please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message wgvl city greenville south carolina broadcast area upstate south carolina frequency 1440 khz first air date 1941 format sports talk power 5 000 watts full time directional pattern at night only class b facility id 59821 transmitter coordinates 34 52 6.00 n 82 28 4.00 w 34.8683333 n 82.4677778 w 34.8683333 ; 82.4677778 callsign meaning w greenville former callsigns wqok 1956 1982 wake 1953 1956 wmrc 1941 1953 affiliations fox sports radio owner iheartmedia inc. capstar tx llc sister stations wssl fm wesc fm wroo wmyi website http www.foxsports1440.com wgvl 1440 am is a sports radio station licensed to greenville south carolina . it is owned and operated by iheartmedia inc. . contents 1 history 1.1 history as wqok 1.2 recent history spanish & sports talk 2 references 3 external links history edit history as wqok edit in 1958 1440 wqok started featuring a format called top 40 radio . at the time the station was owned by dick broadcasting with stations in chattanooga and knoxville tennessee . the station was programmed by veteran greenville radio programmer jerry mosteller 1922 2013 . the station quickly became number one in the market with an endless stream of rock and roll as well as rhythm and blues music broadcast from the four towers of power on white horse road . wqok found its place in greenville s radio market with many business in the upstate area advertising on 1440 greenville . wqok often known as the big q was one of the first stations in the area to use fast talking big voiced disc jockeys that would introduce the records with jive talk and take telephone requests from the listeners . the station also did live remotes for personal connections with its listeners . wqok had a stable of popular djs from 1958 through the late 1960s . personalities such as ken dee dockins lake cely john hudson sonny epps bo sanders carl stubbs mal harrison lee sims paul gold wayne seal later to become governor robert mcnair s press secretary rick fight dan ellis charlie byrd lindsey wild bill west noel belue andy rector mike jones jack kirby aka milton bagby teddy vee aka ted vigodsky don happy hearts bagwell little davey dee aka dave dannheisser jim mcalister pete dawley and eston johnson . the station was popular with the younger demographics 12 24 . in one survey in 1961 pulse spring 1961 ken dee dockins had 62 % of the total radio audience during his afternoon show . noel belue s morning show in 1961 captured 40 % of greenville s total radio audience . rick fight s crazy afternoon show in 1959 had 55 % pulse spring 1959 of the greenville radio audience . rick later moved to greenville station wfbc when management there made him a better offer due to his popularity at 1440 wqok . the station utilized many jingles for weather news the time of day and dj identification . these were played with the sounds of happy voices honking horns and guitars twanging . the lyrics to one of the early jingles read the best sound in town on radio is w q o k one four four oh exciting listening take your q for music and news designed just for you it s w q o k greenville for your hot top forty radio ... . t.c. hooper purchased wqok from dick broadcasting in 1961 . for many years into the early 1980s wqok remained one of greenville s top stations . it was greenville s top 40 station for 25 years and kept the same basic format . however as fm slowly took over the majority of radio listenership wqok went dark in the early 1980s . among the former announcers at the station prior to its demise are lee nolan gary jackson lee alexander russ cassell steve chris dan stevens kenny bridwell jay weekend michaels teddy vee vigodsky davey dee dannheisser chris scott john foster dr. john brother bill lisa rollins and kirby stevens who broadcast for 60 hours for the heart association . recent history spanish & sports talk edit 1440 wqok turned off its transmitters for a brief while and was sold to key market broadcasting owner of wssl fm and kirby confer in 1982 . it was then simulcast with sister station wgvl fm now wssl fm . wgvl was purchased by clear channel communications along with country music simulcast partner wssl fm in 1999 . citation needed wgvl became the greenville market s first spanish station on july 11 1999 . other formats considered according to bill mcmartin of am fm were radio disney and sports talk . the station broadcast a wide range of spanish music . the styles of music ranged from hot latin pop such as ricky martin and jennifer lopez to salsa merengue colombian tropical mexican and vallenato with ballads boleros and tangos at night . wgvl also aired news and sports programming including soccer . program director carlos garcia a colombia native made sure that many cultures were served not just one . 