WCPS (760 AM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

broadcasting an

Urban Gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...

Urban Oldies Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

format. Licensed to

Tarboro, North Carolina Tarboro is a town located in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 10,721. It is the county seat of Edgecombe County. The ...

, United States, it serves the Tarboro and Rocky Mount area. The station is currently licensed to Trey and Associates, LLC. WCPS broadcasts only during the daytime, to avoid conflicting with WJR from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, an AM clear channel station that broadcasts on the same frequency.

History

In 1946, Tarboro Broadcasting Company applied for station WTNC in Tarboro on 760 kHz. However, the FCC pulled back the application due to transmitter issues and WCPS was finally licensed on October 30, 1947 to Coastal Plains Broadcasting Company, Inc. In 1951, WCPS signed an affiliation agreement with the

World Broadcasting System World Broadcasting System, Inc., was an American recording service for the radio industry founded in 1929 by Percy L. Deutsch (1885–1968), with key investors and creative artists (Walter) Gustave Haenschen and Milton Diamond (both of whom had wor ...

, which distributed music to radio stations on phonograph records. In 1968, WJR in Detroit complained that WCPS was interfering with its clear channel signal. Making this politically sensitive was that a sitting Congressman L.H. Fountain was a co-owner of the station. At the time, concerns were being raised if the FCC could properly regulate the media properties of then-President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. In July 1971 the FCC was informed of a change of control of the Corporation removing R. M. "Runt" Fountain, Sr. In 1974, ownership of 50% of the corporation transferred to Robert L. Harper, the station's general manager. On July 4, 1975, the station (along with the FM station) burned to the ground. In 1985, then President and CEO Robert Harper received the Earl Gluck distinguished service award from the North Carolina association of broadcasters. In addition to his work at the radio station, he served as president of the local chamber of commerce, president of the local Little league, president of the United fund, president of the local People's Bank branch, and president of the local country club. FCC records in 1987-1988 were on paper. They show a transfer to Great American East, Inc in 1987 and another transfer to Coastal Plains Media, Inc. in 1988. The transfer in 1987 coincided with the retirement of Mr Harper. In 1988, transfer was made to a similarly named Coastal Plains Media, Inc. By 1999, when ownership reporting was computerized at the FCC, Coastal Plains Media was owned by Donald and Barbara Curtis. Mr. Curtis continues to very active in radio ownership is Eastern North Carolina through

Curtis Media Group Curtis Media Group is a broadcast media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. The company owns and operates several North Carolina radio stations and television networks. Broadcast Stations Curtis Media Group owns and operates the fol ...

. From April 2000 until 2019, the station was owned by Jimmy "JJ" Johnson as Johnson Broadcast Ventures, LTD. On July 1, 2019, the FCC consented to the sale of the station for $250,000 to Reverend Thomas L. Walker, operating as Trey and Associates, LLC. $150,000 of the purchase price was covered by a promissory note.

Translator

In addition to the main station, WCPS is relayed by a

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

to permit programming to continue after sunset.

References

External links

{{Daytime-only radio stations in North Carolina Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in North Carolina Gospel radio stations in the United States Urban oldies radio stations in the United States CPS CPS