Kindred Communications AC “97.9 The River” WMGA Kenova/Huntington WV has come out of its annual Christmas music run with a new format.
WMGA, which was the first station this year to go all-Christmas on October 19, switched to 1960s/70s based Oldies positioned as “The Greatest Hits of The Rock & Roll Generation”.
Kindred President/CEO Mike Kirtner said, “As someone that grew up in the area during these decades, this format project became very personal for me. Discussing radio with members of the community, I found the phrase ‘Forgotten Generation’ to be repeated often. I thought, our company has a way to remedy those feelings.”
WMGA will continue to feature Bob & Sheri in mornings.
The new format leaves Huntington without an Adult Contemporary formatted station. WMGA had a 1.4 share in the Spring 2023 Nielsen Audio ratings. The new format will target the upper end of iHeartMedia’s “B97” WBVB Coal Grove OH with its 6.4 share and LM Communications’ “Mix 100.9/102.3” WMXE South Charleston and WWQB Westwood KY, which had a 3.7 share.