After stunting all weekend, Dick Broadcasting launched CHR “Hot 98.3” WGCO Midway/Savannah GA at 6am this morning.
The new station is launching with 10,000 songs commercial-free. Stacy Scott, PD/Afternoon host of sister Classic Hits “Rewind 107.9” WRWN Port Royal will be PD and midday host of WGCO.
“Hot 98.3” is directly competing with iHeartMedia’s “97.3 Kiss-FM” WAEV, which tied for second in the market in the Fall 2017 Nielsen Audio ratings with a 7.0 share. The last time WAEV had a direct format competitor was when former WGCO owner Alpha Media flipped CHR “Y100” 100.1 WXYY to Classic Hip-Hop in July 2016. WGCO’s Classic Country format ranked tenth in the market with a 3.5 share.
Dick Broadcasting Company is proud to announce the launch of Hot 98.3/WGCO “All the Hits!” Hot 98.3 will play the hottest music from Kendrick Lamar, Maroon 5, Drake, Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars and more!
Launching commercial free on Memorial Day with 10,000 songs in a row, Hot 98.3 will welcome their new listeners with a chance to win a family getaway every week. The 100,000-watt powerhouse will reach previously underserved listeners to the hits they crave. Following the launch, Hot 98.3 will feature live and local favorite Stacy Scott during Middays. Scott will also serve as the station’s Program Director.
DBC Savannah-Hilton Head Market Manager Aaron Wilborn commented on the announcement: “It’s a special day at Dick Broadcasting as we round out our cluster of stations with something this hot. So much time, energy, research and resources have gone in to this project and I could not be more proud of Gabe Reynolds, Stacy Scott, John Marshall, Sean Daley, Reggie Peterson and Jason Goodman. Get ready Lowcountry and Coastal Empire! The summer just got hotter!”
“I couldn’t be more excited to launch Hot 98.3 here in Savannah-Hilton Head,” remarked Stacy Scott, “our ability to have a huge presence in our community and touch our new listeners with great promotions will be unlike any other in the market! I am so excited to show Savannah how it’s done!
Vice President of Programming for DBC, Jason Goodman, was quoted as saying, “After extensive research, we discovered that the Top 40 audience is being underserved in the Savannah-Hilton Head market and surrounding areas. Hot 98.3 will be super-serving the local community and will add a new flavor of hit music and content.”
Original Report 5/25: After launching the format in Myrtle Beach this afternoon, Dick Broadcasting has pulled the plug on Classic Country “98.3 Hank-FM” WGCO Midway/Savannah GA is stunting with a heartbeat effect as it prepares to launch a new format on Monday, May 28 at 6:00am.
With a teaser on the former station website stating “Shhhhh….something HOT is coming,” all indications are the station will flip to CHR on Monday. We reported on the registration of Hot983Savannah.com by Dick in our 4/23 Domain Insight report. Said site is fully built promoting the station as “All The Hits” and debuting with 10,000 songs commercial-free.
A new CHR would compete with iHeartMedia’s “97.3 Kiss-FM” WAEV, which tied for second in the market in the Fall 2017 Nielsen Audio ratings with a 7.0 share. The last time WAEV had a direct format competitor was when former WGCO owner Alpha Media flipped CHR “Y100” 100.1 WXYY to Classic Hip-Hop in July 2016. WGCO ranked tenth in the market with a 3.5 share.
