WTPT (93.3 FM) is an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

station licensed to

Forest City, North Carolina Forest City, formerly known as "Burnt Chimney," is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,377 as of the 2020 census, making it the largest municipality in Rutherford County. History The Alexander Manufa ...

, and serving the Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina regions, including Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, and

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. The Audacy, Inc. outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an ERP of 93 kW. The station goes by the name 93.3 The Planet Rocks. The station broadcasts from near Columbus, North Carolina, with studios in Greenville, South Carolina. However, it is licensed to

History

93.3, then known as WBBO-FM and WBBO-AM 780 ("We Build Business Opportunities"), signed on September 10, 1947 in

. The station was owned by the Anderson family, which also owned the "Forest City Courier" newspaper and WPNF-AM in nearby

Brevard, North Carolina Brevard is a city in Transylvania County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 7,609 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Transylvania County. Brevard is located at the entrance to Pisgah National Forest and has become ...

. Both stations simulcasted with each other on a full-time basis until the late 60s. WBBO-FM featured a variety of formats throughout the next decade, including country and adult contemporary. On January 1, 1988, after building a tower on Tryon Peak near Columbus, North Carolina to improve its signal range, WBBO-FM switched to a satellite smooth jazz format, distributed from

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

, and began calling itself "The Breeze". artists included James Taylor,

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Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, Ramsey Lewis, as well as

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

performers, and artists playing the music of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

. Listeners tended to be very educated and also enjoyed

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

. WBBO-FM planned to move to Greenville, South Carolina in 1989. One listener described the music as "lasting quality ... not something that will be a big hit for six months and then fade away." On February 14, 1991 ( Valentines Day), WBBO-FM flipped to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

as "Power 93". This move brought back the format to the nearby Greenville-Spartanburg market that the former WANS (now

WJMZ WJMZ-FM (107.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Anderson, South Carolina and serving the Upstate South Carolina region, including Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina ...

) had before they abandoned it for adult contemporary. Initially, ratings were very good, but quickly fizzled out to 9th place, where it stayed throughout much of its existence. In August of next year, the Power 93 moniker was dropped for "93.3 WBBO" as the station became more Dance-oriented. Again, ratings had shown little improvement and was re-adjusted toward Mainstream CHR within a year. In mid-1994, the station was re-branded as "Q-93" and adopted a more uptempo-ed CHR format sprinkled with plenty of alternative rock. Ratings started to slowly tick upward, but the station was sold to Benchmark Communications (then-owners of

WESC WeSC (short for "We are the Superlative Conspiracy") is a Swedish clothing brand that is primarily influenced by skateboarding and snowboarding. The company's head office is in Stockholm and employs between 51 and 200 staff members. The company ...

AM-FM) and the format was dropped altogether on January 1, 1995 for a younger-skewing country format as "93-Q Country" under the WFNQ-FM call letters. The station began the format with 19,095 songs in a row commercial-free, the most ever on a commercial radio station up to that time. The idea was to use WFNQ-FM as a flanker against then-rival country outlet

WSSL-FM WSSL-FM (100.5 FM, "Whistle 100.5") is a radio station licensed to Gray Court, South Carolina. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a country music format serving Upstate South Carolina. Its studios are in downtown Greenville and its transmitter ...

so that WESC-FM could be the #1 station in the market. This strategy failed miserablely as WFNQ-FM went to the bottom of the ratings within several months. Programming also included the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

music program ''Face to Face'' from Right Turn Radio. On September 13, 1996, WFNQ-FM dropped Young Country for

as "93.3 The Planet". The call letters of WTPT-FM were adopted by the end of the year. After being acquired by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

in the late 1990s, Barnstable Broadcasting purchased the station in 1999, along with WROQ. The company sold WTPT as well as WROQ and (then) WGVC-FM to Entercom Communications in 2005. On February 23, 2022, WTPT added The Bet to its HD3 subchannel.

Translator

WTPT-HD2 programming is simulcast on the following translator:

Previous logo

(WTPT's logo under previous "New Rock 93.3" branding)

References

External links

* * * {{Entercom Active rock radio stations in the United States TPT Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in North Carolina Audacy, Inc. radio stations