(MURFREBORO) As the New Year of 1947 approached, rural Rutherford County had a dramatically different feel than today. Approximately 8,000 people populated the entire county. It was a significant event for the county to get first radio station! On the of December 31, 1946 throughout the county, people were their radio dials. 10:00 o'clock, the static suddenly vanished, and a strong new signal appeared. WGNS in New Year of 1947. A popular song of the late 40s included the goes round and round and comes out.

CLICK HERE to read an original article about WGNS signing onto the airwaves in 1947. This article is from The Courier.

WGNS continues to broadcast on AM1450, in March 2007 WGNS added two FM channels:101.9 mHz in Murfreesboro and 100.5 mHz on a tower in Smyrna. When you add the internet site (WGNSRadio.com), station can now be heard anywhere in the world.

Local, local sports, and local history have continued to be the focus of locally radio.  CLICK HERE to see pictures of earlier WGNS' broadcasts. 

Local Ownership-- Involvement

Cecil Elrod started WGNS, and for the first decade, it was the family's French Shoppe on the east side of the town square. In 1960 the station two-story building South Church Street, where it continues.

WGNS is still a locally-owned family business. 

Bart Walker noted, "We love Rutherford County, and we love the broadcast business."

Perhaps that's why the current family has owned and operated WGNS longer than all the years of previous combined. WGNS was born by the Elrod family (1947-1960), then Bill Vogel and Monte Hale owned the station (1960-1979), the Davidson Group (1979-1984) and the Walker family (1984-present...41-years).

Local Sports

Just like today, local sports were extremely popular on WGNS Cecil Ray Duffey to be of the Good Neighbor Station early sportscasters. Listeners continue to fall in love with Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins, who are following the footsteps of Duffey, Monte Hale, Sr., Dick Palmer, Chip Walters, Jeff Jordan and others.

Another local celebrity was John Hood. This high schooler had a dream of getting into radio. The school system offered an afternoon on-the-job training curriculum, and he was able to link with WGNS.  

Now, since MTSU has grown to have this state's largest undergraduate enrollment, MTSU games are heard on a network of stations in other mid-state cities. WGNS continues to be the Heart of Tennessee's Blue Raider affiliate. Since 1947 WGNS has included live play-by-play of the local high school games. 

WGNS Mirrors the Community

For a radio station to truly serve a community, it must be a mirror of the life and opinions of that area. Since 1947, Swap'n Shop continues to be one of the most popular broadcasts on the station. In addition, political leaders and people known as movers and shakers guest daily on talk shows. The public has the opportunity to call and get answers to questions. We earlier mentioned Man On The Street. Those are still popular.

Major topics then have long-form talk radio shows have specialists giving in-depth information. Often a series of programs with several experts give special attention to local issues. Today's broadcasts allow listeners to call-in with questions that concern them. We have had many younger listeners comment on how much they enjoy this new approach with the WGNS Man On The Street. 

WGNS is there when Emergencies Hit

WGNS is always there to connect the public with emergency responders during times of crisis. Whether it's an ice storm, flooding, tornado or other natural or man-made disaster. 

Residents living in neighborhood impacted by the tornados that ravaged the Heart of Tennessee in the 80s, 90s and now--depended on WGNS' live coverage. Police, firefighters and paramedics were able to talk directly to those victims and help them out of their frightening situations. 

76-Years of Being Community Focused 

Since the time that the Good Neighbor Station rang-in the New Year of 1947 until now, the focus of WGNS has been the same--serve the community with the local information that they want and need. Plus, give them the news, history, sports and other topics that they enjoy. 

Special radio broadcast about the 76-years of WGNS  

 In the meantime, tune your radio to WGNS (Murfreesboro's AM 1450, FM 101.9 and Smyrna's FM 100.5) and get into the "Good Neighbor" habit!