| 200px | |
| City of license | Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Raleigh-Durham |
| Branding | Newstalk 1360 WCHL |
| Slogan | Your News, Talk and Tar Heels Station |
| Frequency | 1360 kHz |
| First air date | January 25, 1953 |
| Format | News Talk Information |
| Audience share | 0.4 (Sp'08 P2, R&R[1]) |
| Power | 5,000 watts day 1,000 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 70191 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°56′18.00″N 79°1′36.00″W / 35.93833°N 79.02667°W |
| Callsign meaning | Where Chapel Hill Listens |
| Affiliations | Dial Global, Westwood One, CBS Radio Network |
| Owner | Vilcom Interactive Media, LLC |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | chapelboro.com |
WCHL is a radio station based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina broadcasting at 1360 AM. It is the flagship station of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill radio sports broadcasts and an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network. Much of its programming is geared towards the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community, with a focus on local news and community affairs programming.
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History [link]
Chapel Hill's oldest continuous broadcaster signed on January 25, 1953 under the ownership of Sandy McClamroch, who went on to become the town's longest-serving mayor. Originally a 1,000 watt station, the station boosted its daytime power to 5,000 watts in 1978. WCHL served as the launching point for the Village Broadcasting Companies, which bought Burlington's WBAG-FM in 1983, moving it to Raleigh as WZZU (now WKSL "Kiss 93.9").
Over the years, the station developed a loyal following for being highly community-oriented. The WCHL news department brought home many Associated Press awards. WCHL played top 40 music, and later adult contemporary before going news/talk in the early 1990s. In 1997, The Village Companies (now Vilcom) sold WCHL to the Raleigh-based Curtis Media Group for $400,000. Curtis moved WCHL's studios to the WDNC studios at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and dumped the highly acclaimed local news and community-driven talk for an automated middle-of-the-road/oldies format, limited news and a simulcast morning show with co-located WDNC. However, in 2002, Vilcom regained control of its former property's sales and programming under a local marketing agreement. Vilcom moved the station back to Chapel Hill and returned the station's format to local news and talk on November 25, 2002, just two months before the station celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003. In June 2004, Vilcom bought the station back from Curtis Media Group for $775,000.
Vilcom's longtime owner, Jim Heavner, sold a minority stake in WCHL to Barry Leffler, former president of WNCN in Raleigh, in late 2009. He now serves the station as CEO and managing partner. Heavner has remained as chairman.[2]
On January 21, 2010, WCHL's affiliate Air America filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and ceased live programming the same night. Reruns of Air America's programming continued to air until Monday, January 25 at 9PM Eastern Time.
In 2012, WCHL will expand to the FM band by acquiring a translator station from Liberty University in Virginia.[3] The station, currently licensed to Creedmoor, North Carolina at 98.5 FM, is expected to move to Chapel Hill and broadcast on 97.9 FM, pending FCC approval.[4] The new signal should improve nighttime coverage of the station.[5]
Sports Programming [link]
WCHL is best known as the flagship station of UNC football and basketball. Vilcom was the rights holder for Tar Heel sports until selling them to Learfield Communications in the early 21st century, and Heavner was Woody Durham's color commentator on Tar Heel broadcasts for 18 years. For over 30 years, Ron Stutts has hosted an hourlong pregame show prior to the Tar Heel Sports Network beginning its coverage.
Transmission [link]
WCHL's 5,000-watt non-directional daytime signal cuts back to 1,000 watts directional toward the southeast at sunset. Even with all the changes in recent years, the station has continuously broadcast from its two-tower array on Franklin Street, noticeable for being emblazoned with metal call letters on one and frequency on the other.
References [link]
- ^ "Raleigh-Durham Market Ratings". Radio & Records. https://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DefaultSearch.aspx?MarketName=Raleigh-Durham&MarketRank=%20.
- ^ Wolf, Alan (October 3, 2009). "NBC-17's Leffler to run WCHL". News & Observer. https://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/123826.html. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
- ^ "WCHL expanding to FM band". News & Observer. September 22, 2011. https://blogs.newsobserver.com/business/wchl-expanding-to-fm-band. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ "Chapel Hill, NC's WCHL-AM (1360) buys an FM translator for $100,000". RadioInfo.com. September 22, 2011. https://www.radio-info.com/news/chapel-hill-ncs-wchl-am-1360-buys-an-fm-translator-for-100000. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ Jones Hoyle, Amanda (September 23, 2011). "Chapel Hill to get new FM station". Triangle Business Journal. https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2011/09/23/chapel-hill-to-get-new-fm-radio-station.html. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
External links [link]
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WCHL
- Radio-Locator Information on WCHL
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for WCHL
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https://wn.com/WCHL_(AM)
WCHL
WCHL may refer to:
Western Canada Hockey League (1932–33)
The Western Canada Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams from western Canada that existed for one hockey season, 1932 to 1933. The next year, with the addition of two American franchises along with another Canadian one, the league was reformed as the North West Hockey League.
