WCMC-FM

WCMC-FM
City of license Holly Springs, North Carolina
Broadcast area Raleigh/Durham
Research Triangle
Branding 99.9 The Fan
Frequency 99.9 (MHz) (also on HD Radio)
First air date October 1990
Format FM/HD1: ESPN Sports
HD2: Sports (WDNC simulcast)
HD3: NBC Sports Radio "The Ticket"
HD4: ESPN Deportes (WCLY simulcast)
ERP 26,500 watts
HAAT 206 meters
Class C2
Facility ID 51760
Transmitter coordinates 35°40′35″N 78°32′08″W / 35.67639°N 78.53556°W
Callsign meaning Country Music for Carolina (previous format)
Former callsigns WFXQ (1990-2005)
Affiliations ESPN Radio
Owner Capitol Broadcasting Company
Sister stations WDNC, WRAL-FM, WRAL-TV, WCLY
Webcast Listen Live
Website espntriangle.com

WCMC-FM is a Sports Talk radio station based in Raleigh, North Carolina and licensed to nearby Holly Springs. Its studios are located in downtown Raleigh along with WRAL-FM, an adult contemporary music station. Both stations are owned and operated by Capitol Broadcasting Company, which also owns 620 The Buzz, WRAL-TV, FOX 50, and the Durham Bulls minor-league baseball team, among other properties.

WCMC-FM transmits from an antenna located in the Auburn community southeast of Raleigh, on a tower shared with WRDC, WRAL-FM, and WQDR-FM. The station also broadcasts in HD Radio.[1]

History

Prior to 2005, this station was WFXQ in Chase City, Virginia, one of several southern Virginia stations purchased by former Raleigh radio host Tom Joyner in 2001. For 11 years prior to Joyner's purchase of the station, it was a country music station known as "99.9 The Fox". During Joyner's years as owner, the station was black gospel as "Rejoice Radio 99.9" and adult standards as "Stardust 99.9." Joyner sold WFXQ to Capitol Broadcasting, and the Stardust format moved to WSHV in South Hill, Virginia, one of several Joyner-owned stations purchased by Lakes Media. WFXQ got permission to move its city of license to Creedmoor and increase its power to 22,000 watts.[2]

WCMC signed on the air in October 2005 with a Country music format called "99.9 Genuine Country". The slogan was "Country Favorites From Today and Yesterday" and it played a mix of new country and older country[3]

In October 2006, WCMC moved to another tower, taller than the previous one, but reduced its power to 8,000 watts.[2]

On September 10, 2007 the format was dropped at 9 p.m. and changed to a classic rock format in anticipation for a format change to sports. On October 10, the sports format premiered at 3 p.m. known as "99.9 The Fan."[4]

Since moving to the Triangle, WCMC had broadcast from an antenna located 485 feet above ground level located three miles northwest of Youngsville. The short tower and relatively modest power resulted in the station providing only grade B coverage to Chapel Hill, Garner, Cary and most of Durham. In 2010 WCMC was granted permission to move its city of license to Holly Springs and boost its power to 26,500 watts, providing a fairly strong city-grade signal to all of Wake County and most of Durham County. However, Chapel Hill, the third point in the Triangle, still gets only a grade B signal. This may be due to the need to protect WMAG in High Point, at nearby 99.5.

Sports

WCMC has been the flagship station for the Carolina Hurricanes since 2007, following a two-year run on Curtis Media-owned WWMY.[5] In addition, the station will broadcast also the weekly football and basketball coaches shows for the NC State Wolfpack, while sister station WRAL-FM will broadcast the games.[6]

On November 30, 2008, WCMC became an ESPN Radio affiliate. This follows the decision by McClatchey Broadcasting to discontinue ESPN programming on its two sports talk stations, WDNC and WRBZ, because of ESPN's insistence on the stations airing more ESPN programming than the company wanted to.[7] This dispute ended when Capitol bought WDNC.

On April 1, 2009, WCMC became the new flagship station of the Durham Bulls. They are expected to carry the full allotment of 144 during the season, along with playoff games, although some games may be moved over to their HD channel on dates that might conflict with a Carolina Hurricanes broadcast.[8]

On May 13, 2010, it was announced that WCMC would become the Triangle affiliate for Carolina Panthers games.[9]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=91
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://web.archive.org/web/20091022160112/http://geocities.com/rdurw/wfxq.html, Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  3. ↑ Danny Hooley, "Station Goes Country," The News & Observer, October 14, 2005.
  4. ↑ Danny Hooley, "Tune In for Carol Results," The News & Observer, October 16, 2007.
  5. ↑ Luke DeCock, "Canes Move to WCMC," The News & Observer, Friday, June 29, 2007.
  6. ↑ Chip Alexander, "Pack, WPTF Part Ways, The News & Observer, April 26, 2007.
  7. ↑ Roger Van Der Horst, "The Fan Picks Up ESPN," The News & Observer, October 29, 2008.
  8. ↑ Bulls Reach New Partnership with 99.9 the Fan - Press release from CBC; April 1, 2009.
  9. ↑ "99.9 The Fan to carry Panthers games". wralsportsfan.com. 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2010-05-18.

External links