Froggy is a brand name radio format used for a variety of radio stations in numerous broadcast markets in the United States, most of which are country music formatted stations, with a few playing adult contemporary. (There was, however, an oldies-themed "Froggy" in Erie, Pennsylvania—the former WFGO; that station has since changed format and calls in 2007. There was also an Oldies-based "Froggy" station in Austin, Texas KFGI 94.7 which changed formats in 1994.) Although the frog logo is shared among these stations, most of them are not associated with each other. The "Froggy" branding is particularly common among country stations currently or formerly owned by Forever Broadcasting or Forever Communications and Keymarketradio LLC.
The Froggy branded radio station uses jargon that usually refers to a frog, such as where the frog lives (in a pond), how a frog moves (hops), what noise a frog makes (cricket or ribbit), and other words that are related to frogs.
Examples of the "Froggy" theme use words like the following:
"Hop-Line," "Frogcast," "Froggy Fotos," "Local Hoppenings," "Hoppy Birthday," "Froggy Fun Fones," "Froggyland," "in the swamp."
Some of the stations incorporate the lingo into their coverage area. For example, Froggy 101 in State College, PA, refers to Happy Valley, the area in and around State College, as "Hoppy Valley." Most also call their coverage area "Froggyland".
An occasional "ribbit" between songs is used sometimes instead of a sweeper, jingle or dry segue.
Listeners are encouraged to "give us a ribbit on the hoplines."
Big Frog 104 in Utica, NY used to close out its weather "frogcast" with a jingle that sang "you sing 10 songs in a row and you're such a good friend of mine," to the tune of Three Dog Night's Joy To The World, whose first line was "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog."
A few Froggy stations in Pennsylvania used a parody of the Mercury Blues that went "Hey now Froggy/You sound so fine/Ridin' 'round in my Murky 49/Crazy 'bout my Froggy/I'm crazy 'bout my Froggy/Gonna turn up my Froggy, cruisin' up and down the road. Uh-huh." These are called "Froggy Songs" that most stations play periodically throughout the day. There are many different kinds. WFGS in Murray, KY offers some of the "Froggy Songs" as free ringtones [1].
Many DJs at Froggy-branded stations use special names that reflect the branding:
"Frogman," "Kellie Green," "Tad Pole," "Polly Wogg,", "Pete Moss," and "James Pond" are the names used on WFGY-FM Froggy 98.1 in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
"Boss Frog," "Ann Phibian," "Skeeter," "Hopper," "Sally Mander," and "Swampy" are the names used on WFGE Big Froggy 101.1 in State College, Pennsylvania. These call letters were taken from the now WFGS in Murray, Kentucky.
"Windy Waters," "Jumpin' Jack," "Davey Croakett," and "Heather McRibbits" are the names of "frog jocks" from WFGS-FM Froggy 103.7 in Murray, Kentucky.
Annie Croakley, David Hopperfield, Joey Buttafroggo, Bean Pole, I. B. Green, Elvis Frogsley and Catfish Crawford are names of some frog jocks past and present from Big Frog 104 in Utica, New York.
"Hopalong Cassidy", "Anne Phibian", "Hoppy Gilmore", "Lilly Pad", "Pete Moss", and "Jeremiah Bullfrog" are names used on KVOX-FM Froggy 99.9 in Fargo, North Dakota.
"James Pond & Cricket", "Webb Foote", "Bud Green", "Jumpin' Jay", "Pete Moss", "Croakin' O Brian", "Annie Croakley", and "Swim Mcgraw" are some of the used on WFRY-FM Froggy 97 in Watertown, New York.
Tad Pole, Al Gee, and Cricket are the current line-up on WOGY-FM Jackson, Tennessee, "Froggy 104".
Many of the Froggy stations that have the country format use the syndicated evening program Lia, often putting "Leapin'" in front of her name to "frogify" her.
For the most part, the logo of a "Froggy" branded radio station is generally the smiling green frog. The font, color, position and angles can vary, however, the frog is generally green with a red tongue.
The variations on the logo include the radio station's frequency or whether it is referred to as "Frog," "Big Frog," or "Froggyland."
The "Froggy" moniker is regularly lampooned on the Glenn Beck Program; Beck's alter ego, "Flap Jackson," is the morning jock at the fictional "109.9 The Big Frog."
There is a Froggy 101 bumper sticker on the file cabinet next to the desk of Dwight Schrute, a character on the television show The Office. The Office is set in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where WGGY goes by the "Froggy 101" branding.
