Starting today, Cox Media Group put Newstalk WOKV on 104.5 FM, a more powerful radio signal that reaches throughout Northeast Florida and beyond.
The switch was flipped at midnight.
WOKV will continue on 690 AM and will briefly remain on 106.5 FM while advising listeners of the move to 104.5 FM.
Since 1980, the signal carried Rock 104.5, also known as Rock 105, which "retired" Sunday. (Who remembers the vintage Chris and J.D. days?)
"Our listeners told us loud and clear that we needed more power," said WOKV Program Director Mike Dorwart in a news release.
"Moving to 104.5 FM means that, for the first time ever, our listeners can hear WOKV everywhere in Northeast Florida, any time they want," he said.
It also will broaden the access for Jacksonville Jaguars games. WOKV is the radio flagship of the Jaguars.
The signal reaches the Jacksonville metropolitan area and areas north to Brunswick, Ga., south to Daytona Beach, southwest to Gainesville and west to Lake City.
"The most noticeable improvement will be heard by listeners in Baker, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties. They now have full coverage from WOKV, 24/7, on 104.5 FM," Dorwart said.
WOKV carries "Jacksonville's Morning News," hosted by Rich Jones, airing weekdays from 5-9 a.m. The WOKV weekday lineup of conservative talk shows includes Herman Cain (9 a.m.-noon), Rush Limbaugh (noon-3 p.m.), Sean Hannity (3-6 p.m.) and Andy Dean (6-9 p.m.)
The news release posted on WOKV.com said the new signal also provides coverage to listeners in Flagler, Putnam, Bradford, Union and Columbia counties in Florida, as well as Camden and Charlton counties in Georgia.
WOKV is part of the Cox Media Group, whose radio properties also include WAPE (95.1 FM), WXXJ (102.9 FM) and WJGL (96.9 FM). There's also Power 106.1 FM, a new hip hop station.
Construction OK'd for MECLABS HQ move to Southside
The City approved a permit for The Angelo Group Inc. to renovate 21,117 square feet of office space at a project cost of $450,000 for MECLABS.
As the Daily Record reported April 3, the Jacksonville Beach-based international marketing-research firm that focuses on the science of consumer persuasion intends to move its headquarters to 4315 Pablo Oaks Court in the San Pablo Office Park, where it will add 50-75 jobs and employ almost 170 people.
Salaries for the new jobs will range from $40,000 to $250,000, said founder, CEO and Managing Director Flint McGlaughlin.
"We're pioneering algorithms that optimize response rates," McGlaughlin said previously He also is director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
McGlaughlin said the renovation budget is $1.4 million.
According to the meclabs.com website and state records, MECLABS is based in Jacksonville Beach at 1300 Marsh Landing Parkway, Suite 106. It uses about 11,000 square feet of space in the Jacksonville Beach location, McGlaughlin said. The new site is almost double that size.
The company will hire analysts and data scientists, he said.
McGlaughlin and MECLABS have "conducted thousands of experiments aimed at figuring out what kinds of messages can still get through to skeptical Americans," said The Washington Post in a July 20, 2012, report headlined: "Romney's tax returns, Obama's birth certificate and the end of trust."
MECLABS, which state records show began doing business in Florida in 2007, says on its website that it is "the world's largest independent research lab focused exclusively on marketing and sales."
It says that "our scientists and analysts have conducted rigorous scientific tests across more than 10,000 pages. We have recorded and analyzed more than 5 million calls. And we have conducted interviews with more than 500,000 marketing leaders from around the world."
McGlaughlin expects the renovations to be completed in the fall. Plans show offices, open work area, training space, a studio, equipment and sound areas, a game room, a conference room, a break room, a library, open work area and a courtyard.
The executive offices include a room for the "Flint team."
McGlaughlin also is manager of Pablo Oaks LLC, which bought the property in November for $2.9 million.
Property records show the building was constructed in 2001 on 2.3 acres. It carried a 2012 taxable value of $3.34 million.
According to the site, MECLABS has partnered with key market leaders including The New York Times, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and Matrikon.
McGlaughlin said total company employment numbers are not released and that MECLABS operates in more than 60 locations. There are 92 employees at the Jacksonville Beach offices, he said.
He said its two main facilities are in Jacksonville and in Minneapolis, where it has an operations facility and a testing call center where it has recorded 5 million calls.
"It's hardcore science," McGlaughlin said. "Most of our research is focused on why people say 'yes.'"
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