WGOC
WGOC is an AM radio station broadcasting in Kingsport, Tennessee, under a business radio format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1320 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media.
History
The station signed on the air in 1951 under the call letters WKIN and was soon owned by Cy Bahakel. The station was originally daytime-only and, over the years, increased its power to 5,000 watts.In the 1960s and 1970s the station was a popular Top 40 outlet with a personality-DJ format. Some key names over the years included:
- Bill Austin
- Eddie Skelton
- Joe Mills
- Phil Roberts
- John Selby Engineer
- Gary Morse
- Dick Winstead
- Wayne Bernard
- Mike Casey
- Charlie O'Day
- Oscar Harris
- Ron Mack
- Jonathan Lee Forrester
- Terry Thomas
- Ken Maness
- Roger Lynn
- Ric Darby
- Reggie Jordan
- Jeff Taylor
- Chuck Carroll
- Bill Meade
- Bob Gordon
- Mike Lee
- TB Scott
- Dave Miller
- Steve Howard
- John R. Kelly
- Robin Hyatt
- Gary Trudeau
- Mark Evan McKinney
- Tom Shannon
- Steve Gilly
- Don Dale
- Dave Jeffries
- Darwin Paustian
- Dick McClellan
- "Lonesome" Jim Edwards
- Chuck Ness
- "Professor" Matt Stevens
- Fred Williams
- Claude "Red" Kirk
- Dave Ray
- Joseph Reed
In 1982 WKIN changed to a country format under the branding "A Great Brand Of Country." Variations of country and classic country would continue over the next couple of decades.
The WGOC callsign was on 640 AM from April 9, 1993 until February 26, 2007, when the callsign was moved to what had been WKIN, a news/talk and sports station.
Citadel Broadcasting, which had owned WJCW and WQUT since 1977, bought WGOC and WKIN in 2000. Prior to its current programming, WGOC was broadcasting a Classic Country/Bluegrass/Gospel format. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.