WPGB-FM
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| City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh metropolitan area |
| Branding | Big 104.7 |
| Slogan | Pittsburgh's New HIT Country |
| Frequency | 104.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) 104.7-2 for WBGG (AM) |
| First air date | 1967 (as WYDD) |
| Format | Country |
| ERP | 13,000 watts |
| HAAT | 252 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 18511 |
| Former callsigns | WYDD (1967-1989) WNRJ (1989-1990) WEZE (1990-1991) WORD (1991-1993) WXRB (1993-1995) WNRQ (1995-1996) WJJJ (1996-2004) WPGB (2004–present) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia (Capstar TX LLC) |
| Sister stations | WBGG, WDVE, WKST-FM, WWSW-FM, WXDX-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | big1047.com |
WPGB is a country radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station broadcasts on 104.7 MHz with an ERP of 13 kW. Its studios are located in Green Tree, while its transmitter is located in Pittsburgh.
Though the station first signed on the air as WYDD in 1967, its roots can be traced back to 1963 on 100.7 FM as WPGH and under the ownership of Gateway Broadcasting Enterprises, which also owned New Kensington-licensed AM station WKPA (now WMNY). 100.7 was also (and still is) licensed to New Kensington.
Gateway owner Nelson L. Goldberg was interested in acquiring an improved FM signal with Pittsburgh market penetration. That opportunity presented itself in 1967, when a channel opened up for 104.7. To acquire the new signal, Goldberg had to spin off WPGH, which was purchased by Milton Hammond and moved to Millvale, where it was rechristened as big-band formatted WNUF-FM. That station is known today as WBZZ.
104.7 adopted the WPGH call letters, but soon afterwards, the station changed to a full-time jazz format and changed its call letters to WYDD, for "the 'WIDE' world of Pittsburgh", using an elongated globe as its logo. A fragment of the jazz format remained as "Jazzz Impressions", a weekend specialty smooth jazz show that premiered in 1976. The station would then move to a more free-form rock format in the 1970s, and then a Top 40 format by the early 1980s, which it maintained under a variety of different monikers such as "Y-105" and "Power 105".
On May 17, 1989, at 7:30 PM, the station became known as "Energy 105", and brought about the call letter change to WNRJ. Before the changeover, the station manager at the time, Bob Hank, executed an early viral marketing plan by playing the song "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" by Information Society non-stop in a loop for 25 1/2 hours — focusing on a repeat of the "Pure Energy" sample from Leonard Nimoy as Star Trek's Mr. Spock. The marketing stunt caused listeners to call emergency services concerned that some calamity befell the DJs and other station employees. Hank told reporters he was only trying to draw attention to the station's switch in format and new call letters. "We were just trying to draw a little bit of attention," Hank said. "We never dreamed it would go this far."
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Wikipedia