WKBC (800 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 ...

North Wilkesboro North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States, approximately 80 miles north of Charlotte. The population was 4,131 at the 2020 US Census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improveme ...

, North Carolina,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. WKBC is licensed to broadcast with 1,000 watts in the daytime and 308 watts at night. The station is operated by Wilkes Broadcasting Company, Inc.

Programming

WKBC plays American

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. WKBC's morning show, hosted by Steve Handy, features the "WKBC Hometown Opry" the second Friday of each month. The Opry features live performances by local, regional, and even national folk and bluegrass musicians. Wilkes County's location as the site of the annual MerleFest - the largest folk and bluegrass music festival in the nation - has led to the Hometown Opry attracting prominent musicians in folk and bluegrass music. Eric Ellis, a regular on "Hometown Opry", was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in January 2009.

History

WKBC began broadcasting at 5 a.m. June 27, 1947, owned and operated by the Wilkes Broadcasting Company. Besides local programming, it used 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 ...

transcription service.

References

External links

* Wilkes County, North Carolina Country radio stations in the United States KBC KBC Radio stations established in 2009 {{NorthCarolina-radio-station-stub