97.3 WKBC

[Dirty Diana]

97.3 has two local guys that seem to be voicing all of the spots.
Both are just awful.

 

[hschutte]

I do think their mix of Hot AC is very good. They play songs other stations don't play in charlotte anymore. Will the translator be setup soon. Some areas around the charlotte have 97.3 show up as a weak signal.

 

[fitzy95]

Careful-not many of those LOCAL guys left.

Music mix has a nice surprise every once in a while. Easy to listen to.

 

[wncc]

97.3 has two local guys that seem to be voicing all of the spots.
Both are just awful.

Come on, they're not that bad. Remember this is North Wilkesboro, NC, not market #25.

 

[Mr_Winston-Salem]

I also like WKBC. I wish we had a station exactly like WKBC in Atlanta. It was strong in Winston-Salem (also gave weather reports for Winston-Salem) and when I moved to Charlotte, I also listened there. The spots in question were more listenable than the screaming commercials on other stations. I still remember some of the ads. Boone Mall, Carolina West Wireless, etc. Very good advertising for those businesses, since I moved a few years ago and still remember them. The two voices (a male and female) had excellent voices for the ads. I would welcome a better WKBC signal in Uptown. I drove past that tower several times every week when I lived in Charlotte. The north end of the city and Gaston County are problem areas for out-of-town signals, since so many high powered signals are concentrated in those two areas. 99.7, 103.7 and 104.7 covered every frequency on the dial and I needed a good quality receiver to listen to anything else. I can remember hearing 99.7 The Fox on 92.7 on my clock radio. Waking-up with jazz was a bad idea though. The loud classic rock, mixed with 104.7 on the 92.7 frequency woke me up. ;D Still to this day, I don't like 99.7 The Fox for that reason.

 

[eacalhoun1]

I like WKBC mostly because they are still beating the odds in this industry and are a big stick serving a mostly rural area -- WAGI and WFMX used to hold that claim to fame as well. Up in Galax(VA), 98.1 WBRF can still boast of a big signal serving a non-metro area. Other than WKBC and WBRF, I can't--right off--think of any 100kw signals outside of metro areas. And while some may think that WKBC's sat-delivered format is "inferior", I still little difference in this versus stations that import voices for voice tracking.

 

[Mr_Winston-Salem]

I love the Jones Satellite Hot AC format. It's better than any Hot AC I've heard. WKBC did experiment with a local CHR format during the mid-1990's, but switched back to the satellite. I heard callers from Charlotte and West Forsyth High School, around Winston-Salem. I'm sure if WKBC could move to Charlotte, they would. 96.9 and 97.1 have trapped WKBC where it is. Charlotte is an unusual area, close to several large cities, but too far to receive many outside signals clearly. 88.5, 93.3, 94.1, 97.3, 98.9, 105.3 (moving to Charlotte) and 106.9 are the only outside signals I could listen to in Charlotte and 93.3 and 98.9 required a good antenna for a home radio and still didn't have a great signal. Radio listeners in Charlotte are almost forced to listen to local signals. When I lived in Winston-Salem, I could listen to almost every Charlotte radio station as if it was local. I didn't need a good antenna or high-end radio. A cheap portable radio could tune in everything from 89.9 to 107.9. I had Kiss 95.1, WKBC, G-105 and WKZL preset. I could also listen to signals from Roanoke, 106.9 in Black Mountain, a few from the northwest mountains and a few from Raleigh. On a Walkman on the front porch in Winston-Salem, I could listen to a weak 96.5 and 106.9 from the Fayetteville-Lumberton area. In Charlotte, I remember 100 kw 88.9 in Rock Hill was one of my favorites, but had almost no signal north of I-277 on a home radio and it was a local signal. It was weak on a car radio in that same area. Unusual, since a low power translator at 88.3 around 49 and WT Harris had enough strength to listen to at CMC.

In north Charlotte, at night or early morning hours, during the summer you can usually listen to WBRF. WBRF was strong enough in Winston-Salem, Kernersville and around PTI to cover 98.3 in Thomasville-High Point. 98.3 WIST was almost impossible to listen to in downtown Winston-Salem for WBRF. I think they could open an office/studio in Winston-Salem and become a Triad station. I could listen to WBRF in Randoloph and Rowan Counties on a Walkman. The difference an extra thousand or so feet of mountain terrain below your stick can make to boost a signal.

