Talker Mike Gallagher Helps Launch WGTK

Mike Gallagher

A new talk radio station has hit the Greenville, SC FM airwaves, led by a nationally-syndicated host who cut his teeth in the Upstate.

According to a story at goupstate.com, Mike Gallagher has returned to his old stomping grounds in Greenville County to help launch Conservative Talk 94.5 WGTK-FM in the former facility operated by Bob Jones University's WMUU-FM.

California-based Salem Communications Corp., one of the nation's largest conservative broadcasting companies, purchased the station from Bob Jones last year. It is one of only two news/talk radio stations operating in the area, including WORD 106.3-FM.

“Competition makes everyone better,” said Gallagher, who served as station manager for WORD in the early 1990s. “It's rare for a market this size to only have one station… We think we're on to something here. It's a great opportunity.”

The station's 100,000-watt signal spans Spartanburg, Greenville and Anderson counties.

WGTK 60dBu Coverage Area

Since the station launched in December, Gallagher said Conservative Talk's revenues have exceeded expectations.

Gallagher said he is splitting time between his home in New York City, Greenville and Dallas, while he does his daily show and works to help the station find a firm footing.



The host got into radio while he was high school in 1978 by talking his way into an on-air shift at WAVI-AM in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio.

He also did some work in television before relocating to Greenville in 1989 to work for WORD, which at the time was WFBC-AM. Gallagher, who was active in local theater, served as station manager and hosted the Tiger Tailgate show until he was fired in 1994.

From the ashes of that experience, he rose like a phoenix that year and landed a job as a radio personality in Albany, N.Y. Two years later, he said he got the call that all hosts hope for—an offer from WABC to have his own morning show.

In 1998, he got another dream call that his show was to be syndicated nationally. According to Talkers Magazine, Gallagher is the 15th most-listened-to radio host in America.

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