WFBC
Encyclopedia
WFBC-FM is a Top 40 (CHR)
station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina
and serves the Upstate and Western North Carolina
regions, including Greenville
, Spartanburg
, and Asheville, North Carolina
. The Entercom Communications
outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to broadcast at 93.7 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW. The station goes by the name B93.7 and its current slogan is "All The Hits."
The station's transmitter is located on Caesar's Head
mountain in South Carolina
. WFBC has coverage in almost all of Upstate SC (includes the Piedmont & Foothills), parts of Northeast Georgia
, and parts of Western NC
. This station can be heard af far east as Charlotte
, as far south as Irmo
, as far north as Greeneville, Tennessee
, and as far southwest as Athens, Georgia.
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, WFBC-FM featured the Esso Reporter each 30 minutes during the morning hours with Norvin Duncan as host. Other early morning shows; Housekeeping-a-hobby with Alice Wyman, Kitchen Kapers with Claude Freeman and The "Aristocratic Pigs" with Baby Ray.
WFBC-FM's later morning shows featured "Shelley's Shenanigans" with Bob Shelley (1953–1956), Bob Poole and "Pooles Party Line" (1957–1961). In 1962, Monty Dupuy became the long running host of the simulcast morning show which was one of the most popular shows in Greenville Radio History garnering more than 50% of the audience for more than 15 years. Dupuy was the morning host on WFBC-FM from 1962 to 1977. In 1965, WFBC-FM began independent programming of "light music" and "Music with McMasters" only simulcasting during the Dupuy morning show and special events. WFBC-FM started programming Drake Chenaults (Hit Parade) format in early 1971 becoming one of the most popular radio stations in the upstate.
Past on-air staff during the 1960s and 1970s on WFBC-FM include: Norvin Duncan, Johnny Wright, Bob Poole, Bob Shelley, Monty Dupuy, Stowe Hoyle, Ben Greer, Bill Kregar, Verner Tate, Alice Wyman, Claude Freeman, Wilfred Walker, Billy Powell, Lee Kanipe, Max Mace, Jeff Fields, Ray Clune, Johnny Batson, Andy Scott, Ken Rogers, Dan Kelly, Jerry Haynes, Jim Burnside, Eston Johnson, Scott Shannon, Bill Love, Dale Gilbert, Dave Partridge, Jim Phillips, Rick Driver and Patty Snow.
WFBC-FM was an adult contemporary station during the 1970s and 1980s, and an oldies
station in the early 1990s, with the name "Oldies B 93.7" and then just "Oldies 93.7". Announcers in that time frame included; Ken Rogers, Steve Chris, Lee Alexander, Russ Cassell, "Rockin Robin" Keith, Chris Scott, Eric Rogers, Lisa Rollins, Jan Meng, Dan Stevens, "Spanky" Jim Miller, Lee Nolan, "Brother Bill" Prather, Joe Fletcher, Lou Simon and many more. As an Oldies outlet, WFBC featured the popular weeknight Oldies Request show "Into The Night" with Jan Ming. They also played Dick Clark, Mike Harvey and Dick Bartley National Oldies Shows on the weekends. The station also produced and networked several award winning Carolina Beach Music shows with Ken Rogers and Leighton Grantham. The format was 1950's- early 1970's Rock and Roll Oldies and was successful for many years. During this period, the station was known for doing live remotes and broadcast Memorial Day Weekends live from "Freedom Weekend Aloft". WYFF-TV Weatherman Dale Gilbert did Mid-Mornings on WFBC-FM during part of this period as well as doing the Morning Weather Broadcasts on "Your Friend" 4. WFBC/(WYFF-TV 4) and WFBC AM/FM shared the same building from 1955 till 1977 when a new radio facility was built adjacent to the TV station on Rutherford Street. In April 1994, WFBC/AM/FM was sold and switched to a CHR
format, and stunted by having a disc jockey
read the local phone book. This outraged many local Oldies listeners and soon 103.3 and 103.9 (WOLT and WOLI-FM) picked up the Oldies format and dumped Howard Stern's morning Show which had just signed 103.3 and 103.9 before the format change to Oldies.
The call letters WFBC were taken from a station in Knoxville, Tennessee that had gone off the air in the early 1930s and reassigned to Greenville. Former WFBC program director (in 1937) Norvin Duncan said that W.F.B.C. stood for "First Baptist Church".
Three other stations in the Greenville market had used the WFBC call sign
: The original AM station owned by the Peace family, owners of the Greenville News
and Greenville Piedmont, and broadcasting on 1330 kHz, now WYRD; television channel 4, signed on by the family in 1953, which used the calls until 1983 (when it became WYFF
); and TV channel 40 in Anderson
, which changed its calls to WFBC from WAXA after an ownership change. The WFBC call sign was used on channel 40 until 1999; it is now WMYA-TV
.
