WEKS (92.5 FM; "The Bear 92.5") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Zebulon, Georgia, with studios in downtown Fayetteville, Georgia, United States. The station is currently owned by the Georgia Radio Alliance, LLC., which is headed by Christopher Murray. The Georgia Radio Alliance also owns the Classic Hits formatted "Fox FM" stations WMDG, WFDR, and WBAF. WEKS features live and local country music programming, custom designed for the Southside of Atlanta, Georgia.[2]
 | |
| Broadcast area | Atlanta Southside area (Fayetteville-Newnan) |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 92.5 MHz |
| Branding | The Bear 92.5 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country music |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WBAF, WFDR, WMDG | |
| History | |
First air date | 1995 |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 61617 |
| Class | C3 |
| ERP | 25,000 watts |
| HAAT | 145.0 meters |
Transmitter coordinates | 33°8′20.00″N 84°31′31.00″W / 33.1388889°N 84.5252778°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | thebear925.com |
WEKS currently features a locally programmed country music format branded as "The Bear 92.5." Personalities on WEKS include Chris East, and Cal Cross in the morning, and Kevin Steele in the afternoon. The station also airs nationally syndicated programming like the Dee Jay Silver & The Country Club mixshow Friday nights, The Original Country Gold with Rowdy Yates show Saturday nights, and Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence Sunday nights. WEKS also has a Gospel show that airs Sunday mornings hosted by Dustin Fordham.
WEKS is licensed to broadcast in HD Radio. In September 2021, WEKS acquired the equipment needed to transmit an HD signal, however, the station has yet to sign on its HD signal.
WEKS uses PlayoutOne for its automation system, a Wheatstone Audioarts AIR-4 12 Channel Mixer, an Orban Optimod 8400 for audio processing, and a GatesAir 20 kW transmitter with 2 ERI bays.
History
editWEKS went on the air in or around 1995 licensed to Zebulon. Owned by Legacy Media, LLC. and branded as "92.5 FM The Bear," (a nod to the Griffin High School mascot, the grizzly bear) the then satellite-fed Country music formatted radio station served Griffin and the immediate surrounding areas with 6 kW from a tower south of Griffin in the town of Zebulon. Original studios for WEKS were also located in Griffin.
In 2006, WEKS upgraded to 25 kW from a new tower located near the town of Gay. This upgrade gave WEKS better coverage to the cities of Fayetteville, and Newnan, as well as giving WEKS fringe coverage into the southern portion of Atlanta. Around this time, the station moved its studios into downtown Senoia.
In the early 2010s, WEKS dropped Jones Radio Networks' satellite-fed Country music programming and the station moved to local programming.
In 2017, Christopher Murray bought Legacy Media, LLC. After this, WEKS saw a major overhaul in programming. The station began strictly centering its music towards new country, rather than a mix of classic and new country; a slogan change from "The Best Of Today's Country, Plus The Legends" to "The Southside's Best Country" reflected this change, as well as a slight rebrand from "92.5 The Bear" to "The Bear 92.5." Around this time, the station studios were moved once again, this time to Downtown Fayetteville.[3]
In November 2021, Atlanta radio veteran Cadillac Jack joined WEKS to host the stations' afternoon drive slot. Cadillac Jack worked at various different radio stations in Atlanta before his 22-year stint at WKHX as the stations' morning show host.[4]
In April 2023, now former morning hosts Robbie Ashley and Cal Cross were involved in an argument, which started live on the air and then escalated further once off the air. Both hosts were later fired over the incident and Midday host Chris East was temporarily placed on Mornings for a few weeks before the station debuted its new morning show featuring Cadillac Jack, who came from afternoons on WEKS and his ex-wife, Donna.[5]
In March of 2024, Robbie Ashley and Cal Cross returned to mornings on WEKS, with Cadillac Jack moving back to the afternoon slot replacing Kevin Steele. This was short-lived, however, as Cadillac Jack was fired from WEKS only a couple of weeks later, with Kevin Steele returning once again to afternoons.
On-Air Lineup
editMonday - Thursday
- Mornings (5:30 to 10:00am): The Half and Half Morning show with Chris and Cal
- Afternoons (3:00 to 7:00pm): Kevin Steele
Friday
- Mornings (5:30 to 10:00am): The Half and Half Morning show with Chris and Cal br>
- Afternoons (3:00 to 7:00pm): Kevin Steele
- Evenings (7:00pm to 12:00am): Dee-Jay Silver & The Country Club
Saturday
- Evenings (7:00pm to 12:00am): The Original Country Gold with Rowdy Yates
Sunday
- Mornings (7:00 to 10:00am): Heavenly Sunday Morning with D-Rock
- Evenings: Locals, Legends And Some That Will Be With D-Rock (7:00 to 9:00pm) / Honky Tonkin' With Tracy Lawrence (9:00pm to 12:00am)
References
edit- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WEKS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WEKS Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ The Bear Moves To Fayetteville
- ^ Atlanta’s Cadillac Jack Joins WEKS As Afternoon Host
- ^ Cadillac Jack + Donna Mornings 5:30-10am
External links
edit- Facility details for Facility ID 61617 (WEKS) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WEKS in Nielsen Audio's FM station database