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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 93.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | B93.9 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Subchannels | HD2:K-Love |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WDCG,WRDU,WTKK,W237BZ | |
| History | |
First air date | February 24,1947 (as WFNS-FM) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "New Country B93.9" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53596 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000watts |
| HAAT | 453 meters (1,486 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°42′50.6″N78°49′3″W / 35.714056°N 78.81750°W /35.714056; -78.81750 |
| Translator(s) |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | b939country |
WNCB (93.9FM), known as "B93.9", is acountry musicradio station that serves theRaleigh-Durham market ofNorth Carolina. It is owned and operated byiHeartMedia, Inc., whose sister stations includeWDCG,WTKK,WRDU, andW237BZ.
The station was formerly licensed toBurlington, North Carolina, which is part of thePiedmont Triad market. However, the station changed its city of license toCary after moving its transmitter fromTerrell's Mountain inChatham County to the formerWLFL-TV analog tower inApex, along with G105 in the spring of 2008. WNCB's studios are located at Clear Channel's Triangle facility in Raleigh.
WNCB broadcasts in theHD Radio format.[2]
WFNS 1150 and WFNS-FM 93.9 simultaneously signed on from Burlington on February 24, 1947. The stations were owned by the Burlington-Graham Broadcasting Company. In 1964, the stations became WBAG and WBAG-FM. It was also the place that John Isley ofJohn-Boy and Billy fame got his start in the radio business in the mid-1970s.
On August 29, 1984, WBAG-FM successfully completed its move into theTriangle market and changed its call letters to WZZU, It went by the handle "94Z" and carried aTop 40 format to compete with future sister stationWDCG (G105). At the time, WZZU was owned by Chapel Hill-based The Village Companies (nowVilCom), who also ownedWCHL. 94Z was credited with pioneering the "Morning zoo" concept in the Triangle area, which featured mostly on-air banter amongst the personalities and numerous comedic bits. On March 1, 1989, at 5 p.m., the station changed formats from Top 40 torock and branded itself "U93.9", competing withWRDU.[citation needed] WZZU also picked up theUNC Tar Heels fromWQDR-FM.[3]
WZZU would later switch toclassic rock and a new handle, this time it would be "Classic Rock 93.9".[citation needed] In May 1993, the station picked up the syndicatedJohn Boy and Billy show to fill its morning spot.[4] Later that year,Tucson, Arizona-based Prism Radio Partners purchased WZZU.[5] WZZU was initially paired with WDCG. The Tar Heels moved toWTRG in 1994 as WZZU chose to focus more on music.[6][7] Prism Radio was purchased by SFX in 1996, placing WTRG (later WRVA-FM) and WRDU in the same stable.[8]
SFX wanted WZZU and WRDU not to compete with each other; the station would change call letters and formats on August 30, 1996. This time, the call letters were changed to WRSN, the format tosoft rock, and its on-air name to "Sunny 93.9" all in an attempt to go after the well-establishedWRAL.[9] It was also during that time that the JB&B show was bumped from 93.9, and picked up a month later by WRDU.[10] Through a number of ownership changes over time, WRSN ended up being owned by Clear Channel since 2000. It was during that time that Sunny 93.9 began broadcasting an all-Christmas music format on an annual basis, usually beginning the week prior toThanksgiving, like a number of other CC properties that broadcast similar formats in markets all over the country. Sunny 93.9 even had a morning show hosted byMadison Lane from 2004 to 2006, after serving as co-host of sister station G105'sBob and the Showgram for a number of years. However, this was one of many missteps made by Clear Channel since taking over that eventually led to Sunny's demise.
On December 25, 2006, at the end of its annual flip to all-Christmas, WRSN flipped formats torhythmic AC, branded as "93.9 KISS FM". The last song "Sunny" played was the ending of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" byElton John, cut in over a Christmas song. The call letters were changed to WKSL as part of the flip, which followed twelve hours of stunting with a loop of song clips and sound blurbs centered around the word "Kiss", incorporating the stunt from earlier that year that was heard on Greensboro sister stationWFMX/WMKS into a longer loop.
In 2010, WKSL's musical direction evolved from rhythmic AC toRhythmic Top 40, with most of the recurrents being phased out in favor of more current Rhythmic Pop/Dance hits. The move was seen as a response to competition from new Rhythmic Top 40 simulcastsWWPL/WPLW. By November2010,Mediabase moved WKSL to the CHR/Rhythmic panel as a result of the changes in its presentation. By fall2011, WKSL was the onlyrhythmic contemporary station in the Raleigh/Durham area following the WPLW/WWPL transition toMainstream CHR.
On November 1, 2013, at 4 p.m., WKSL flipped formats to country, branded as "B93.9". The final song on "Kiss" was "Timber" byPitbull, while the first song on "B" was "That's My Kind of Night" byLuke Bryan.[11] The flip makes this the second time Clear Channel has tried a country format in the Raleigh-Durham area.WTKK, then known as "106.1 the Rooster", aired a country format from 2006 to 2009 before flipping to its current talk format. This move puts WKSL in direct competition with local powerhouse WQDR-FM. On August 1, 2014, WKSL changed callsigns to WNCB. The station, along with Greensboro sisterWTQR, carries the syndicatedBobby Bones Show.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W232CH | 94.3 FM | Raleigh, North Carolina | 156015 | 97 | 492.6 m (1,616 ft) | D | 35°42′50.6″N78°49′3″W / 35.714056°N 78.81750°W /35.714056; -78.81750 (W232CH) | LMS |
| W270AW | 101.9 FM | Sanford, North Carolina | 148831 | 131 | 520 m (1,706 ft) | D | 35°27′41″N79°8′37.2″W / 35.46139°N 79.143667°W /35.46139; -79.143667 (W270AW) | LMS |