WNSC-FM is a

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

station in

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, ...

. A member of

South Carolina Public Radio South Carolina Public Radio (SCPR) is the National Public Radio member network serving the state of South Carolina. It is operated by the South Carolina Educational Television Commission, an agency of the South Carolina state government. It is ...

(formerly ETV Radio), it carries programming from South Carolina Public Radio's all-news network.

History

News and classical music

WNSC-FM signed on January 3, 1978, as WPRV, initially broadcasting instructional programs during the day before beginning full-time broadcasting in July. The same day it went on the air,

WNSC-TV WNSC-TV (channel 30) PBS member television station in Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States. It is owned by the South Carolina Educational Television Commission alongside news/talk radio station WNSC-FM (88.9). WNSC-TV's studios are located o ...

channel 30 began broadcasting. WPRV was the first NPR station in the Charlotte area; the market's flagship NPR station,

WFAE WFAE (90.7 MHz) is a non-commercial public radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the main NPR news and information member in the Charlotte region. The station's main studios and offices are at One University Place in the University ...

, didn't sign on in its current form until 1981. The call letters were changed to WNSC-FM on October 27, 1980. From its sign-on until 2001, it aired a format of NPR news and classical music along with the rest of what was then the South Carolina Educational Radio Network (SCERN).

Jazz and talk

In 2001, it broke off from the rest of the SCERN stations to air

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

music under the moniker of "Carolinas Jazz 88.9" in order to avoid programming conflicts with

. Before the switch, WNSC-FM aired many of the same news and talk programs as WFAE, such as ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

'', ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...

'' and ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

.'' Barbara Nail moved from WFAE to host a jazz show on Friday nights. . However, on July 1, 2008, it joined ETV Radio's NPR news network. SCETV president Moss Bresnahan told ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

'' that SCETV didn't want to deny people on the South Carolina side of the Charlotte market access to SCETV's growing slate of local programming. The move left the Charlotte market without a jazz station of its own.Washburn, Mark
Sorry, Jazz fans, change may have you singing blues
, ''

'', 2008-07-01.

Penetration

WNSC is one of only two stations on the South Carolina side of the market (the other being

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 ...

, which is licensed to Gaffney) that penetrates Charlotte to any significant extent. Its 97,900-watt signal easily covers Charlotte itself, as well as Gaston and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

counties. However, it only provides fringe coverage to the northern part of the market (

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, Lincolnton, Mooresville, etc.). Until the spring of 2011, it identified as "Rock Hill/Charlotte," making it the only ETV station to include a second city in its legal ID. This is despite the fact that sister station WLJK in Aiken also serves

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...

Studios and tower

Its studios are at

York Technical College York Technical College (York Tech) is a public community college in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It is part of the South Carolina Technical College System and one of three colleges in the city of Rock Hill. York Tech was established in 1964 and pre ...

, with its transmitting tower five miles south of Rock Hill (at 34° 50' 23.00" North Latitude, 81° 01' 6.00" West Longitude).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wnsc NSC-FM NPR member stations Radio stations established in 1978 1978 establishments in South Carolina