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WANS (1280 AM) was a southern gospel radio station located in
Anderson, South Carolina Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 28,106 at the 2020 census, making it the 16th-most populous city in South Carolina. It is one of the principal cities in the Gree ...
, United States. The station was licensed by the FCC to broadcast with 5 kW nondirectional during the daytime and 1 kW directional at night.


Station history

WANS 1280 AM had been in existence since June 1, 1949. For many years, it was a
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
station. In the 1960s, the call sign stood for "We're Anderson's Now Sound". Later..."We're Anderson's New Sound". WANS paired up with 100,000-watt WANS-FM 107.3 (now WJMZ-FM) in the 1960s. The stations had separate feeds and broadcast from studios located on Clemson Blvd. in Anderson. The two stations were wildly popular for many years. A large WANS-AM/FM sign was erected in front of the studios on Clemson Blvd. and advertised local Anderson stores and community events. In 1988, new studios were built beside the existing ones. After new ownership took over in 1990, declining ratings and loss of key staff caused a steep decline in ratings for both the AM and FM stations. In 1992, the stations went bankrupt. WANS-FM moved to
Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...
. The WANS studios on Clemson Blvd. were sold. From 1992 to late 1993, WANS operated from the transmitter site nearby. The station began simulcasting WFBC (1330 AM)'s
news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...
talk feed out of Greenville, South Carolina. In late 1993, WRIX-AM- FM owner Matt Phillips purchased WANS and moved all operations back to Anderson. WANS-FM changed its call sign to WJMZ-FM. WANS aired ''The Matt and Bev'' Show from WRIX. WANS then played a mix of
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...
music and
standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...
for several years with live and local DJs such as Jerry Peeler's beach show and Jimmy Gilstrap's classic 1960s and 1970s rock-n-roll, which was live every Saturday. In early 2000, the station became all Carolina beach oldies headed by longtime WANS DJ and manager Dann Scott. In 2005, the station went all
sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...
from
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...
. Over the years, it would also play other talk programming. In 2013, it went to all sports talk again from
Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...
. In November 2014, WANS flipped to a classic hits format and was simulcast with WRIX-FM 103.1. Owner Tom Ervin donated WRIX-AM-FM and WANS to the Power Foundation out of Greenville, South Carolina, which operates southern gospel radio stations in other markets. In late February 2015, WANS was flipped to 1950s-1970s oldies. It was then paired with an FM translator 107.7 FM. This put WANS back on FM for the first time since 1992. On March 1, 2015, the simulcast with WHQA (formerly WRIX-FM) 103.1 ended. WHQA flipped to a southern gospel format, and WANS 1280 and 107.7 FM flipped to classic hits. WANS was the sister station to WRIX and WHQA. In September 2008, the format was shifted from ESPN sports/talk to news/talk, the former format and lineup of sister station WRIX-FM 103.1, which shifted to
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
on the same day. WANS broadcast the ESPN Radio network late at night and on weekends. WANS carried all Anderson Joes baseball games live until the league went under. They had broadcast many different sports from Anderson University and football games from
Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...
. They also aired all of the Westside High School Ram football games. On January 25, 2013, WANS changed its format from news/talk to sports, with programming from Fox Sports Radio.
Tom Ervin Thomas Jonathan Ervin (born May 14, 1952) is an American attorney, former judge, one-time politician and former radio station owner. A past member of the Republican Party, he also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1979 ...
purchased WANS in 2013. WANS celebrated 65 years on the air on June 1, 2014, with a radio special hosted by upstate radio veteran "Jazzy" Jeff Bright, host of ''The Greatest Hits'' on sister station WRIX-FM 103.1. On November 29, 2014, WANS changed its format from sports to classic hits, simulcasting WRIX-FM 103.1. The flip to 1950s-1970s oldies and end of having the same feed as WHQA (formerly WRIX-FM) began on March 1, 2015. WANS had been back on FM with a
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
on 107.7 MHz FM; WANS was on FM for the first time since 1992. On December 1, 2016, WANS changed its format to southern gospel, branded as "God's Country". The
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
cancelled the station’s license on February 9, 2024, as WANS had been silent since at least March 15, 2022.


References


External links

{{coord, 34, 32, 17, N, 82, 41, 28, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title ANS 1949 establishments in South Carolina Radio stations established in 1949 Radio stations disestablished in 2024 2024 disestablishments in South Carolina Defunct religious radio stations in the United States ANS Defunct radio stations in the United States