build a radio station licensed to Saginaw. The original construction permit called for WSGW to broadcast at 550 kHz with 1,000 watts of power from a location on Curtis Road east of US-10 (Dixie Highway) in Bridgeport, Michigan.[2] The Federal Communications Commission denied the application. An amended construction permit was granted in April 1949 for WSGW to operate on 790 kHz with 1,000 watts of power from a site on Uncle Henry Road in Indiantown in eastern Saginaw County. In 1961 a new Gates transmitter was installed, and WSGW was granted a power increase up to 5,000 watts during the day. WSGW gained FM sister station WIOG in September 1969, broadcasting at 106.3 mHz. In 1972, the main studios for WSGW were moved from the Mason building in downtown Saginaw to Tittabawassee Road in Carrollton Township, where WSGW and its sister stations continue to broadcast.

References
  1. Radio-Locator.com/WSGW
  2. "Broadcasting Station License Record". Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  3. "WSGW among Saginaw radio stations sold to Portland's Alpha Media". 20 August 2015.
  4. "Radio Station Coverage Map".
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