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WUNC (91.5
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 listener-supported
public radio
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
station, serving the
Research Triangle
The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to ...
area of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. It is
licensed
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia
*Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
*Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area
Canada
* Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...
and is operated by the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
. On weekdays, WUNC carries
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 n ...
,
American Public Media
American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...
,
Public Radio Exchange
The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...
, and
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
programming in an "all-news-and-information" format, including shows such as ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'', ''
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 AM ...
'' and ''
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 6 ...
''. On weekends, in addition to NPR weekend shows, WUNC broadcasts locally produced
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
programming. The longest-running continuously produced program offered by the station is ''Back Porch Music'', a weekly folk and
traditional music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
program. WUNC holds periodic on-air
fundraiser
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
s seeking listener contributions.
The station operates five full-service FM repeater stations,
WFSS
WFSS (91.9 FM) is a public radio station in Fayetteville, North Carolina broadcasting National Public Radio programming originating from WUNC. It was owned by Fayetteville State University until May 2015, when it was purchased by the Univer ...
from
Fayetteville on 91.9;
WRQM
WRQM (90.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting National Public Radio (NPR) programming. Licensed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina and owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it serves the Rocky Mount area as a full-time satellite ...
from
Rocky Mount on 90.9; WBUX from
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level. on 90.5; WUND-FM from
Columbia on 88.9; and WUNW-FM from
Welcome
A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person.
In some context ...
on 91.1. WUNC should not be confused with
WXYC
WXYC (89.3 FM) is an American radio station broadcasting a college radio format. Licensed to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, the station is run by students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The station is owned by ...
, which is UNC's student radio station.
As of June 2022, WUNC has the fourth highest
ratings of any station in the Raleigh–Durham radio market.
History
WUNC was originally on the air for a brief time as an AM station in the 1940s, then returned to the air in 1952 as a student-run FM station with equipment from
Jefferson Standard Broadcasting, which had operated
WBT-FM
WBT-FM (99.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Chester, South Carolina that primarily serves the western region of the Charlotte metropolitan area. The station is owned by Urban One. The station's programming primarily consists of si ...
for several years. The original station stayed on the air until a
lightning strike
A lightning strike or lightning bolt is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. A less common type of strike, ground- ...
in 1970.
WUNC
signed on
Signing may refer to:
* Using sign language
* Signature
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
in its current incarnation on . It immediately became the state's second NPR member. One of its earliest shows was ''Gary Shivers on Jazz'', a jazz program produced by the station and syndicated regionally. (Shivers was the station's first program director and second General Manager.) WUNC had studios in Swain Hall on the UNC campus; it moved to a state-of-the-art studio near the
Friday Center
The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education is a unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The center was created to serve the needs of nontraditional students through continuing education programs and services.
...
in 1999. Prior to its switch to a news and information format, the station was a multi-format station of
NPR
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 ...
news,
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
jazz music
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 major f ...
.
WRQM
WRQM (90.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting National Public Radio (NPR) programming. Licensed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina and owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it serves the Rocky Mount area as a full-time satellite ...
began in 1992 as a separate NPR station under the call letters WESQ, licensed to
North Carolina Wesleyan College
North Carolina Wesleyan University (NCWU) is a Private college, private United Methodist Church, Methodist university in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was founded in 1956. North Carolina Wesleyan also offers evening courses at its main Rocky Mo ...
in
Rocky Mount. NCWC set up the station to fill the void left by the closure of
WVSP
WVSP-FM (94.1 MHz, "ESPN Radio 94.1") is a sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Yorktown, Virginia, United States, serving The Peninsula, Middle Peninsula and Southside of Hampton Roads. WVSP-FM is owned and operated by Max ...
, an
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
public radio station licensed to
Warrenton but which moved to Rocky Mount in 1985, shortly before it closed. WESQ offered a variety of music that included
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and
R&B. When Wesleyan opted to cut ties with the station in 1995, a group of Rocky Mount business leaders known as Friends of Down East Public Radio bought the station and relaunched it as WRQM on March 31, 1996. The station floundered for most of its existence, as there were just barely enough listeners in that area of the market for the station to be viable on its own. This caused a chronic shortage of financial support. In March 1999, it began airing most of WUNC's schedule; it became a full repeater of WUNC that October.
WUND-FM in
Columbia signed on March 24, 1999, bringing NPR programming to one of the few areas of North Carolina without a clear signal from a full-fledged NPR station.
WUNW-FM in
Welcome
A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person.
In some context ...
signed on as a full-service FM station on 91.1 FM in December 2013, providing increased coverage of WUNC to suburban communities in
Davidson County, located south of Greensboro and
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
.
On May 13, 2015, officials announced the acquisition of
WFSS
WFSS (91.9 FM) is a public radio station in Fayetteville, North Carolina broadcasting National Public Radio programming originating from WUNC. It was owned by Fayetteville State University until May 2015, when it was purchased by the Univer ...
, a public radio station licensed to Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville. Simulcasting of WUNC began at 10:00 AM on May 13, 2015. The sale closed in November.
On August 4, 2016, WUNC launched ''WUNC Music'', an
adult album alternative
Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...
format, on their HD2 channel and on their website.
