WGNC (1450 kHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 radi ...

broadcasting a Talk and

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. 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 ...

Gastonia, North Carolina Gastonia is the largest city in and county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest satellite city of the Charlotte area, behind Concord. The population was 80,411 at the 2020 census, up from 71,741 in 20 ...

, and is owned by Scott Neisler. WGNC is powered at 1,000

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 ...

s, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna (electronics), antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (mathematics), axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle ...

. Programming is also heard on 220 watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W266DC in Gastonia, at 101.1 MHz.

Programming

Weekdays begin with a morning local news and information show, followed by syndicated talk shows from Glenn Beck and

Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey has ...

. World and national news are provided by

CBS Radio News CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

. Nights and weekends feature sports programming from Fox Sports Radio. The station is an affiliate of the

Atlanta Braves Radio Network The Atlanta Braves Radio Network is a 138-station network (97 A.M., 41 F.M. stations + 1 F.M. translator) heard across ten states and one territory of the Southeastern United States that airs Major League Baseball games of the Atlanta Braves. The ...

. It is the largest radio affiliate network in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. WGNC also is an affiliate of the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

Radio Network. Local

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

and college football games are also broadcast, along with games featuring the

Gastonia Honey Hunters The Gastonia Honey Hunters are a professional baseball team based in Gastonia, North Carolina. They play in the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball, at CaroMont Health Park ...

History

Doug McSwain's father Pat McSwain started the AM station, WGNC, in 1939 and the FM station, WGNC-FM, in 1947 (now

WBAV-FM WBAV-FM (101.9 MHz, ''"V 101.9"'') is an urban adult contemporary radio station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina market. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, WBAV's studios are located on South Boulevard in Charlotte's South End, and a trans ...

). The younger McSwain was vice president and general manager of WGNC when the family sold both stations to

Beasley Broadcast Group Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc., based in Naples, Florida, is an owner/operator of radio stations in the United States. , the company owned 63 stations under the Beasley Media Group name. History The company was founded in 1961 by George G. Bea ...

in 1986. Six years after buying WCSL in

Cherryville Cherryville may refer to one of the following places: * Cherryville, British Columbia * Cherryville, Missouri * Cherryville, New Jersey * Cherryville, North Carolina * Cherryville, Oregon * Cherryville, Pennsylvania * Cherryville, South Australi ...

, Calvin Hastings bought WGNC and started KTC Broadcasting. In 1992 he bought

WOHS WOHS (1390 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Shelby, North Carolina. It is owned by KTC Broadcasting and broadcasts an oldies radio format, featuring beach music. By day, WOHS transmits with 700 watts, ut to ...

in Shelby and began calling the three stations Piedmont Superstations. WCSL, WGNC and WOHS began airing

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

baseball in 1993. WGNC had served as the radio home of the Gastonia Rangers minor league team from 1990 to 1992. On April 1, 1993, KTC took over

WLON WLON (1050 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format and serving the Lincolnton, North Carolina area, and owned and operated by Calvin Hastings, through licensee KTC Broadcasting, Inc. WLON AM is also the home of Lincoln County footba ...

in Lincolnton in a lease agreement. WLON's Tim Biggerstaff remained as morning

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

, and his show was heard on all four KTC stations. Local news was expanded. The four stations aired UNC football and basketball,

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

NFL football, and CBS Radio coverage of such events as The

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

and The Super Bowl. The four stations added the NFL

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

when the team began playing in 1995. They also aired games of the NBA Charlotte Hornets In 2000, the stations began airing the Redskins again instead of the Panthers (WGNC aired the Panthers if there was no conflict). Late in 1999, the four stations changed from

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, ...

to "super

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 ...

." Biggerstaff, the program director, said country had moved away from its traditional sound. Lillie White remained as midday host, and Andy Foster was afternoon host. Local and sports remained important, and the stations aired the

One on One Sports SportsMap is a sports radio network that is distributed by Gow Media. The SportsMap Radio Network supplies its network affiliates with a 24-hour schedule of sports programming, including call-in shows and sports updates. Over its history, through ...

radio network at night. In 2004, Biggerstaff was still hosting his show on WCSL and WLON despite

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

-related health problems. Later he moved to Lincolnton-based Hometown Radio's Shelby operation. On WADA he played

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 ...

music, and he hosted a " Swap Shop" show on WGNC and WOHS. By this time he had experienced a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

and two pancreas transplants. On

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

2007, while on the air, Biggerstaff had a

seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with l ...

and asked for help on the air, and a listener called 911. He ended up being interviewed by

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

, ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' and ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the lar ...

''.Joe DePriest, "DJ's Listeners Friends in Need and in Deed", ''The Charlotte Observer'', June 7, 2007. On Saturday, November 22, 2014, Sports on Tap with Kuveikis and The Dude debuted on WGNC. In the summer of 2016 WGNC added an

on 101.1 MHz. On Saturday, August 20, 2016
The Sports Brunch w/ Mojo and Kuveikis
debuted on WGNC. On Friday, February 3, 2017, WGNC became an affiliate fo
NBC Sports Radio

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WGNC
* * {{Charlotte Radio GNC News and talk radio stations in the United States GNC Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in North Carolina