Following the closing of the $225,000 acquisition of 1230 WGGG Gainesville, 900 WMOP Ocala, and 92.1 W221DX Gainesville from Anthony Bucher’s Hitmaker Music Group, William Johnson’s Urban One Broadcasting Network has launched Hip Hop/R&B “Power 92.1” on W221DX and Audacy’s 98.5 WKTK-HD2 Crystal River.
The new station is being led by Krysi Johnson, former Operations Manager of 90.1 WMBT-LP Gainesville. It creates an in-market competitor to MARC Radio’s “Magic 101.3” WTMG Williston.
The closing marks a decade-long quest for Johnson’s Urban One Broadcasting Network to launch programming in Gainesville. The company purchased the Construction Permit for 97.7 Cross City FL in September 2012 from Alex Media for $325,000. It intended to launch the station with an Adult R&B format under the WURB call letters, but was denied the ability to toll its CP after a modification application was found deficient. After losing multiple appeals at the FCC and in court, the allocation was won by Circuitwerkes in a subsequent FCC Auction in 2021. UOBN then filed an application for review at the FCC protesting the 2020 sale of WGGG and WMOP from Florida Sportstalk LLC to Hitmaker Music Group stating that it had entered into an LMA with an option to buy the stations which was not executed due to racial discrimination, but Florida Sportstalk said there was no executed contract. After that was dismissed, the company agreed to purchase the stations from Hitmaker, which had been running automated Christmas music year round after failing to launch its planned programming on the stations.
