Technical Profile: WGEA

AM Technical Profile: WGEA

Frequency:: 1150
Format:: Talk
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] According to FCC records, the tower site is right on the banks of the Pea River, but it is actually on "Radio Hill" overlooking the river.
Power (ERP):: Day: 1 kW; Night: 35 watts
Antenna:: 1 tower
Other Information:: 0.5 mV/m Daytime Groundwave Service Contour from the FCC's Public Files
[FCC]
[FCCdata]; [Radio-Locator]; [Wikipedia]
[Website]
Silent
History:: The station was put on the air in 1953 by three brothers: Howard, Clarence and Alton Scott, owners of the local Geneva County Reaper paper. In attendance at the official opening ceremony (held 2 April 1953) were Senator John Sparkman and Governor Gordon Persons. Known as the "Voice of The Geneva County Reaper", the station sold in the late 50s to Radio South, then owned by Miles and Celeste Ferguson.; In 1962 a group of local businessmen formed Geneva County Broadcasting Company and bought the station. WGEA-FM (later WUSD, WRJM, WPHH) was put on the air on June 27, 1969.; In 1987 WGEA AM & FM was sold to Shelly Broadcasting Company owned by Jack Mizell of Ozark. He changed the call letters of the FM station to WRJM. Although Mr. Mizell lost the FM station to bank foreclosure, he continues to own and operate WGEA. Before picking up the current conservative talk lineup with the slogan, "The Spirit of Geneva", the station had a country/mixed variety format.

In April 2017, the FCC canceled the license for this station. According to the FCC, the station's renewal in 2012 could not be processed due to the station's ownership owing outstanding debt to the FCC. The station's website appears to be active, as does the live stream, as of late April 2017, but the station itself is silent. According to Mizell, the FCC troubles date back to at least 2012. At some point, when a health issue caused the station manager to have to step down, Mizell took over operations afterwards but he too succumbed to health issues that kept him out of the loop for an extended period of time, causing the FCC to delete the license after no one could respond to the inquiries. Ownership is currently working with the IRS to secure a substantial refund for overpayment, which will in turn be used to square up the FCC and hopefully get the license reinstated at some point in the not too distant future.

That future never came, as the FCC permanently revoked the license in September 2019, saying the station's ownership failed to prove allegations of financial hardship.