Gainesville, FL listeners have some new options to tune in to. One new station went on the air in the first week of June, and another is coming around the middle of July. RNA Media’s WGMW-FM Gold FM 99.5 mHz La Crosse/Gainesville took over the frequency previously occupied by WBXY Party 99.5 earlier this month.
The station plays Adult Standards. Gold FM started in Ocala last summer on 99.7 FM, and bought the 99.5 frequency from JVC Media for $500,000.
JVC bought the station and four others from Asterisk Communications, but FCC rules prohibit owning more than four stations in one market.
The other station, WURB-FM, will launch on 97.7 FM in the middle of July with a selection of R&B artists and morning talk shows. It will offer modern artists, as well as classic musicians such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson and Luther Vandross, said William Johnson, president of the Urban One Broadcasting Network, which owns the station. It also will be the only station in Gainesville to carry the Steve Harvey Morning Show. The station will be based out of Cross City but plans to relocate to Fort White to offer a better signal to Gainesville listeners, said the Gainesville Sun story. The application process to move to Fort White will be started immediately after the station launches.
JVC Media also flipped Country WYGC-FM 104.9 in Ocala-Gainesville, FL to Classic Hits “104.9 WOW FM” in February. WYGC was simulcasting sister station, Country WTRS-FM.
This, after JVC Media/JVC Broadcasting expanded from its Long Island NY radio base by purchasing Asterisk Communications’ Gainesville/Ocala, FL cluster last May. It has been operating the stations in an LMA ever since. On 1/17, JVC filed its formal application to acquire the stations for $3.5 Million.
JVC stations in the market include Hot AC WMFQ-FM, WTRS-FM, WYGC-FM and Rhythmic CHR WXJZ (“Party 100.9”). To pass regulatory muster, JVC spun its CHR/Dance WBXY-FM (“Party 99.5) in that market to RMA Media (Ricardo Arroyo) for $500K. On 12/26, Party 99.5’s format was moved to WXJZ.
See the Gainesville Sun story here.
