WGAR-FM
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| City | Cleveland, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area |
Greater Cleveland Northeast Ohio |
| Branding | 99.5 WGAR |
| Slogan | Real Life. Set To Music. |
| Frequency | 99.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | August 1952 |
| Format |
Country HD2: Classic country |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 152 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 47740 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°22′18.00″N 81°43′4.00″W / 41.3716667°N 81.7177778°W |
| Callsign meaning | George A. Richards |
| Former callsigns | WGAR-FM (1952–70) WNCR (1970–75) WKSW (1975–84) |
| Affiliations |
City Club of Cleveland iHeartRadio Premiere Networks Premium Choice Total Traffic and Weather Network Westwood One |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | WAKS, WHLK, WMJI, WMMS, WTAM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 99.5 WGAR |
WGAR-FM (99.5 FM) – branded 99.5 WGAR – is a commercial country music radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio owned by iHeartMedia, Inc..
The WGAR-FM studios are located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, while the station transmitter resides in nearby Parma. Besides a standard analog transmission, WGAR-FM broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online via iHeartRadio.
WGAR-FM began broadcasting in August 1952, simulcasting the programming of its AM sister station, WGAR (1220 AM), as was the case for most FM stations at the time. Hours of operation were very limited, usually at the bare minimum of two hours per week.
In 1970, WGAR-FM underwent several massive changes. It started broadcasting in stereo that April 1, and became WNCR (which stood for either Nationwide Communications Radio or North Coast Rock) on July 2. The original air staff was Mitch Michaels-mornings, Chris Gray-midday, Steve Scott-afternoons, Ginger-evenings and David Elmore-overnight. By August, all of the air staff, tired of being at odds with management about the huge amount of commercials and attempts to commercialize the station sound, went on strike. All were fired after a midnight meeting with the GM mediated by Don Imus. Ginger went to Columbus, then to WMMS. Michaels followed him in short time. This ushered in the Second Era of WNCR. While a considerable success at first, conflicts between management and staff prompted key members to jump over to WMMS.
On January 1, 1973, WNCR gave up the progressive rock format and changed to an automated country format. In 1975, the format was changed to beautiful music/easy listening using Jim Schulke's format. A few months later, the call letters changed to WKSW and the station's slogan became, "WKSW, FM 100. All music. All the time." For a brief period, no local announcers were used. Instead, recordings of Philadelphia announcer Nelson Hobdell were used for all station breaks. Eventually, WKSW went to all local personalities, including David Mark (who had the highest ratings the station ever achieved), Tom Mart, Jim Field and Ted Lux. With the lone exception of David Mark, whose ratings in Cleveland were bested only by Cleveland Indians baseball on WWWE and rock music on WMMS, the station was never quite able to equal or better the ratings at competitors WQAL and WDOK, and the format was switched back to country by 1980.
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