WBGK
Radio station in Newport Village, New York
title: "WBGK" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["country-radio-stations-in-new-york-(state)", "radio-stations-established-in-2000", "2000-establishments-in-new-york-(state)", "herkimer-county,-new-york"] description: "Radio station in Newport Village, New York" topic_path: "general/country-radio-stations-in-new-york-state" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBGK" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Radio station in Newport Village, New York ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | WBGK |
| logo | New Bug Country logo.png |
| city | Newport Village, New York |
| country | US |
| area | |
| branding | Bug Country |
| airdate | |
| frequency | 99.7 MHz |
| format | Country music |
| erp | 1,400 watts |
| haat | 206 m |
| class | A |
| facility_id | 110 |
| licensing_authority | FCC |
| coordinates | |
| callsign_meaning | "Bug Country" |
| affiliations | |
| owner | Ken Roser |
| licensee | Roser Communications Network, LLC |
| sister_stations | WUTQ-FM, WVTL, WSKU, WSKS |
| webcast | |
| website | |
| name | WBUG-FM |
| city | Fort Plain, New York |
| country | US |
| frequency | 101.1 MHz |
| owner | Ken Roser |
| licensee | Roser Communications Network, LLC |
| airdate | |
| former_callsigns | WLKO (1989–1992) |
| callsign_meaning | "Bug" |
| licensing_authority | FCC |
| facility_id | 72625 |
| class | A |
| erp | 1,250 watts |
| haat | 219 m |
| coordinates | |
| child | yes |
| :: |
| name = WBGK | logo = New Bug Country logo.png | city = Newport Village, New York | country = US | area = | branding = Bug Country | airdate = | frequency = 99.7 MHz | repeater = | format = Country music | erp = 1,400 watts | haat = 206 m | class = A | facility_id = 110 | licensing_authority = FCC | coordinates = | callsign_meaning = "Bug Country" | former_callsigns = | affiliations = | owner = Ken Roser | licensee = Roser Communications Network, LLC | sister_stations = WUTQ-FM, WVTL, WSKU, WSKS | webcast = | website = | embed_header = | embedded = | name = WBUG-FM | city = Fort Plain, New York | country = US | frequency = 101.1 MHz | owner = Ken Roser | licensee = Roser Communications Network, LLC | operator = | airdate = | former_callsigns = WLKO (1989–1992) | former_frequencies = | callsign_meaning = "Bug" | licensing_authority = FCC | facility_id = 72625 | class = A | erp = 1,250 watts | haat = 219 m | coordinates = | translators = | repeaters = | child = yes WBGK (99.7 MHz) and WBUG-FM (101.1 MHz) are commercial radio stations simulcasting a country music radio format known as "Bug Country". WBGK is licensed to Newport, and WBUG-FM is licensed to Fort Plain, New York. They are owned by Roser Communications Network, Inc. The signals of the two stations cover the Utica-Rome radio market as well as the Mohawk Valley.
History
WBUG-FM began on March 1, 1991, as WLKO, a locally produced simulcast with WBUG (1570 AM) in Amsterdam. It became WBUG-FM on May 15, 1992. WBUG's programming was also heard on WBGG (900 AM) in Saratoga Springs, which carried a country format from August 1992 until becoming classic rock station WCKM in April 1994. It was replaced with WLFH (1230 AM) in Little Falls, which had itself been a country music station.
The stations then broadcast the Real Country satellite classic country format from ABC Radio, and added WBGK at 99.7 FM in October 2000. WLFH was later acquired by Clear Channel Communications and left Bug Country to join the "Sports Stars" network of WADR/WUTQ and WRNY. In 2004, WBUG left Bug Country to become talk-formatted WVTL, leaving WBGK and WBUG-FM as the only two stations in the Bug Country network. In November 2009, WBGK and WBUG-FM dropped Real Country and swapped it with a continuous automated selection of country Christmas music. After the holidays, their current format of mainstream country was launched and the station returned to local production. WBGK had been providing live play-by-play high school football games but that ended in 2011.
On March 30, 2015, Roser Communications moved the studios of all their stations, including WBGK/WBUG-FM, to new facilities located at the Canal Park off Leland Avenue. Prior to this, Roser Communications had been leasing space at the Adirondack Bank building on Genesee Street.
References
References
- (March 13, 1991). "C'town gets new station". Freeman's Journal.
- (May 13, 1992). "Call Letter Changes". The M Street Journal.
- (October 19, 1993). "New radio show offered". Freeman's Journal.
- (July 22, 1992). "Format Changes". The M Street Journal.
- (April 27, 1994). "Format Changes & Updates". The M Street Journal.
- (October 23, 2000). "WNSS Gets Funny, Utica Gets Buggy, Dodge Gets Arrested". North East RadioWatch.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::