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WGSP (1310 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina, known as Latina 102.3 y 107.5. It is owned by Norsan Media and broadcasts a Spanish tropical radio format. Programming is trimulcast on WGSP-FM 102.3 MHz and FM translator W298CF at 107.5 MHz.

By day, WGSP is powered at 5,000 watts non-directional. But to protect other stations on 1310 AM, it greatly reduces power at night to 240 watts and switches to a directional antenna. The radio studios are on East Independence Boulevard in Charlotte. The transmitter is off Bellaire Drive, near West Brookshire Freeway (North Carolina Highway 16) in Charlotte.

FM Translator

In addition to the main station on 1310 kHz, WGSP programming is relayed to an FM translator.

History

On August 23, 1958, the station signed on as WKTC as a country music station. It was a daytimer station, required to go off the air at night. WKTC disc jockey Johnny Jacobs demonstrated that a person could live in a fallout shelter for a long period of time (which people during the Cold War feared they would have to do), spending a week there and contacting the station by phone.

WKTC became Charlotte's first full-time Christian radio station in September 1970, with gospel music and "contemporary inspirational singing" as well as syndicated religious programming and news. Response was very positive. Program director Bill Hicks said a "Top 40" style format was being considered. Around the same time, George H. Buck Jr. bought the station, which became WHVN. As of 1980, about 65 percent of programming was "spoken word". When the 1240 frequency became available early in the 80s, allowing 24-hour broadcasts, WHVN moved from 1310, which only allowed a daytime signal.

WGSP ("Great Sounds of the Past") returned to the air as one of Charlotte's first oldies stations, playing a wide variety of standard pop hits and "beach music." In 1985, with no other area stations playing classic rock this small AM station became one of the first in the country to shape a format around vintage rock and roll from the 1960s and 1970s. WGSP became the second most listened to AM station in the market. At its peak, the WGSP air staff included Program Director Paul Ingles, Rick Ballew, Fielding Spicer, David Appleford, Phil England and Darby James. After a couple of years of growth by WGSP, other FM stations in the region adopted the "Classic Rock" format and, with their better signals, WGSP lost audience and was sold to religious broadcasters.

WGSP became a gospel station and this format continued until 2004, when the switch was made to the current format. During 2006 and 2007, WGSP's programming aired on WGSP-FM, at 102.3 FM. Programs included "La Voz del Immigrante" ("The Voice of the Immigrant"). WGSP has simulcast the La Tremenda Network with WXNC.

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WGSP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Radio-Locator.com/WGSP
3. Washburn, Mark (2010-09-18). "Johnny Jacobs turned up volume on local radio". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
4. "He Foresees A Religious 'Top Forty'," The Charlotte Observer, February 10, 1971, p. 3B.
5. "Stations Put Christian Message On Airwaves Of Metrolina," The Charlotte Observer, December 16, 1980.
6. Mark Wolf, "Radio Station WQCC To Shift To A Christian Music Format," The Charlotte Observer, October 6, 1980, p. 5B.
7. Jeff Borden, "Religious Group to Buy WGSP," The Charlotte Observer, March 6, 1986.
8. Deborah Hales, "'Last Waltz' to Be WGSP's Swan Song," The Charlotte Observer, May 30, 1986.
9. Cristina Breen Bolling, "Spanish-Language Media Are Multiplying in Region - Radio, Newspapers Target Powerful Market," The Charlotte Observer, June 19, 2004.
10. Franco Ordoñez, "City's Top Spanish-Language Radio Station Leaping to FM - WGSP-AM Will Begin Simulcasting Today on WRML 102.3," The Charlotte Observer, March 1, 2006.
11. Mark Washburn, "106.1 FM Will Shift to All-Spanish," The Charlotte Observer, November 20, 2008.
12. Franco Ordoñez, "The Local News en Español - Spanish-Language Media Growing to Meet Needs of Charlotte's Burgeoning Latino Community, The Charlotte Observer, December 29, 2005.

External links

• Listen To The Story Of WGSP as a Classic Rock Station
• website
• Facility details for Facility ID 10631 (WGSP) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WGSP in Nielsen Audio's AM station database

• Radio stations in the Charlotte metropolitan area
• Tropical music radio stations
• Spanish-language radio stations in North Carolina
• Radio stations established in 1965