WPCM

WPCM
City Burlington-Graham, North Carolina
Branding "95.1 FM & 920 AM WPCM, The Sound of Alamance County
Frequency 920 kHz
Translator(s) 95.1 W236BO (Burlington)
First air date September 15, 1941
Format Country music
Power 5,000 watts day
55 watts night
Class D
Facility ID 9082
Transmitter coordinates 36°5′50.00″N 79°29′3.00″W / 36.0972222°N 79.4841667°W / 36.0972222; -79.4841667
Callsign meaning We Play Country Music
Owner Carolina Radio Group, Inc.
Website 920wpcm.com

WPCM (920 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Burlington-Graham, North Carolina, USA. The station is currently owned by Carolina Radio Group, Inc.[1]

History

Burlington and Alamance County’s first radio station, WBBB first signed on September 15, 1941, from studios above Lamb's Clothing on South Main Street as a daytime-only station with 1,000 watts of power from a transmitter on Tower Drive at the same location the station airs from today.[2] WBBB added an FM station at 101.3 (later 101.1) in 1946 which later became a separate station known as WNCB and later WPCM.[3] In 1952, WBBB increased their power to 5,000 watts daytime.[2] The WBBB letters moved to an FM station in Raleigh in January 1998[4][5] and the AM, with news/talk that included Ken Hamblin and G. Gordon Liddy, became WPCM. Although the area had several country radio stations, WPCM began playing classic country by artists such as Dolly Parton, George Jones, Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline. The new slogan was "We Don't Forget Who Made Country Music Great."[6]

By 2001, WPCM was playing oldies.[7] In June 2004, WPCM changed its format from beach music. On May 14, 2005, WPCM went back to its beach music format, including operations manager/morning host Byron Tucker and afternoon DJ Charlie Brown.[8]

In 2009, Brown became an honorary member of the The Association of Beach and Shag Club DeeJays' DJ Hall of Fame.[9]

In 2010, WPCM won the Carolina Beach Music Association's AM Station of the Year award for the third time in four years.[10]

In 2013, WPCM added W236BO, an FM translator at 95.1 MHz which previously belonged to Liberty University. The music also changed but remained oldies.

On December 26, 2014 WPCM switched from oldies to country music. Imaging promos on the air said "WPCM. We Play Country Music." Their Facebook page [11] had this explanation: "...Today we begin an exciting new chapter in our life as a radio station as we bring you the best in country music...." and "...Alamance County has a love of country music and it is our responsibility to the community and to ourselves to play the music that you want to hear and that our advertiser's clients want to hear...."

(WPCM's logo under previous oldies format)

References

  1. ↑ "WPCM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. 1 2 http://midcarolinaradio.com/WBBB.html
  3. ↑ "Raleigh-Durham FM Dial". Archived from the original on 2003-02-01. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  4. ↑ "Call Sign History (WBBB)". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  5. ↑ David Menconi, "Station Opts for Format of 'Real Rock'", The News & Observer, January 29, 1998.
  6. ↑ Jeri Rowe, "WFMY Introduces New Weekend Anchors," Greensboro News & Record, July 9, 1998.
  7. ↑ "Radio Stations," Greensboro News & Record, August 2, 2001.
  8. ↑ Charity Apple, "Burlington-area radio station makes switch back to beach music," Times-News, May 13, 2005.
  9. ↑ "Honorary Members of the Beach Music Hall". Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  10. ↑ "WPCM Bringing Home The Hardware Again!". WSJS. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  11. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/951WPCM/posts/755559241146517
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