WHZT

WHZT, 98.1 FM, is an urban-leaning Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio station licensed to Williamston, South Carolina and serving the Upstate South Carolina region. Better known as "HOT 98.1," the Summit Media LLC outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast at 98.1 MHz with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts. Its studios are located at Noma Square in Downtown Greenville, and its transmitter is located in Seneca, South Carolina.

History

98.1 signed on the air June 6, 1953 as WBFM. The station was an adult standards outlet airing some of the same programming as sister AM WSNW in Seneca, South Carolina. The station continued with the same format until the mid-90s, even after a power increase to 100,000 watts. The station played oldies for a while and then Triple-A.

Prior to its flip to Rhythmic Top 40 in the spring of 2001, WHZT's previous format was Sports Talk as WPEK ("98.1 The Peak"). But in the week prior to the flip it stunted, and in the process kept listeners guessing, with a Modern AC format as "Q98". On April 1, 2001 Q98 became The New Hot 98-1. The first song was "Party Up" by DMX and continued with 10,000 songs in a row commercial free.Since then Hot 98.1 has done well with its Rhythmic format, which also serves as 'companion' to its Adult R&B sister WJMZ, who had been the R&B/Hip-Hop outlet in the region before seguing into their current direction in 2002.