WYRD-FM (106.3
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 sā1, meaning that one he ...
), known on-air as ''106-3 WORD, The Upstate's Talk Station'', is a
news/talk
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
-formatted
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 ...
in the Greenville-Spartanburg area of Upstate South Carolina. The
Audacy, Inc.
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
outlet is licensed by the FCC to
Simpsonville, South Carolina
Simpsonville is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. It is part of the Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville–Mauldin, South Carolina, Mauldin–Easley, South Carolina, Easley Gree ...
, and broadcasts at with an ERP of 25 kW. Until February 24, 2014, it simulcast with
WYRD
Wyrd is a concept in Anglo-Saxon culture roughly corresponding to fate or personal destiny. The word is ancestral to Modern English '' weird'', whose meaning has drifted towards an adjectival use with a more general sense of "supernatural" or ...
(1330 AM) in Greenville and
WORD
A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...
(950 AM) in Spartanburg (who flipped to
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
). Its studios are in Greenville and its transmitter is located east of
Five Forks.
"106-3 WORD" carries local programs ''The Tara Show'' (with Tara Servatius), Vince Coakley, and Charlie James along with syndicated programming including
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 ā February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
and ''
The Mark Levin Show
''The Mark Levin Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Mark Levin. The program is broadcast nationwide on Westwood One and reaches an estimated seven million weekly listeners, according to an estimate from ''Talkers Magazine''. The ...
.''
History
106.3 originally signed on July 10, 1989, as WNMX in
Newberry
Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include:
* Booker Newberry III (born 1956), American singer and keyboardist
* Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver
* Brian Newb ...
with a 6,000 watt signal. The station featured an
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
format under the name "Mix 106". Over time, the station adjusted itself toward
CHR under the name "Hot Mix 106.3", with a light dose of
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
music. It was the intent to move the station into the
Columbia radio market, but the plans to do so never materialized. Ratings for the station during this time were extremely poor. By the end of 1993, WNMX had changed to
urban Contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
and had boosted the signal to its present 25,000 watts, with little change in audience or advertising revenue.
In 1994, WNMX's format was changed again to
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 ...
(with a musical lean toward
classic country
Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades.
Repertoire
The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...
) under the handle "Big Bubba 106.3". For a time, the station actually did very well, but listenership started to drop as the audience started to drift back to the area's other country stations. In early 1995, WNMX was issued a
cease and desist
A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
letter from
WBUB, another country station in
Charleston that was using the "Bubba" moniker and had trademarked the name in South Carolina. WNMX then changed its name to "Dixie 106.3" under the WDXZ callsign, but kept the format.
By 1996, WDXZ was in serious trouble as the ratings had bottomed out as well as problems with advertising support from the community. The station went off the air for a few months, which during that time was reorganized. It returned to the air in early September, but with a bare-bones staff. Eventually, it entered into a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA) with a church group that took the station to a
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 ...
format. Although it had a small, but loyal audience, the station suffered through several major setbacks and after two years, the station shut down.
In late 1999, the station signed back on the air under new ownership as WGVC, adopting a satellite-fed
Jammin' Oldies
Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic ...
format under the name "Groovin' 106.3".
In 2002, WGVC's city of license was changed to Simpsonville which paved the way for the station to be moved into the Greenville-Spartanburg radio market. WGVC was then sold to Barnstable Broadcasting, which at the time also owned rock stations
WROQ
WROQ (101.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a classic rock station licensed to Anderson, South Carolina, and serving the Upstate South Carolina region, including Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, Spartanburg. The s ...
and
WTPT
WTPT (93.3 FM) is an active rock station licensed to Forest City, North Carolina, and serving the Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina regions, including Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Asheville, North Carolina. T ...
in the market. The format was changed to traditional
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
under the name "Oldies 106-3" and slogan "Motown, Soul, and Great Rock 'n Roll".
