“God’s Country” Arrives in Utica-Rome

Even in its post-Clear Channel life, Remsen’s 93.5 FM (WOKR) just can’t seem to settle on one format for any significant legnth of time.  Religious broadcaster EMF has LMA’ed the station out to a new network called “God’s Country,” featuring a different flavor of Christian music than WOKR’s previous ”K-Love” format. 

Once it was Warm (WRFM), then it was Cool (WUCL), and finally it was The River, before WOKR (and the rest of CC’s former Utica-Rome cluster) was sold to Galaxy last year — who then immediately flipped WOKR over to EMF to satisfy FCC ownership limits.  After the sale, WOKR became an affiliate of EMF’s “K-Love” network. 

UPDATED 7/15/08 -  At first, we were under the impression that “God’s Country” was a new network by EMF, but an insider has since informed us this is not the case.  In fact, the “God’s Country Radio Network” is operated by a completely different company out of North Carolina (EMF is based in California).  God’s Country Radio Network is LMA’ing WOKR and its 94.1 translator in Utica, along with a handful of other EMF-owned stations in other cities.

Our insider source tells CNYRadio.com, as long as GCRN adheres to the obligations in the LMA (including staying current on monthly payments to EMF), the network will eventually assume the ownership of these stations.  We were not told how long the LMA is supposed to last before the stations are completely transferred to the hands of God’s Country.