| Simulcast ofWBT,Charlotte, North Carolina | |
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| Broadcast area | Charlotte metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 99.3MHz |
| Branding | News Talk 1110/99-3 WBT |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | News/talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | July 28, 1969; 56 years ago (1969-07-28) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Call letters inherited from sister station WBT |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 10764 |
| Class | C3 |
| ERP | 7,700 watts |
| HAAT | 182.2 meters (598 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°47′30.5″N81°16′5.3″W / 34.791806°N 81.268139°W /34.791806; -81.268139 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WBT-FM (99.3MHz) is a commercial radio stationlicensed toChester, South Carolina, that primarily serves the western region of theCharlotte metropolitan area. The station is owned byUrban One. The station's programming primarily consists ofsimulcasts of thenews/talkradio format ofWBT in Charlotte.
WBT-FM was first licensed, as WCMJ, on December 1, 1969. It broadcasts on 99.3MHz with aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 7,700 watts, using a tower nearly 600 feet (180 meters) inheight above average terrain (HAAT). The transmitter is located 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Charlotte, off Armenia Road in Chester.[2] The station is also authorized to broadcast using the digitalHD Radio format.[3]
Studios are located at One Julian Price Place on West Morehead Street, just west ofUptown Charlotte, co-located with the city'sCBSaffiliateWBTV, which previously had common ownership.
The station first went on the air in on July 28, 1969, as WCMJ, owned by the York-Clover Broadcasting Company.[4] From 1978 to 1993, the station used the call letters WDZK and was known on the air as "K99" playing a format that, today would be consideredadult top 40.
Despite itsclear-channel status that allows it to reach most of the eastern half of North America at night, WBT (AM)'s nighttime signal is spotty at best in some parts of theCharlotte metropolitan area (particularly the western portion) because it operates with a directional antenna at night to avoid interfering withKFAB inOmaha, Nebraska, which also operates on 1110 kHz. To improve its local nighttime coverage, in 1947 WBT began operating a synchronous booster transmitter, located inShelby,[5] however use of this booster ended in the early 1960s.
In 1995, WBT's then-owner Jefferson-Pilot bought WBZK to provide a better signal to the western part of the market at night. At this time the call letters were changed to WBT-FM.[6][a] In 2012, WLNK added a simulcast of WBT on itsHD subcarrier.
On July 19, 2016, Greater Media announced that it would merge withBeasley Media Group. Because Beasley already had the maximum number of stations in the Charlotte market with five FM's and two AM's, WBT-AM-FM and WLNK were spun off to adivestiture trust, eventually going to a permanent buyer.[8] On October 18, 2016,Entercom announced that it would purchase WBT AM/FM and WLNK, plusWFNZ.[9] Upon the completion of the Greater/Beasley merger on November 1, Entercom began operating the stations via a time brokerage agreement, which lasted until the sale was consummated on January 6, 2017.
On November 5, 2020,Urban One agreed to a station swap with Entercom in which they would swap ownership of four stations in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington D.C. to Entercom in exchange for their cluster ofCharlotte stations, including WBT and WBT-FM. As part of the terms of the deal, Urban One took over operations via alocal marketing agreement on November 23.[10] The swap was consummated on April 20, 2021.