WGNA-FM
| City | Albany, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Capital District |
| Branding | 107.7 WGNA |
| Slogan | Today's Country |
| Frequency | 107.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| Translator(s) | W235AY (94.9, Albany, relays HD3) |
| First air date | December 5, 1973 |
| Format | FM/HD1: Country music HD2: WJIV simulcast HD3: Sound of Life |
| ERP | 12,500 watts |
| HAAT | 300 meters (980 ft) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 72118 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°38′13″N 73°59′49″W / 42.63694°N 73.99694°W |
| Callsign meaning | W Good News Albany (tag of aborted launch format) |
| Owner |
Townsquare Media (Townsquare Media of Albany, Inc.) |
| Website | www |
WGNA-FM (known on-air as 107.7 WGNA) is a country music-formatted radio station licensed to Albany, New York and serving New York's Capital District. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts at 12,500 watts effective radiated power from the Helderberg Mountains tower farm in New Scotland. WGNA holds the distinction of having the longest unchanged format (in terms of commercial stations) in the Capital District, having been a country music station since its launch in November 1973 It is also one of three commercial Albany FM radio stations to have never changed their call letters (WQBK-FM and WFLY are the others).
WGNA-FM has also been the #1 station (12+, 25-54 adults) in most ratings trends and books in the Albany market though WGY, WFLY, and WYJB have all unseated WGNA from this position on various occasions. Despite attempts by competitors, such as WCDA/WPTR-FM (96.3 FM) in the mid-to-late 1990s, Galaxy Communications' WEGQ (93.7 The Eagle) from 2004 to 2005, Pamal's simulcast of WFFG-FM (Froggy 107.1) on its Albany 104.9 FM signal in 2005, and most recently, Pamal's second attempt at a country format (also on 104.9 FM, as The Cat), WGNA-FM has faced little significant direct competition on the country music front.
Though a beacon of stability in Capital Region radio, WGNA originally was not slated to take the country format it has dominated. The 107.7 frequency had been awarded to the then-owners of Christian formatted WHAZ and it was due to sign on with a Christian format itself with the GNA in the calls standing for "Good News Albany". These plans went on hold when WHAZ's owner died several weeks prior to the planned sign-on of WGNA and, in a pinch, his children took over the station. The station signed on with a country music format on December 5, 1973 at 6:00pm. For 5 days the music played uninterrupted with announcers beginning their shifts on December 10 at 6:00am. Going against WOKO, WGNA became a success and made the format permanent with WHAZ eventually being sold off and, in 1978, WOKO leaving the format. In 1988, then-WGNA owner Barnstable Broadcasting purchased WOKO and turned it into an AM simulcast of WGNA (with the FM taking the WGNA-FM calls as a result) with some breaks for sports coverage.
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