WAVF (101.7
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services
** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money
* a dose of advertising ...
FM radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
licensed
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
to
Hanahan, South Carolina
Hanahan is a city in Berkeley County, South Carolina, Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 12,937 at the 2000 United States Census, 2000 census. The 2010 census puts the population at 17,997. Portions of the Naval We ...
, and serving the
South Carolina Lowcountry
The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an impor ...
and
Charleston metropolitan area. It is owned by Saga Communications as part of its Charleston Radio Group, and airs an
adult hits radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
branded as "Chuck FM". The
radio studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...
s and offices are on Clements Ferry Road in Charleston.
WAVF has an
effective radiated power
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...
(ERP) of 100,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s, the maximum for
non-grandfathered FM stations. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is off Venning Road in
Mount Pleasant.
History
WAVF
96 Wave history
Managing Partner Paul W. Robinson of Emerald City Media Partners oversaw the construction of a new radio station in the Charleston market. WAVF came on the air on March 11, 1985 on 96.1 FM as "96 Wave". It used the sound effects of ocean waves, played continuously over a week. When the
stunt
A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...
was over, the station debuted with an
album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
US rad ...
(AOR) format.
Over time, 96 Wave shifted its format to
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
.
Howard Stern
Atom Taler was the wake-up host at 96 Wave for nine years. For the last three of those years he was joined by Jim Voigt, known as "The Critic". As their once-popular morning show began to see a decline in ratings, it was replaced. On February 23, 1998, "
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...
" debuted for the Charleston radio market,
syndicated from
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Ratings fell still further, but program director Rob Cressman pointed out ratings increased from a year earlier. He also said the station would improve with a format that relied less on alternative rock and more on personality.
After a year and a half, Charleston radio listeners had grown to like the program. Stern had the market's no. 1 morning show. WAVF also brought back The Critic for afternoons. 96 Wave was sold to Apex Broadcasting late in 2001.
On February 22, 2002, 96 Wave dropped Stern. Some advertisers did not like the show, so they would buy time on 96 Wave but not on Stern's show, or they avoided WAVF altogether. Stern's show also cost the station a high subscription fee, so airing his show became too expensive. Dick Dale, syndicated from
WMMS
WMMS (100.7 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, commonly identified as "The Buzzard". Widely regarded as one of the most influen ...
in
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, replaced Stern. WMMS created the show to compete with Stern and began syndicating it to
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
stations. But Dale, who knew The Critic, had left WMMS, so this show would be local. WAVF General manager Dean Pearce described Dale's show as "intelligent", while program director Greg Patrick described it as "fast-paced", pointing out that the show would include music. Dale described his show as radio's answer to cable TV's ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...
''.
Chuck FM
On August 31, 2007 at 5 p.m., "96 Wave" became known as "96.1 Chuck FM". Leading up to the switch, the station stunted for over 20 minutes playing the "
Charles in Charge
''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Sco ...
" theme song. The first song played on the new 96.1 FM was "
Take This Job and Shove It
"Take This Job and Shove It" is a 1977 country music song written by David Allan Coe and popularized by Johnny Paycheck, about the bitterness of a man who has worked long and hard with no apparent reward. The song was first recorded by Paycheck o ...
" by
Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greates ...
. The final song played on WAVF was "
My Wave
"My Wave" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden, notable for an unorthodox tuning of E-E-B-B-B-B, and being predominantly in , an irregular time signature for rock music. Featuring lyrics written by frontman Chris Cornell and music co-writt ...
" by
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...
.
On September 6, 2017, the sale of the station to Saga Communications was complete.
101.7 history
WTZR-FM and WKZQ
WTZR-FM
signed on
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...
the air . It was the
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
to WTGR 1520 AM in
Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the " Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. It ...
. FM 101.7 was originally established as an
automated
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...
beautiful music station, operating out of an equipment room. By the late 1970s, WTZR-FM changed its call letters to WKZQ. It switched to 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 ...
-
AOR hybrid, known as ''"The All New Energy 102 WKZQ"''.
By the late 1980s, it was playing
mainstream rock
Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.
Format background
Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
, then
active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
in the 1990s and finally
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
. With this alternative format, WKZQ was a popular radio station both in South Carolina and among alternative rock fans across the country. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine named it one of the "Top 5 Radio Stations" in America.
Switching stations
Because Myrtle Beach is a smaller
radio market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
than Charleston, the decision was made to move WKZQ to a community near Charleston. That would allow it to charge more for the commercials it played and enjoy more revenue.
In September 2008, WKZQ abandoned its historic frequency of 101.7 MHz and migrated to 96.1 MHz in a frequency swap with WAVF.
WKZQ continues as an alternative rock station serving the Myrtle Beach market from its
city of license
In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American broadcast ...
in
Forestbrook, South Carolina. WAVF remains an
adult hits station, serving the Charleston market from its 101.7 MHz frequency.
Previous logos
References
External links
Official Website*
Charleston ''Post & Courier'' article on Wave's demise
{{Saga Communications
AVF
Adult hits radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1969
1969 establishments in South Carolina