WFBC added On Air With Ryan Seacrest
Monday-Friday from 4:00PM–7:00PM in November 2008. The station's main competitor is Rhythmic CHR WHZT
, owned by Cox Communications
, and Hot AC WMYI
, owned by Clear Channel Communications
.
Hawk and Tom hosted the Upstate Race for the Cure each year from 1997–2006 and helped to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure
.
In 2008 they began hosting the Children's Miracle Network
's Radiothon to raise money for the Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital. For the 2008 Radiothon they set a new record raising $210,000 for the Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital. In 2009 they raised $260,000 for the Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital.
Weekend programs include BT30, a top-30 countdown that is produced by the station; American Top 40
, and Fox All Access
.
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
and serves the Upstate and Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains, thus it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It is sometimes included with upstate South Carolina as the "Western Carolinas", which is also counted as a single media market...
regions, including Greenville
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
, Spartanburg
Spartanburg, South Carolina
thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...
, and Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
. The Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications Corporation is the fourth-largest broadcasting company in the United States. As of November 2009, Entercom operates 110 radio stations in 23 markets across the United States....
outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to broadcast at 93.7 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW. The station goes by the name B93.7 and its current slogan is "All The Hits."
The station's transmitter is located on Caesar's Head
Caesars Head, South Carolina
Caesars Head is a mountain within Caesars Head State Park in northern Greenville County, South Carolina. The summit has an elevation of . The radio tower for TV station WYFF is nearby....
mountain in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. WFBC has coverage in almost all of Upstate SC (includes the Piedmont & Foothills), parts of Northeast Georgia
Northeast Georgia
Northeast Georgia is a region of the Georgia in the United States. The northern part is also in the north Georgia mountains, while the southern part is still hilly but much flatter in topography....
, and parts of Western NC
Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains, thus it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It is sometimes included with upstate South Carolina as the "Western Carolinas", which is also counted as a single media market...
. This station can be heard af far east as Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, as far south as Irmo
Irmo, South Carolina
Irmo is a town in Lexington and Richland counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina and a suburb of Columbia. It is 12 miles outside of the city center of Columbia and is part of the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, as far north as Greeneville, Tennessee
Greeneville, Tennessee
Greeneville is a town in Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 15,198 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Greene County. The town was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene. It is the only town with this spelling in the United States, although there...
, and as far southwest as Athens, Georgia.
History
WFBC-FM signed on on May 12, 1947 as a sister station to WFBC-AM, owned by The Roger Peace family who also owned the Greenville News/Piedmont. The programming was 90% simulcast for the first 8 to 10 years featuring block local programming and NBC Network programs. The early management team included people like: Bevo Whitmire, Ken Beechboard, R. A. Jolly and Bruce Buchanan.During the late 1940s and early 1950s, WFBC-FM featured the Esso Reporter each 30 minutes during the morning hours with Norvin Duncan as host. Other early morning shows; Housekeeping-a-hobby with Alice Wyman, Kitchen Kapers with Claude Freeman and The "Aristocratic Pigs" with Baby Ray.
WFBC-FM's later morning shows featured "Shelley's Shenanigans" with Bob Shelley (1953–1956), Bob Poole and "Pooles Party Line" (1957–1961). In 1962, Monty Dupuy became the long running host of the simulcast morning show which was one of the most popular shows in Greenville Radio History garnering more than 50% of the audience for more than 15 years. Dupuy was the morning host on WFBC-FM from 1962 to 1977. In 1965, WFBC-FM began independent programming of "light music" and "Music with McMasters" only simulcasting during the Dupuy morning show and special events. WFBC-FM started programming Drake Chenaults (Hit Parade) format in early 1971 becoming one of the most popular radio stations in the upstate.
Past on-air staff during the 1960s and 1970s on WFBC-FM include: Norvin Duncan, Johnny Wright, Bob Poole, Bob Shelley, Monty Dupuy, Stowe Hoyle, Ben Greer, Bill Kregar, Verner Tate, Alice Wyman, Claude Freeman, Wilfred Walker, Billy Powell, Lee Kanipe, Max Mace, Jeff Fields, Ray Clune, Johnny Batson, Andy Scott, Ken Rogers, Dan Kelly, Jerry Haynes, Jim Burnside, Eston Johnson, Scott Shannon, Bill Love, Dale Gilbert, Dave Partridge, Jim Phillips, Rick Driver and Patty Snow.
