WMGK (102.9 FM, "102.9 MGK") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. The station's studios are in Bala Cynwyd and broadcast tower used by the station is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. The station features Philadelphia radio personalities Paul Kelly (AMD), Kristin Herrmann (Middays), Tony Harris (PMD) and Big Jim O'Brien (Evenings). Tony also serves as Operations Director and Music Director. Weekends and Fill-ins are rounded out with Angel Donato, Cyndy Drue, Danny Ocean, T. Morgan, Jen Scordo and Sean Burke.

History

Early years

On November 26, 1940, the Federal Communications Commission granted WCAU Broadcasting Company a construction permit for a new FM station on 46.7 MHz on the original 42–50 MHz FM broadcast band with the W67PH call sign. The construction permit was modified on January 28, 1941, when the FCC reallocated the station to 46.9 MHz with a corresponding call sign change to W69PH.

On November 24, 1941, the FCC granted the station authority to begin broadcasting and granted its first license on November 18, 1942.

On November 1, 1943, the station was assigned the WCAU-FM call sign. the commission granted WCAU Broadcasting the authority to begin operating the station on 102.7 MHz on December 17, 1945. Some hours were still simulcast.

Switch to soft rock

thumb|First logo for WMGK

On October 16, 1974, the station's license was voluntarily transferred by the FCC to Greater Philadelphia Radio, Inc., a subsidiary of Greater Media, with an effective date of January 6, 1975. On September 2, 1975, the station's call sign was changed to WMGK.

All-1970s hits

On July 11, 1994, WMGK dropped the long time AC format and changed it to an all-1970s format. The 1970s hits included classic rock, soft rock, disco and R&B. By 1995, the station added a few big 1960s and 1980s hits, and no longer used the term "Magic". By the Fall of 1995, WMGK played mostly classic rock with some rock-friendly classic hits thrown in, but not much of the harder material.

Classic rock

In 1997, Greater Media acquired two more Philadelphia FM stations, album rock WMMR and modern AC WXXM. WMGK continued to position itself as a Classic Hits station. But in 2002, WMGK began as Philadelphia's Classic Rock and eliminated non-rock songs altogether.

On November 17, 2006, at 6 p.m., former New Jersey–based classic rock station WTHK became "The New Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ". With WTHK no longer airing classic rock, WMGK became the Philadelphia region's only classic rock station. The station on 97.5 is now co-owned with WMGK and carries a sports radio format as WPEN-FM, which was once WMGK's call sign.

On April Fools' Day in 2015, WMGK briefly reverted to its previous adult contemporary/soft rock music format during DJ Andre Gardner program. Gardner announced WMGK "Magic 103" and played the old Magic jingles. The prank ended when a listener called in to the station to complain about the loss of classic rock.

On July 19, 2016, Beasley Media Group announced it would acquire Greater Media and its 21 stations (including WMGK) for $240 million. The FCC approved the sale on October 6, and the sale closed on November 1.

In recent years, WMGK has experienced on air changes, including the retirement of midday host Debbi Calton in 2019 and morning show host John Debella in 2023. The station also lost several DJs in layoffs, including night DJ Ray Koob in 2018 and afternoon DJ Andre Gardner in 2024. Morning host Matt Cord left WMGK to return to middays at sister-station WMMR in December 2025, following the death of Pierre Robert. Cord was replaced in mornings at WMGK by Paul Kelly.

Competition

WMGK had three major competitors in Philadelphia. On August 25, 2008, WYSP switched from active rock to classic rock, with a harder sound than that of WMGK. On September 2, 2011, WYSP switched to Sports Radio as WIP-FM. WFKB 107.5 Frank FM, licensed to serve Boyertown, Pennsylvania, competed with WMGK in Philadelphia's northern and western suburbs and in the Lehigh Valley. On March 30, 2009, WFKB switched to Christian programming and became WBYN-FM. Currently, listeners in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia can receive WODE-FM 99.9 The Hawk, licensed to serve Easton, Pennsylvania, and primarily focused on the Lehigh Valley.

HD Radio

In early 2006, WMGK launched a digital HD2 subchannel with its "WMGK Deep Trax" format featuring classic rock nuggets and 'oh wow' songs that may be a bit outside the radio norm. The format has since been switched to oldies primarily of the 60's & 70's.

Signal note

WMGK is short-spaced to two other Class B stations:

WNEW-FM NEW 102.7 (licensed to serve New York City) and WQSR 102.7 Jack FM (licensed to serve Baltimore, Maryland) both operate on 102.7 MHz, a first adjacent channel to WMGK. The distance between WMGK's transmitter and WNEW-FM's transmitter is 82 miles, while the distance between WMGK's transmitter and WQSR's transmitter is 92 miles, as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on first adjacent channels according to current FCC rules is 105 miles.

References

  • WMGK at Twitter