Programming
Aside from ''Back Porch Music'', WUNC also produces
The People's Pharmacy' with Joe and Terry Graedon, a nationally syndicated program first broadcast on WUNC in the early 1980s. From 1999 to 2020, it also aired ''
The State of Things'', a regionally syndicated local affairs show. The network began offering
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
s for ''The State of Things'' and other locally produced news stories in September 2005.
WUNC's main
radio studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
s are located in Chapel Hill near the
Friday Center
The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education is a unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The center was created to serve the needs of nontraditional students through continuing education programs and services.
...
. In 2005, a second broadcast facility was opened in Durham's
American Tobacco Historic District
The American Tobacco Historic District is a historic tobacco factory complex and national historic district located in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 14 contributing buildings and three contributing structures bui ...
. On October 17, 2005, ''The State of Things'' began production at the new Durham location and broadcasts live about once a month remotely from
Triad Stage in Greensboro. Other programs continue production in the Chapel Hill studios.
Dick Gordon, former host of
WBUR
WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed program ...
's ''
The Connection'', began hosting a new interview show called ''
The Story with Dick Gordon
''The Story with Dick Gordon'' was a weekday interview program hosted by Dick Gordon, former host of WBUR's '' The Connection'' and, before that, fill-in host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's national radio program '' This Morning''. ...
'' on February 16, 2006, that was co-produced with and nationally syndicated by American Public Media. The show's final program aired on WUNC on October 11, 2013. ''
Talk of the Nation
''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'')
is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio (NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial issu ...
'' had been dropped by WUNC-FM earlier in the year. Today, in addition to the aforementioned current programs plus NPR staples such as ''
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 AM ...
,'' ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
,'' ''
Fresh Air with Terry Gross
''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 6 ...
'' and ''
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!,'' WUNC-FM also airs ''
1A'', ''
The Takeaway
''The Takeaway'' is a morning radio news program co-created and co-produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. Its editorial partner is WGBH-FM; at launch the BBC World Service and ''The New York Times'' were also editorial partners. In ad ...
,'' ''It's Been A Minute'' and ''
Here and Now''. Many of these shows are distributed nationally by
American Public Media
American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...
,
Public Radio Exchange
The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...
, or
WNYC
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...
.
WUNC is the home station of the American Homefront Project, which reports on military life and veterans issues.
HD programming
WUNC broadcasts in the
HD radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
format. Since the Summer of 2016, WUNC has aired WUNC Music on its HD2
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
. WUNC Music specializes in
adult album alternative
Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...
(AAA),
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
,
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana (music), a genre or style of American music
*Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
, and music by North Carolina artists.
Transmitters
In 2005, to reflect its growth into a network, WUNC rebranded as "North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC". The call letters of the other stations are identified only during required
station identification
Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...
s at the start of each hour. However, in recent years, it has largely reverted to using "WUNC" as its main on-air name, with "North Carolina Public Radio" as a secondary brand.
WUNC's 100,000-
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
signal broadcasts from the
PBS North Carolina
The University of North Carolina Center for Public Media, branded on-air as PBS North Carolina or commonly PBS NC, is a public television network serving the state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina system, whic ...
tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
on
Terrells Mountain
Terrells Mountain or Terrell's Mountain is a hill in Chatham County, North Carolina, about 5–10 miles southwest of Chapel Hill.
Terrells Mountain contains several radio transmission antennas, the tallest of which stands at the summit and rises ...
in
Chatham County, five miles west of Chapel Hill. In addition to its home market of the Research Triangle (
Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
,
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
and Chapel Hill), it also provides a strong city-grade signal to the eastern
Piedmont Triad
The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and H ...
, including
Greensboro
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...
and
High Point. Terrells Mountain is roughly halfway between the Triangle and the Triad, and WUNC has long claimed Greensboro as part of its primary coverage area. WUNC provides much of the eastern Triad region a second choice for NPR programming alongside that market's primary NPR station,
WFDD
WFDD (88.5 MHz) is an FM public radio station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is the National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate for the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/ High Point media market, also called the Piedmont Triad. Owned by Wa ...
in
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
.
WRQM serves the far eastern portion of the Triangle market, as well as
Greenville. WUND serves northeastern North Carolina and the
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...
, with WBUX covering southern
Dare County. WUNW covers portions of
Davidson County that aren't served by WUNC's main signal. WFSS is heard in the
Fayetteville area. Combined, the six stations reach just over half of North Carolina's population, providing at least secondary coverage from the fringes of 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 ...
suburbs to the Outer Banks.
Translators
While W216BE's primary station is WBUX, it is used to rebroadcast
WCPE
WCPE (89.7 FM) in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a listener supported non-commercial, non-profit radio station, and the program contributor for The Classical Station, a classical music network. The station went on the air July 17, 1978, and switc ...
. Prior to 2016, WUNC leased WBUX to WCPE to carry its classical music programming; at that time, WUNC moved to the higher-power signal and WCPE's feed to the translator.
References
External links
*
{{Coord, 35, 53, 59, N, 79, 0, 45, W, type:landmark, display=title
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill media
UNC (FM)
NPR member networks