1 eventually the station was leased in a local marketing agreement to various spanish broadcasters . on september 1 2009 the station changed format from la invasora and spanish music and began simulcasting shine 96.7 wroo s christian contemporary format ending the local marketing agreement and putting the station back in the hands of clear channel communications . afterwards the simulcast was discontinued and 1440 began airing programming from espn radio being leased by greenville radio group llc and operated by veteran broadcaster greg mckinney who had previously programmed ac stations wspa fm and wmyi in the market . in november 2009 wgvl opened newly built studios in greenville sc . the station had a programming agreement with espn radio and aired the network s lineup of mike and mike in the morning colin cowherd and scott van pelt . weekday afternoons 4 p.m. 6 p.m. wgvl aired the score radio show featuring local sports personalities will merritt george rogers will bouton and others . on weekday evenings from 6 p.m. 8 p.m. the station presented phil kornblut s sportstalk . in late 2011 the lma with greenville radio group ended due to unknown reasons and clear channel took control of the station once again . clear channel retained the espn radio programming and program schedule that had been broadcast on 1440 . late in 2012 wgvl switched to fox sports radio . references edit radio station switches to 24 hour spanish format the charlotte observer july 15 1999 . external links edit official website query the fcc s am station database for wgvl radio locator information on wgvl query nielsen audio s am station database for wgvl v t e radio stations in the greenville spartanburg upstate south carolina market by am frequency 660 800 910 950 1020 1070 1230 1260 1280 1300 1330 1360 1400 1440 1490 1530 1540 1580 by fm frequency 89.3 89.7 90.1 91.1 91.5 92.5 93.3 93.7 94.5 95.5 95.9 96.3 98.1 98.5 98.9 99.5 99.9 100.5 101.1 101.5 102.5 103.1 103.3 103.9 104.9 105.5 106.3 106.9 107.3 by callsign w209cm w242bx w253bg w258cb waim wans wasc wbwt lp wccp fm wcki wcsz wdab welp wepr wesc fm wfbc fm wgtk fm wgvl whqa whzt wjmz fm wksf wlfj wlfj fm wmit wmxp lp wmyi woli word wpci wpjf wpjm wrix wroo wroq wrth wspa fm wspg wssl fm wtbi wtob wtpt wyfg wyrd wyrd fm defunct wfis 1600 south carolina radio markets charleston columbia florence greenville spartanburg myrtle beach rock hill other south carolina radio regions hilton head see also list of radio stations in south carolina v t e sports radio stations in the state of south carolina stations wabv abbeville waht clemson wccp fm clemson wcos columbia wdsc dillon whsc conway whym lake city wjkb moncks corner wnkt eastover wolh florence word spartanburg wpcc clinton wrnn myrtle beach wsea atlantic beach wspg spartanburg wspo charleston wtmz dorchester terr . bre wwfn lake city wwik mcclellanville wymb manning wyrd greenville see also adult contemporary classic hits college country news talk npr oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in south carolina see also espn radio espn deportes radio fox sports radio cbs sports radio nbc sports radio yahoo sports radio sports byline usa v t e iheartmedia corporate officers bob pittman chairman ceo board of directors lowry mays irving azoff b. j. red mccombs j. c. watts john h. williams radio stations list of radio stations owned by iheartmedia radio networks fox sports radio premiere networks premium choice total traffic and weather network miscellaneous clear channel outdoor clear channel uk iheartradio list of programming syndicated by iheartmedia mediabase radio computing services retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wgvl & oldid 718016077 categories radio stations in south carolinaiheartmedia radio stationshidden categories articles needing additional references from june 2013all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from september 2009 navigation menu personal tools not 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