WFNZ-FM (92.7
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
) is a
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
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 ...
in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
owned and operated by Radio One. The station's studios are located at 1 Julian Price Place just off Morehead Street in Charlotte. The transmitter site is in Charlotte's Newell South neighborhood.
WFNZ-FM is the Charlotte affiliate of
CBS Sports Radio
CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013.
CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...
, carrying network programming on nights and weekends. It airs local sports hosts weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. WFNZ serves as the
flagship station for the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
'S
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...
and
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
's
Charlotte FC
Charlotte FC is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the expansion franchise ...
.
Whenever there is a conflict, Charlotte FC matches air on sister stations
WBT AM-
FM.
History
The station signed on as WCCJ in late January 1995 with a commercial-free
free-form rock format.
Due to low advertising rates, in June 1995, the station changed to
smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.
History
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...
,
and would flip again to
rhythmic oldies
Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic a ...
as "92.7 the Jam" on August 22, 1999.
As a result of the decline of rhythmic oldies nationally, on April 2, 2001, WCCJ flipped to
mainstream urban
Mainstream may refer to:
Film
* ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film
Literature
* ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine
* Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher
* ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso
Mu ...
as ''Hot 92.7'', with new call letters WCHH, taking on
urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
/
hip hop station
WPEG
WPEG (97.9 FM, ''"Power 98"'') is a mainstream urban radio station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina market. It is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on South Boulevard in the city's South End, and a transmitt ...
.
It did well in the ratings at first, knocking heritage station WPEG down to 6th place in the market,
but later declined, so it was flipped to
urban AC
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 ...
on January 21, 2004, as "Q92.7", along with a call letter change to WQNC. WQNC took over
Tom Joyner
Thomas Joyner (born November 23, 1949) is an American retired radio host, former host of the nationally syndicated '' The Tom Joyner Morning Show'', and also founder of Reach Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Early ...
's show from longer standing urban AC rival
WBAV-FM
WBAV-FM (101.9 MHz, ''"V 101.9"'') is an urban adult contemporary radio station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina market. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, WBAV's studios are located on South Boulevard in Charlotte's South End, and a trans ...
soon after that.
WBAV subsequently answered back by signing on as an affiliate for a new syndicated show hosted by Joyner's rival,
Steve Harvey
Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American television host, producer, actor, and comedian. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', '' Celebrity Family Feud,'' the Miss U ...
.
On May 15, 2008, WQNC added two talk shows: the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
based "Keeping It Real with Rev.
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic ...
," and the "
Warren Ballentine
Warren Ballentine (born May 13, 1973) is an American motivational speaker, attorney, political activist, and radio talk show host.
Biography
Early years
Ballentine was born and raised on Chicago's South Side, where he attended and graduated ...
Show."
In October 2009, WQNC rebranded as "My 92.7", changed to a more contemporary format, dropping the talk show hosts other than Joyner, and adding energetic music from such artists as
Usher,
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman.
LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
and
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...
. The slogan was "R&B from the 80s, 90s, and Now", although some 70s
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
/
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
/
R&B songs remained on the playlist.
On August 31, 2011, Radio One announced its intention to sell off their Charlotte stations to Davis Broadcasting, but in April 2012, the deal fell through, and Radio One decided to keep the stations.
On August 27, 2012, WQNC began directing listeners on air and online to sister station
WNOW-FM. Imaging teased that something 'inspirational' was coming. Two weeks later, on September 13, WQNC began simulcasting sister WPZS and switched call letters with that station.
The two stations provided a strong combined signal with 60 percent overlap.
WPZS increased power to 10.5 kW and height to 154 meters. Construction was completed in October 2013.
On August 14, 2015, 92.7 began stunting with all-
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* ...
as "Drake 92.7", promoting a new format to come the following Monday, August 17, at 5 p.m. Along with this, 92.7 reverted to its previous call sign of WQNC, with 100.9 retaining the gospel format and the WPZS call letters. At the promised time, WQNC flipped back to urban as "92.7 The Block", taking direct aim at WPEG (as well as
WGIV
WGIV (1370 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Pineville, North Carolina, and serving the Charlotte metropolitan area. It airs an urban contemporary radio format. WGIV is owned by Frank Neely, but the station is operated by Ste ...
/W277CB).
"The Block" was moved to the
HD2 channel of
WOSF
WOSF (105.3 FM) is an urban adult contemporary station licensed to Gaffney, South Carolina; serving the Charlotte, North Carolina market. WOSF is the Charlotte affiliate of the Rickey Smiley Morning Show. Owned by Urban One, the station's stud ...
, as well as
translator station
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
W273DA (102.5 FM), on February 28, 2022; following a transition period, 92.7 became an FM simulcast of
WFNZ on March 1, a role previously served by the 102.5 facility.
Ahead of the swap, on February 16, WQNC changed its call letters to WFNZ-FM.
[ The simulcast served mainly to fill in the gaps in the AM station's nighttime signal. WFNZ must reduce power from 5,000 watts to 1,000 watts at sunset, making it hard to hear even in some parts of Charlotte and rendering it all but unlistenable in much of the South Carolina portion of the market. On September 19, 2022, WFNZ split from simulcasting with WFNZ-FM and joined WOSF-HD2 and W273BA in carrying "The Block".]
References
External links
*
{{coord, 35.125, N, 80.725, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
Urban One stations
FNZ-FM
Radio stations established in 1995
1995 establishments in North Carolina
Sports radio stations in the United States
CBS Sports Radio stations