Broadcast area | Quincy/Hannibal/Keokuk |
---|---|
Frequency | 105.1 MHz |
Branding | News/Talk 105 |
Programming | |
Format | News/talk |
Affiliations | |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WGEM, WGEM-TV | |
History | |
First air date | August 1, 1947 |
Former call signs | WQDI (1947-1953) |
Call sign meaning | "Gem City" |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 54281 |
Class | B |
ERP | 26,500 watts |
HAAT | 209 meters (686 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°57′4.00″N 91°19′53.00″W / 39.9511111°N 91.3313889°W |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | www |
WGEM-FM (105.1 MHz; "News/Talk 105") is a radio station in Quincy, Illinois broadcasting a news/talk format. The station is owned by Gray Television.
The station signed on August 1, 1947, as WQDI.[2][3] It was Quincy Newspapers' first broadcasting station, signing on five months before WGEM; it was also the first FM station in the market.[3] The WQDI callsign was retained until 1953, when the station became WGEM-FM to match the AM station and WGEM-TV.[4][5]
For much of its early history, WGEM-FM was a simulcast of WGEM.[6] This ended by 1976, when the station implemented a country music format;[7] "Gem Country" lasted until 2002, when it gave way to the current news/talk format.[8]
On February 1, 2021, Gray Television announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire all Quincy Media television and radio properties for $925 million in a cash transaction. This included WGEM (AM) and WGEM-FM, as well as WGEM-TV.[1] The acquisition was completed on August 2.[9] At the time of the acquisition, Gray's only other radio property was KTXC in Lamesa, Texas, which was in the process of being divested in an unrelated concurrent deal;[10] by 2023, the WGEM radio stations were the only radio stations in Gray's holdings.[11]
WGEM-FM will drop the news/talk format in favor of the sports radio programming previously heard on WGEM (AM), primarily supplied by ESPN Radio, on March 1, 2023. The AM station had gone off the air in June 2022 due to technical problems; its programming had continued to be heard on FM translator W255CY (98.9), which will shut down on March 1.[11]
WGEM-FM's schedule includes the two-hour morning show "WGEM News Talk Live!", several news-oriented local programs, as well as simulcasts of WGEM-TV's newscasts and NBC Nightly News. The station also carries some syndicated talk shows, including The Dave Ramsey Show, The Clark Howard Show, The Kim Komando Show, and The O'Reilly Update. WGEM-FM also carries St. Louis Cardinals baseball.