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| Broadcast area | Research Triangle and easternNorth Carolina |
| Frequency | 91.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Programming | |
| Format | Public radio (news, information, specialty music) |
| Subchannels | HD2:BBC World Service |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | April 3, 1976; 48 years ago (1976-04-03)[1] |
Call sign meaning | University of North Carolina |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 66581 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000watts |
| HAAT | 415 meters (1,362 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WUNC (91.5MHz) is a listener-supportedpublic radiostation, serving theResearch Triangle area ofNorth Carolina. It islicensed toChapel Hill and is operated by theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. On weekdays, WUNC carriesNational Public Radio,American Public Media,Public Radio Exchange, andBBC programming in an "all-news-and-information" format, including shows such asAll Things Considered,Morning Edition andFresh Air. On weekends, in addition to NPR weekend shows, WUNC broadcasts locally producedfolk music programming. The longest-running continuously produced program offered by the station isBack Porch Music, a weekly folk andtraditional music program. WUNC holds periodic on-airfundraisers seeking listener contributions.
The station operates five full-service FM repeater stations,WFSS fromFayetteville on 91.9;WRQM fromRocky Mount on 90.9;WBUX fromBuxton on 90.5;WUND-FM fromColumbia on 88.9;WUNW-FM fromWelcome on 91.1; andWZCO fromChadbourn on 89.9. WUNC should not be confused withWXYC, which is UNC's student radio station.
As of January 2024, WUNC has the second highestratings of any station in the Raleigh–Durham radio market.[3]
WUNC was originally on the air for a brief time as an AM station in the 1940s,[citation needed] then returned to the air in 1952 as a student-run FM station with equipment fromJefferson Standard Broadcasting, which had operatedWBT-FM for several years. The original station stayed on the air until alightning strike in 1970.[4]
WUNCsigned on in its current incarnation on April 3, 1976. It immediately became the state's second NPR member. One of its earliest shows wasGary Shivers on Jazz, a jazz program produced by the station and syndicated regionally. (Shivers was the station's first program director and second General Manager.) WUNC had studios in Swain Hall on the UNC campus; it moved to a state-of-the-art studio near theFriday Center in 1999. Prior to its switch to a news and information format, the station was a multi-format station ofNPR news,classical music, andjazz music.[citation needed]
WRQM began in 1992 as a separate NPR station under the call sign WESQ, licensed toNorth Carolina Wesleyan College inRocky Mount. NCWC set up the station to fill the void left by the closure ofWVSP, anAfrican-American public radio station licensed toWarrenton but which moved to Rocky Mount in 1985, shortly before it closed. WESQ offered a variety of music that includedcountry andR&B. When Wesleyan opted to cut ties with the station in 1995, a group of Rocky Mount business leaders known as Friends of Down East Public Radio bought the station and relaunched it as WRQM on March 31, 1996. The station floundered for most of its existence, as there were just barely enough listeners in that area of the market for the station to be viable on its own. This caused a chronic shortage of financial support. In March 1999, it began airing most of WUNC's schedule; it became a full repeater of WUNC that October.
WUND-FM inColumbia signed on March 24, 1999, bringing NPR programming to one of the few areas of North Carolina without a clear signal from a full-fledged NPR station.
WUNW-FM inWelcome signed on as a full-service FM station on 91.1 FM[5] in December 2013, providing increased coverage of WUNC to suburban communities inDavidson County, located south of Greensboro andWinston-Salem.
On May 13, 2015, officials announced the acquisition ofWFSS, a public radio station licensed to Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville. Simulcasting of WUNC began at 10:00 AM on May 13, 2015.[6] The sale closed in November.
On August 4, 2016, WUNC launchedWUNC Music, anadult album alternative format, on their HD2 channel and on their website.[7][8]
On May 31, 2023, WUNC announced the purchase of WZCO inChadbourn, the formerColumbus County Schools student-run radio station, for $50,000. WUNC programming began on October 6.[9]
Aside fromBack Porch Music, WUNC also producesThe People's Pharmacy with Joe and Terry Graedon, a nationally syndicated program first broadcast on WUNC in the early 1980s. From 1999 to 2020, it also airedThe State of Things, a regionally syndicated local affairs show. The network began offeringpodcasts forThe State of Things and other locally produced news stories in September 2005.
WUNC's mainradio studios are located in Chapel Hill near theFriday Center. In 2005, a second broadcast facility was opened in Durham'sAmerican Tobacco Historic District. On October 17, 2005,The State of Things began production at the new Durham location and broadcasts live about once a month remotely fromTriad Stage in Greensboro. Other programs continue production in the Chapel Hill studios.
Dick Gordon, former host ofWBUR'sThe Connection, began hosting a new interview show calledThe Story with Dick Gordon on February 16, 2006, that was co-produced with and nationally syndicated by American Public Media. The show's final program aired on WUNC on October 11, 2013.[10]Talk of the Nation had been dropped by WUNC-FM earlier in the year. Today, in addition to the aforementioned current programs plus NPR staples such asMorning Edition,All Things Considered,Fresh Air with Terry Gross andWait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, WUNC-FM also airs1A,The Takeaway,It's Been A Minute andHere and Now. Many of these shows are distributed nationally byAmerican Public Media,Public Radio Exchange, orWNYC.
WUNC is the home station of the American Homefront Project, which reports on military life and veterans issues.[11]
WUNC broadcasts in theHD radio format.[12] Since the summer of 2016, WUNC has aired WUNC Music on its HD2digital subchannel. WUNC Music specializes inadult album alternative (AAA),indie rock,Americana, and music by North Carolina artists.[13]
Effective July 1, 2024, WUNC-HD2 began carrying programming fromBBC World Service.
In 2005, to reflect its growth into a network, WUNC rebranded as "North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC". The call signs of the other stations are identified only during requiredstation identifications at the start of each hour. However, in recent years, it has largely reverted to using "WUNC" as its main on-air name, with "North Carolina Public Radio" as a secondary brand.
WUNC's 100,000-watt signal broadcasts from thePBS North Carolinatower onTerrells Mountain inChatham County, five miles west of Chapel Hill. In addition to its home market of the Research Triangle (Raleigh,Durham and Chapel Hill), it also provides a strong city-grade signal to the easternPiedmont Triad, includingGreensboro andHigh Point. Terrells Mountain is roughly halfway between the Triangle and the Triad, and WUNC has long claimed Greensboro as part of its primary coverage area. WUNC provides much of the eastern Triad region a second choice for NPR programming alongside that market's primary NPR station,WFDD inWinston-Salem.
WRQM serves the far eastern portion of the Triangle market, as well asGreenville. WUND serves northeastern North Carolina and theOuter Banks, with WBUX covering southernDare County. WUNW covers portions ofDavidson County that aren't served by WUNC's main signal. WFSS is heard in theFayetteville area. WZCO serves the largely rural area between Fayetteville andWilmington. Combined, the seven stations reach just over half of North Carolina's population, providing at least secondary coverage from the fringes of theCharlotte suburbs to the Outer Banks.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W260CU | 99.9 FM | Southern Pines, North Carolina | 147236 | 10 | D | 35°10′35.6″N79°24′52.1″W / 35.176556°N 79.414472°W /35.176556; -79.414472 (W260CU) | LMS |
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