WGAW

WGAW (1340 AM) is a radio station licensed to Gardner, Massachusetts. Established in 1946 as WHOB, the station is owned by Steven Wendell and carries a talk radio format.
History.
The station signed on December 23, 1946 as WHOB. It debuted at 1490 kHz on the AM dial, and the call letters referred to one of the station's founders, District Attorney Owen A. Hoban. WHOB was originally owned by David M. Richman, a Connecticut businessman; studios were in the Colonial Hotel in Gardner. The station's format was a variety of local news, music, and sports. One of the early stars on WHOB was a local country (then called "hillbilly") music performer named Doc Snow (real name: Edgar Arsenault). He performed live with his band, the Bar X Cowboys, and later became one of the station's announcers.
The station was sold to Emilien R. Robillard, a pharmacist, in 1954; the call letters were changed to WGAW (Gardner, Athol, Winchendon) on October 14, 1953. Subsequently, in 1957, the station was sold again, to Charles and James Asher, who also owned WJDA in Quincy. In 1959, new owners again took over, with Judge C. Edward Rowe purchasing the station.
By the early 1990s, WGAW was experiencing financial problems due to increased competition from FM stations. The station was being run by Judge Rowe's son Douglas, who also owned WSRO, a station in Marlboro, Massachusetts. To save money, WGAW was no longer doing local broadcasting. Rather, it was simulcasting the programming of WSRO. Subsequent owners of WGAW have included Anastos Media Group of Malta, New York (an ownership group headed by New York City television news anchor Ernie Anastos), and Northeast Broadcasting of Bedford, New Hampshire.
Fast forward to the 2010's and 2020's, WGAW's format of Local News/Talk has reinvigorated the station. Now owned by Steven Wendell, the station is reliably on the air 24 hours a day. Contributing to the revival has been the owner's policy of heavily promoting almost 2 dozen area communities with local community news, local public service announcements, and local interviews of persons of interest. In 2021, WGAW is celebrating 2 things: the 75th anniversary of its founding and the launch of 98.1 FM to carry the same programming on the FM dial.