 

[audiomusiclover]

In north Charlotte, at night or early morning hours, during the summer you can usually listen to WBRF. WBRF was strong enough in Winston-Salem, Kernersville and around PTI to cover 98.3 in Thomasville-High Point. 98.3 WIST was almost impossible to listen to in downtown Winston-Salem for WBRF. I think they could open an office/studio in Winston-Salem and become a Triad station. I could listen to WBRF in Randoloph and Rowan Counties on a Walkman. The difference an extra thousand or so feet of mountain terrain below your stick can make to boost a signal.

Keep in mind also that WBRF could be a bigtime powerhouse if it wasn't limited signal strength wise toward the triad and Charlotte markets. It must limit its signal from almost due east all the way south and back around to almost due west... If it didn't limit the power in those directions it would blow a very strong signal that would kill little 98.3 in the Triad as well largely interfere with Power 98 in Charlotte. That might be a good thing for Charlotte come to think of it.

 

[Mr_Winston-Salem]

I loved the Standards format (I think it was the old Stardust satellite format?) at 98.3, but it was impossible to listen to it, if you where more than three miles from the tower. In Davidson County WBRF was interfering with the old WIST on a car radio. On an old Sony radio in southern Winston-Salem, I used the local signal option, thinking it would remove WBRF's interference from 98.3 and 98.3 disappeared completely and WBRF was still there and sounded just as strong. I can't remember the name of the shopping center, but the big shopping center with a lake in University City is a good place to listen for WBRF on a car radio. The signal is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, along with Wachovia's radio station at their customer service center. I can also remember a room where I use to live in Charlotte with good signal from WBRF on a higher-end portable radio. It required some antenna work, but it was there. When I lived in Charlotte, I would sometimes listen to WBRF at night.

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

I loved the Standards format (I think it was the old Stardust satellite format?) at 98.3, but it was impossible to listen to it, if you where more than three miles from the tower. In Davidson County WBRF was interfering with the old WIST on a car radio. On an old Sony radio in southern Winston-Salem, I used the local signal option, thinking it would remove WBRF's interference from 98.3 and 98.3 disappeared completely and WBRF was still there and sounded just as strong. I can't remember the name of the shopping center, but the big shopping center with a lake in University City is a good place to listen for WBRF on a car radio. The signal is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, along with Wachovia's radio station at their customer service center. I can also remember a room where I use to live in Charlotte with good signal from WBRF on a higher-end portable radio. It required some antenna work, but it was there. When I lived in Charlotte, I would sometimes listen to WBRF at night.

I wonder why you could listen better at night? Sunrise/sunset and skip doesn't affect FM like it does AM.

 

[Mr_Winston-Salem]

It was always there, but it was weak during the day and would gain a little extra strength late at night and during the morning hours. Usually enough to take the signal from a faint sound in the afternoon hours to enough signal to turn-on the stereo LED on a home stereo in Charlotte after midnight. This was more true during late spring, summer and early fall than winter. I'm sure it has something to do with weather. (fog, dew point, heat-humidity, etc.) By 7 AM, during warm weather, in Charlotte, the number of radio stations to choose from grows to include signals from the mountains to the coast. I'm sure someone on the DX board will know the name and cause.

 

[vchimpanzee]

WBRF was strong enough in Winston-Salem, Kernersville and around PTI to cover 98.3 in Thomasville-High Point. 98.3 WIST was almost impossible to listen to in downtown Winston-Salem for WBRF.

I used to have that problem but now I have a different car. I can hear WIST almost everywhere I go. I do start to get interference from stations in eastern North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia just south of where I live.

 

[Paul1033]

Here is the link to my petition to get the (Spanish) W247CV 97.3 translator out of Monroe, NC off the air and to pick up the once strong fringe signal of (Hot AC) 97.3 WKBC out of North Wilkesboro, NC clear again in the areas affected by the interference. Sign if you live or work in the areas affected by the translator interference. Together we can work to get the interfering translator off the air and get the once strong signal of (Hot AC) 97.3 WKBC clear again in Mint Hill, NC and the other areas affected by interference.

https://www.change.org/p/the-fcc-nor...n-in-mint-hill

 

[vchimpanzee]

98.3 WIST was almost impossible to listen to in downtown Winston-Salem for WBRF. I think they could open an office/studio in Winston-Salem and become a Triad station. I could listen to WBRF in Randoloph and Rowan Counties on a Walkman. The difference an extra thousand or so feet of mountain terrain below your stick can make to boost a signal.

Now it's the reverse. I listen to WBRF in Winston-Salem. Although forget it in parts of High Point.