WGOT Celebrates 6 Years on the Air

by Steve Schell

On Friday, January 24, WGOT will celebrate 6 years on the air with a benefit show at The Atlantic, 15 North Main Street in downtown Gainesville. On the bill are Loose Bearings, New Natives Guys (Valdosta), Human Parts, and Squeaky.

It’s almost hard to believe that this January marks 6 years on the air for WGOT! After a laborious application period, the work for which began before the turn of the century, WGOT began broadcasting on 94.7 FM in early 2008. Internet streaming followed about 3 years later.

The current arrangement on 94.7 has WGOT sharing that frequency with two other low-power stations — Faith Presbyterian’s WVFP and Calvary Baptist’s WGLJ. Such a shared frequency means that any time you tell someone about the station, you have to go into detail about when to listen. You can imagine the confusion for listeners of any of the three stations.

The shared frequency came about as a result of FCC rules for low power stations — they would grant only one frequency in any one community. So the CMC representatives met with the representatives of the other two applicants and came to an agreement to share 94.7 FM. Now, since the FCC opened a new filing window for low power late last year, WGOT has applied to the FCC for a new frequency all its own. If the FCC approves the application, the station will have 18 months in which to make the necessary technical modifications to move to 100.1 FM.

If everything falls into place as it should, WGOT will be broadcasting 24/7/365. And we can’t do it without YOU.

This is your community radio station, so get in touch and let us know your suggestions, comments, or complaints. We want to be responsive to what the community wants and we want broad community representation in our organization.

If you have always wanted to have your own radio show, now is your chance! We can show you how to do it and it’s very easy. Plus it’s free! If being on the air is not your thing, there are other ways that you can be involved — just ask.

WGOT has also recently launched our Singer Songwriter Night, held on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at the Courtyard behind the CMC and Citizens Co-op on South Main Street. From 7 p.m. until 9p.m., we hang out and listen to whoever w ould like to come and play.

There is a “word of the night” (sometimes it’s a phrase) and anyone who performs is asked to play a song that uses the word of the night. The word is determined by a random drawing of suggestions submitted by those who attended the previous event.

To stay current on all things WGOT, get on our low-volume mailing list by sending an email to director@wgot.org.

Check out the website at www.wgot.org for announcements, playlists for shows, and a short form to submit if you want to do a show of your own.

Follow us on Facebook! We hope to see you at The Atlantic on January 24 — come help us celebrate!

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