WNCI

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WNCI

Broadcast area	Columbus, Ohio
Branding	97.9 WNCI
Slogan	All of today's best music
First air date	July 1961
Frequency	97.9 (MHz)
Format	Top 40
ERP	175,000 watts
Class	B
Callsign meaning	Nationwide Communications Inc.
Owner	Citicasters Licenses, Inc.; operated by Clear Channel Communications
Website	www.wnci.com

WNCI (97.9 FM) is a radio station in Columbus, Ohio. Its official print brand identifier is WNCI 97.9 in a purple oval, while the station is known on-air as 97.9 WNCI. WNCI plays mostly Top 40 music, and is consistently the #1 rated station in Central Ohio by Arbitron. The station has had a hit music format since the early 1970s, making it one of the oldest continuously airing Top 40 stations still in the format.

The broadcast tower for the station is still located atop the skyscraper known as One Nationwide Plaza in Columbus, along with the transmitters for sister station WBWR. The station broadcasts with a power of 175,000 watts, which is 3.5 times what would normally be permitted. The station is permitted to do so because it was operating with a 175,000 watt power output before current Federal Communications Commission regulations were enacted. There are only 6 FM stations in the United States that operate with more power.

Mornings, the station airs the popular WNCI Morning Zoo with Dave and Jimmy. The Morning Zoo has been airing for at least 17 years now, and is the most popular morning show in Central Ohio. The show is available for syndication to other stations as "Dave and Jimmy" and airs on WLKT and WZKF.

From 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight is their latest DJ on the station Maxwell. Michael McCoy is Program Director.

[edit] History

WNCI started broadcasting with a classical music format in July of 1961 as WRFD-FM, sharing studios with AM sibling WRFD, east of Powell, Ohio. In 1972, WNCI moved to the sixth floor of the new Scot's Inn, at 4900 Sinclair Road. Since that time, the studios of WNCI have been relocated to various places in the Columbus area, including the Nationwide Building, The Continent, Broadcast Lake (a former quarry overlooked by several Clear Channel radio studios and the television studios of WSYX), and their current location at 2323 West Fifth Avenue.

WNCI is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications. Previously, the station was owned by Jacor Communications Incorporated. Jacor acquired the assets of Nationwide Communications in 1997 for $620 million. WNCI was once the flagship station for the 17 radio station group Nationwide Communications, a division of the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. In fact, the call letters NCI stand for Nationwide Communications Inc.

Throughout much of its history, WNCI was known as Stereo 98.

Although WRFD (AM) is still broadcasting, it no longer has any affiliation with WNCI.

[edit] Trivia

The former Scot's Inn studio site, now called The Midwest Hotel and Conference Center, is located very near The Alrosa Villa, site of the December 8, 2004 murder of Dimebag Darrell.