WPZS (100.9 FM) is 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 ...

music station located 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 ...

but licensed to Indian Trail. The station is currently owned & operated by Urban One. It carries the syndicated Yolanda Adams Morning Show. The station's studios are located in Southwest Charlotte near Carowinds, and the transmitter site is in

Matthews Matthews may refer to: People * Matthews (surname) Places * Matthews Island, Antarctica * Matthews Range, Kenya * Mount Matthews, New Zealand United States * Matthews, Georgia * Matthews, Indiana * Matthews, Maryland * Matthews, Missouri * Mat ...

near the intersection of NC 51 and Monroe Road.

History

The station was located in

Albemarle, North Carolina Albemarle () is a small city and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,903 in the 2010 Census. Gerald R. "Ronnie" Michael (a former police chief in the city) serves as Mayor and Albemarle has a se ...

for many years, where it was called WABZ-FM. Ted Bell hosted "Saturday Night Music Machine" while at WABZ-FM, interviewing

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

Freddie Cannon Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", " Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", and " ...

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...

Phil Everly The Everly Brothers were an American rock music, rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (Januar ...

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

, Tiny Tim, and

Gene McDaniels Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with " A Hun ...

. The show, which Bell hosted until 1982, featured stars such as

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell, was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His ...

and

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...

. Bell also asked

Johnny Olson John Leonard Olson (May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985) was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman P ...

of ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

'' to do station IDs. Bill and Susi Norman, owners of

WZKY WZKY (1580 AM, "Magic 103.3 FM") is a radio station licensed to serve Albemarle, North Carolina, United States. The station is owned by Stanly Communications and broadcasts an oldies music format that at one time included programming from the Cl ...

and

WXLX WXLX (103.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Lajas, Puerto Rico Lajas (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Lajas Valley in southwestern Puerto Rico, on the southern coast of the island, bordering the Caribbean Sea, ...

, bought WABZ December 28, 1993 (Jenni Communications Inc. was named for their 10-year-old daughter) from Piedmont Crescent Communications.Jo Anne B. Efird, "All in the Radio Family", '' Stanly News and Press'', January 23, 1994. "Inspiration 100.9" played "

Southern Gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

Music of today, yesterday and all the favorites", along with the

Trading Post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, local sports and

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

programs. Johnny Caudle hosted the morning show from 1995 until 2000. In 2004, WABZ moved to its current city of license and changed its letters and format, giving grade A signal quality to the

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

area. Radio One, Inc. announced on November 16 that it had purchased WPZS for $11.5 million and moved it to the company's Charlotte facilities. The company already operated WPZS under an LMA earlier in the month, changing the format to

Urban contemporary 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 ...

. 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 September 13, 2012, at Midnight, WPZS began simulcasting sister WQNC. WQNC and WPZS also swapped call letters on the same day. The two stations provide a strong combined signal with 60 percent overlap. The simulcast ended on August 14, 2015, with 100.9 reverting to the callsign WPZS.

References

External links

Station website
* {{coord, 35.272, N, 80.765, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Urban One stations PZS Radio stations established in 1958 Gospel radio stations in the United States 1958 establishments in North Carolina PZS