WYFQ
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| WYFQ | |
| City of license | Wadesboro, North Carolina WYFQ-FM Charlotte, North Carolina WYFQ(AM) |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Charlotte |
| Branding | BBN Radio |
| Slogan | "Where You Find Quality" |
| Frequency | 93.5 MHz WYFQ-FM 930 kHz WYFQ(AM) |
| First air date | 1947 |
| Format | Religious |
| Power | 8700 Watts WYFQ-FM 5000 Watts (D), 1000 Watts (n) WYFQ(AM) |
| Class | C3 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | WYFQ-FM |
| Former callsigns | WSOC, WIST |
| Owner | Bible Broadcasting Network |
| Website | bbnradio.org |
WYFQ at 930 AM and 93.5 FM are two stations broadcasting the Bible Broadcasting Network in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. The AM station operates with a power of 5,000 watts daytime and 1,000 watts nighttime. A directional antenna system is used during the station's nighttime hours. The FM station operates with a power of 8,700 watts, and is licensed to the city of Wadesboro, North Carolina.
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[edit] History
The 930 frequency in the Charlotte market first went on the air with the call letters WIST in 1947, it was founded by Cosmos Broadcasting Company, and was a sister station to Columbia, South Carolina's heritage station WIS-AM. Its first studios were on North Tryon Street, two blocks from the square in uptown Charlotte.
As WIST, the station was initially an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System, but by the late 1950s it had dropped the network to become Charlotte's first independent radio station and Charlotte's first Top-40 station. Popular deejays at that time included Jimmy Kilgo, Bob Chessen and Jim Martin.
In the early 1960s, in a rare move for broadcasters of the day, WIST traded frequencies with WSOC-AM at 1240 on the dial (now WHVN).
[edit] 93-WSOC ("Good Music")
As WSOC, the 930 frequency became part of the legacy of Charlotte's second-oldest broadcasting company, and gained sister stations in WSOC-FM (103.7) and WSOC-TV (channel 9). The station's MOR music format and NBC Radio Network affiliation came to 930, as well as WSOC's heritage morning announcer Jack Knight.
Knight eventually was replaced as morning announcer by Denny Mills, and returned to the air on his old 1240 frequency on the then-WIST. Other popular announcers on WSOC in those days included Glenn Hamrick, Bill Currie and Jack Callaghan.
[edit] Carolina Basketball Network
In the early 1960s WSOC made the first attempt to produce and network the basketball games of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels beyond the immediate area of Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham. Bill Currie did the play-by-play announcing, and Jack Callaghan provided color commentary. One of the stations on their network was Chapel Hill's own WCHL, to whom WSOC sold the network in 1965.
[edit] NewsRadio 93
In 1974, WSOC dropped its music programming to become "NewsRadio 93", an all-news formatted station. It was the first in the Carolinas to do so. Much of its programming came from NBC Radio's News and Information Service during its first year. When NBC dropped that service WSOC remained all-news, adding local news personnel in the process. Popular newscasters on WSOC in those days included Jim David, Leslie Wolfe, and John Edwards. Overnights, the station carried The Larry King Show from the Mutual Broadcasting System, and eventually Mutual's radio newscasts found their way into the daytime news programming of the station.
[edit] The Voice of Charlotte
WSOC's programming made a shift in 1978, as all-news programming was replaced in middays by a local talk show hosted by Dick Pomerantz. His hosting of the midday talk show was short lived, but other talk shows, both local and network, made their way to WSOC over the next four years. In addition to Pomerantz, popular talk hosts on the station included WCCB-TV afternoon children's host Tony Alexi. WSOC carried an extensive schedule of Atlanta Braves baseball games and North Carolina State University football and basketball.
[edit] AM 93-WSOC
By 1981, the decision was made to drop news and talk programming on WSOC, and the station went to an MOR music format similar to its days before NewsRadio. In an effort to retain its heritage, but differentiate the station from its country-formatted sister station WSOC-FM, the station was branded in slogans and jingles as "AM 93-WSOC". The Larry King show was retained overnights, and was joined for a time by a network sports-talk operation called Enterprise Radio. Popular announcers during this time included Jim Hutton, Ed Ross, Jim Wall and Mike Sheridan.
Three years later, former WBT] program director Andy Bickel was hired as consultant and took the station into an Adult Contemporary format. The format was not competitive with the other stations in Charlotte established in this format, and was abandoned early in 1985.
[edit] Country Music and WSOC-FM Simulcasts
WSOC's owners then tried to find a place for AM 93 within the established bounds of Country Music that WSOC-FM had carved out in their then-16 years in the format. At times, AM-93 was programmed separately in midday and evening hours, and simulcast the FM during drive time.
Later, WSOC's AM station began an experimental Country Oldies format dubbed "Country Gold 93", once again with a separate staff from the FM except during overnight hours. Morning announcer during this time was Jim Wall. Though it showed promise for gaining a toehold with the country audience in Charlotte, the owners abandoned the format when the FM's ratings began to weaken, and WSOC AM-93 permanently became the shadowed sister of WSOC-FM.
By the end of the 1980s, the only separate programming on WSOC AM-93 was college football and basketball, and Sunday morning religious programming. One interesting innovation attempted during this period was to play music on WSOC-AM while NASCAR races were being aired on WSOC-FM.
In 1990, the owners Cox Broadcasting began to court a buyer for the 930 frequency, and in late 1991 it was announced that 930 AM was to be sold to the Bible Broadcasting Network.
[edit] Call Letters: WYFQ
[edit] BBN Comes to Charlotte
WYFQ aired its first broadcasts on February 12, 1996. The station airs the complete national program and music schedule of BBN, plus locally-produced public affairs programming and public service announcements.
Popular announcers on the BBN Network include Mike Dize, Hank Farrior and Vic Gregory
As a BBN station, no commercial advertisements are broadcast. Funding is raised from listener donations.
When BBN began a Spanish-Language radio network Red de Radiodifusión Bíblica, some of its programming was aired on WYFQ. Programming on the station later returned to full-time English broadcasts.
Three months after purchasing the station, the entire operation of BBN moved from Chesapeake, Virginia to Charlotte, making WYFQ the flagship station for the network.
The station now broadcasts from the BBN Studios at 11530 Carmel Commons Boulevard in Charlotte.
The 93.5 FM frequency that is now WYFQ-FM first appears in FCC records as a construction permit issued in 1983 to Lyon Radio Inc., then-owner of WADE 1340-AM in Wadesboro. Efforts to build the station ended with the death of owner Risdon Lyon and eventual sale of WADE. A permit to build the station was secured by BBN in the mid 1990s, and its operation was combined with BBN's already established Charlotte AM station as WYFQ AM and FM. Today, the combined stations share a station manager and the entire technical staff of BBN's English broadcast contributes to their operation.
[edit] Translators
In addition to the main station, WYFQ-FM is relayed by an additional 15 translators to widen it's broadcast area.
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[edit] External References
- Official site
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WYFQ
- Radio Locator Information on WYFQ
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WYFQ
- Radio Locator information on WYFQ
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[[Category:Bible Broadcasting Network}]]
