WHLC

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WHLC FM 104.5 is a radio station covering a small area where Georgia and the Carolinas meet. Owned by Charisma Radio Corp. and based in Highlands, North Carolina (also its city of license), its studios are just north of the historic downtown on the Cashiers Road (U.S. 64). The transmitter is nearby, and operates at 460 watts effective radiated power. The station went on the air in mid-1993.

According to FCC maps, WHLC covers the southwestern half of Macon County (including Franklin), the southern half of Jackson County (including Cashiers) to the east, the southwestern corner of Transylvania County (as far as Lake Toxaway) further east, the far northwestern tip of South Carolina (as far south as Walhalla) to the south and southeast, and the eastern half of Rabun County, Georgia (out to Clayton) to the southwest. [1] According to the station's own map, coverage goes extremely far to the south and southeast, though this seems highly unlikely under normal circumstances, even given that this area is well out of the obstruction of the mountains. [2]

WHLC plays easy listening music and is the only full-service station licensed to Highlands, although its location on a high plateau allows the town to receive other stations from Asheville, and as far away as northeastern metro Atlanta. Also licensed to Highlands is W269AY, which retransmits WCQS from Western North Carolina Public Radio in Asheville.

It appears that Charisma Radio has a license for 8-watt translator W277AL on 103.3, from a different location on the southwest edge of the Highlands city limit. There is a construction permit at the same location to change to 95.7, lower the antenna by about 10 meters, and increase to 75 watts. (This superseded an application to stay at the original height but at 25 watts.) FCC records do not indicate which station this translator relays.