In 2005, Barnstable sold its Greenville-Spartanburg radio properties to
Entercom Communications
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
. In order to comply with FCC ownership rules, Entercom sold the
WOLI/
WOLT
Wolt is a Finnish technology company known for its delivery platform for food and merchandise. On Wolt's apps (iOS and Android) or website, customers can order food and other items from the platform's restaurant and merchant partners, and either p ...
simulcast to separate owners and moved the
contemporary Christian
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
-country hybrid format that both stations over to WGVC, relaunching it as "106.3 The Walk". Despite the station's decent ratings with the
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
format, the decision was made in advance to drop it and replace it with that of the Walk, which never managed to garner the ratings the oldies format did.
In late November 2006, a computerized "countdown" was broadcast on 106.3. The countdown lasted about a week. Its purpose was to count down until a new station would emerge. During the countdown, some various phrases and quotes from many sources (like movies and music) were played every 30 seconds for the duration. The new format was
Greenstone Media's female-oriented talk, known only as "106.3 WGVC".
On August 6, 2007, it was confirmed that Greenstone Media, the main provider for WGVC's programming, would cease operations on August 17, 2007. Then on August 18, the station started playing a satellite feed of various
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
s of music, including
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
from the 1970s and 1980s ("106.3 The Big Hair"),
boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
music ("Backstreet 106.3"), a mix of
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
and
hip hop music, leaning towards
old school rap
Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...
("Booty 106.3"),
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, ...
("Cryin' Country 106.3"), and even
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...
("Santa 106.3").
On August 20, 2007, at 12:00 noon
ET, a new radio station emerged, called "Charlie FM" with an
adult hits format. The first song played was "
What I Like About You" by
The Romantics
The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit. The band is often put under the banner of new wave and power pop. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Motown R&B, ...
. The station played music commercial-free for the first week. Since the format change to "Charlie", the station localized the sound with a variety of drop-ins that reference landmarks, roads, quirks, folk-lore for the region.
On June 13, 2008, Charlie FM's programming was abruptly dropped, replaced with that of WORD News Radio, which had previously only broadcast on AM, leaving the station to abandon music altogether after nineteen years. No reasoning was ever officially announced, but it is believed that Entercom was worried that the
adult hits format would hurt its sister stations, especially
WSPA-FM
WSPA-FM (98.9 MHz, "Magic 98.9") is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to serve Spartanburg, South Carolina and covering the Upstate region, including Greenville and Spartanburg. The Audacy, Inc. outlet is licensed by the Federal Commu ...
and
WROQ
WROQ (101.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a classic rock station licensed to Anderson, South Carolina, and serving the Upstate South Carolina region, including Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, Spartanburg. The s ...
. The switch also makes up for the poor signals generated by
WYRD-AM and
WORD-AM at night, when the stations have to cut their power and go directional. The adult hits format is now heard on
W258CB
W258CB (99.5 FM) is a radio station translator in Greenville, South Carolina. Owned by Tower Above Media, the station simulcasts a classic hits music format branded as ''Awesome 99.5'' from an HD Radio subchannel of SummitMedia's WJMZ-FM.
His ...
, which is not owned by Entercom.
After the sale by Barnstable, 106.3, never managed to garner the ratings or success it did prior to Entercom Communications' decision to drop its oldies format, until it became simulcasting the talk format. The addition of 106.3 to
WYRD
Wyrd is a concept in Anglo-Saxon culture roughly corresponding to fate or personal destiny. The word is ancestral to Modern English '' weird'', whose meaning has drifted towards an adjectival use with a more general sense of "supernatural" or ...
and
WORD
A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...
helped the franchise to finish in the top 3 12+ in fall 2008.
In November 2019 WYRD-FM began simulcasting on translator W270AM 101.5 FM Anderson.
106.3 WORD Adds Simulcast in Anderson SC
Radioinsight - November 6, 2019
References
External links
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{{Entercom
YRD-FM
Radio stations established in 1989
1989 establishments in South Carolina
Audacy, Inc. radio stations
Simpsonville, South Carolina
News and talk radio stations in the United States