 | |
| Broadcast area | Upstate South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 660kHz |
| Branding | 92.5 WESC |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic country |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WESC-FM,WGVL,WMYI,WROO,WSSL-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | March 1947; 78 years ago (1947-03) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | Easley, Seneca, Clemson (original areas served) or Eastern South Carolina |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 4678 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 5,000wattsdays only |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°53′10″N82°28′3″W / 34.88611°N 82.46750°W /34.88611; -82.46750 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wescfm.iheart.com |
WESC (660kHz) is acommercialAMradio station licensed toGreenville, South Carolina. Itsimulcasts aclassic countryformat withsister stationWESC-FM 92.5. Owned byiHeartMedia, it servesUpstate South Carolina with studios on North Main Street in Greenville.
By day, WESC is powered at 5,000watts, using anon-directional antenna. Because660 AM is aclear channel frequency reserved forClass AWFAN inNew York City, WESC must go off the air at night to avoid interference. Thetransmitter is on Saluda Lake Road, near White Horse Road (U.S. Route 25) inBerea.[2]
WESCsigned on the air in March 1947; 78 years ago (1947-03).[3] It was owned by the Greenville Broadcasting Company with studios on College Street. It was anetwork affiliate of theMutual Broadcasting System.
For many years, it playedcountry music, branded as "660 in Dixie". In 1948, sister station WESC-FM went on the air. Both stations simulcast from 1948 until the late 1960s, when WESC-FM switched tobeautiful music, while WESC continued as a country outlet. WESC-FM later returned to country music. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WESC-AM-FM were frequently the highest rated stations in the Greenvilleradio market.
In the 1990s, WESC continued to simulcast WESC-FM most of the time. But in 1994, WESC picked up thenationally syndicatedsports radio show,The Fabulous Sports Babe.[4] It was hosted by Nancy Donnellan, a rare female sports show host in that era.
WESC carried its country music format until March 1, 2000. At that point, it was purchased byClear Channel Communications. Clear Channel leased it to theRadio Training Network, which owns non-commercial station 89.3WLFJ-FM. RTN operated 660 AM under alocal marketing agreement (LMA). The station adopted thecall sign WLFJ to match its parent station. RTN programmed a listener-supportedChristian talk and teaching format, most recently branded asHis Radio Talk.
In August 2019, the LMA ended, and the station returned to the WESC call letters and country music simulcast. The previous programming continues to air on WLFJ-FM's fourthHD Radio channel and FMtranslator 92.9 W225AZ.[5]
Even though it could not broadcast at night, for decades, WESC had been powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum for AM stations. It was able to use that high power thanks to adirectional antenna with a multi-tower array.
As of March 28, 2020, WESC’s towers were taken down, due to development of a subdivision taking place on the tower site.[citation needed] WESC wassilent until January 22, 2021, and now broadcasts at 5,000 watts using a single tower.[6] It continues to go off the air at night to avoid interference with 660 WFAN New York.