WFBC-FM was an adult contemporary station during the 1970s and 1980s, and an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
station in the early 1990s, with the name "Oldies B 93.7" and then just "Oldies 93.7". Announcers in that time frame included; Ken Rogers, Steve Chris, Lee Alexander, Russ Cassell, "Rockin Robin" Keith, Chris Scott, Eric Rogers, Lisa Rollins, Jan Meng, Dan Stevens, "Spanky" Jim Miller, Lee Nolan, "Brother Bill" Prather, Joe Fletcher, Lou Simon and many more. As an Oldies outlet, WFBC featured the popular weeknight Oldies Request show "Into The Night" with Jan Ming. They also played Dick Clark, Mike Harvey and Dick Bartley National Oldies Shows on the weekends. The station also produced and networked several award winning Carolina Beach Music shows with Ken Rogers and Leighton Grantham. The format was 1950's- early 1970's Rock and Roll Oldies and was successful for many years. During this period, the station was known for doing live remotes and broadcast Memorial Day Weekends live from "Freedom Weekend Aloft". WYFF-TV Weatherman Dale Gilbert did Mid-Mornings on WFBC-FM during part of this period as well as doing the Morning Weather Broadcasts on "Your Friend" 4. WFBC/(WYFF-TV 4) and WFBC AM/FM shared the same building from 1955 till 1977 when a new radio facility was built adjacent to the TV station on Rutherford Street. In April 1994, WFBC/AM/FM was sold and switched to a CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
format, and stunted by having a disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
read the local phone book. This outraged many local Oldies listeners and soon 103.3 and 103.9 (WOLT and WOLI-FM) picked up the Oldies format and dumped Howard Stern's morning Show which had just signed 103.3 and 103.9 before the format change to Oldies.
Three other stations in the Greenville market had used the WFBC call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
: The original AM station owned by the Peace family, owners of the Greenville News
The Greenville News
The Greenville News is a daily morning newspaper published in Greenville, South Carolina. Along with The State in Columbia and Charleston's Post and Courier, it is one of the three largest papers in South Carolina.-History:...
and Greenville Piedmont, and broadcasting on 1330 kHz, now WYRD; television channel 4, signed on by the family in 1953, which used the calls until 1983 (when it became WYFF
WYFF
WYFF is the NBC-affiliate television station based in Greenville, South Carolina. It serves a media market which includes Greenville/Spartanburg and Anderson in South Carolina and Asheville/Hendersonville, North Carolina. The market covers large portions of western North Carolina and upstate South...
); and TV channel 40 in Anderson
Anderson, South Carolina
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was estimated at 26,242 in 2006, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 70,530...
, which changed its calls to WFBC from WAXA after an ownership change. The WFBC call sign was used on channel 40 until 1999; it is now WMYA-TV
WMYA-TV
WMYA-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina licensed to Anderson, South Carolina. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 14 from a transmitter in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. The station can also be seen on...
.
WFBC added On Air With Ryan Seacrest
On Air with Ryan Seacrest (radio)
On Air with Ryan Seacrest is the name of an American syndicated radio program hosted by Ryan Seacrest. As of 2010, the daily morning radio show airs on Los Angeles top 40 station KIIS-FM and was launched at the same time as the television show with the same name, although Seacrest had hosted a...
Monday-Friday from 4:00PM–7:00PM in November 2008. The station's main competitor is Rhythmic CHR WHZT
WHZT
-On-air lineup:* 6:00AM–10:00AM Murph Dawg & CJ* 10:00AM–3:00PM SupaDave* 3:00PM–7:00PM Marino* 7:00PM–12:00AM Tone Hollywood-Weekends:Saturday:* 10:00AM – 2:00PM Marino/Tone* 2:00PM – 6:00PM Shorty* 6:00PM – 10:00PM GabeSunday:* 10:00AM – 2:00PM Gabe...
, owned by Cox Communications
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
, and Hot AC WMYI
WMYI
WMYI is a Bright Adult Contemporary music formatted radio station licensed to Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA, and serves the Upstate and Western North Carolina regions, including Greenville, Spartanburg, and Asheville, North Carolina...
, owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
.
Morning show
The "Hawk and Tom Morning Show" is hosted by Hawk Harrison, Tom Steele, Heidi Aiken and Kato Keller. It features Torture Tuesday, The Second Date Update and Crank Calls with Thelma Holister, Cecil B. Holister and Mumbleman as primary characters. The Hawk and Tom Show has been broadcasting since April 13, 1997, and for two years before that as the Hawk and Marty Show.Hawk and Tom hosted the Upstate Race for the Cure each year from 1997–2006 and helped to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the US....
.
In 2008 they began hosting the Children's Miracle Network
Children's Miracle Network
The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals is an international non-profit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children's health issues. The organization, founded in 1982 by the Osmond family and John Schneider, is headquartered in...
's Radiothon to raise money for the Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital. For the 2008 Radiothon they set a new record raising $210,000 for the Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital. In 2009 they raised $260,000 for the Greenville Hospital System's Children's Hospital.
On-air lineup
- 5:00AM–9:30AM The Hawk & Tom Show
- 9:30AM–12:00PM Chase Murphy
- 4:00PM–7:00PM Ryan Seacrest
- 7:00PM–12:00AM Fenway
Weekend programs include BT30, a top-30 countdown that is produced by the station; American Top 40
American Top 40
American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...
, and Fox All Access
Chris Leary
Chris Leary is a national television and radio show personality, who has been hosting the Fox All Access syndicated radio show since 1994.-Radio and television career:...
.