WESC (660 kHz) 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 ...

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 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 ...

. It simulcasts a classic country format with

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 ...

WESC-FM 92.5. Owned by

iHeartMedia 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 ...

, it serves Upstate South Carolina with studios on North Main Street in Greenville. By day, WESC is powered at 5,000

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, using a non-directional antenna. Because 660 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A WFAN in

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 ...

, WESC must go off the air at night to avoid interference. 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 on Saluda Lake Road, near White Horse Road ( U.S. Route 25) in Berea.Radio-Locator.com/WESC-AM
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History

660 in Dixie

WESC signed on the air in . It was owned by the Greenville Broadcasting Company with studios on College Street. It was a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

. For many years it played

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

, branded as "660 in Dixie". In 1948, sister station WESC-FM went on the air. Both stations simulcast from 1948 until the late 1960s, when WESC-FM switched to beautiful music, while WESC continued as a country outlet. WESC-FM later returned to country music. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WESC-AM-FM were frequently the highest rated stations in the Greenville radio market. In the 1990s, WESC continued to simulcast WESC-FM most of the time. But in 1994, WESC picked up the nationally syndicated

sports radio 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 ...

show, '' The Fabulous Sports Babe''. It was hosted by Nancy Donnellan, a rare female sports show host in that era.

Christian Radio

WESC carried its country music format until March 1, 2000. At that point, it was purchased by

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 ...

. Clear Channel leased it to the Radio Training Network, which owns non-commercial station 89.3 WLFJ-FM. RTN operated 660 AM under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

(LMA). The station adopted the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

WLFJ to match its parent station. RTN programmed a listener-supported Christian talk and teaching format, most recently branded as ''His Radio Talk''. In August 2019, the LMA ended, and the station returned to the WESC call letters and country music simulcast. The previous programming continues to air on WLFJ-FM's fourth

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

channel and FM

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92.9 W225AZ.

Reduction in power

Even though it could not broadcast at night, for decades, WESC had been powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum for AM stations. It was able to use that high power thanks to a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a multi- tower array. As of March 28, 2020, WESC’s towers were taken down, due to development of a subdivision taking place on the tower site. WESC was silent until January 22, 2021, and now broadcasts at 5,000 watts using a single tower. It continues to go off the air at night to avoid interference with 660 WFAN New York.

References

External links

* {{IHeartMedia ESC (AM) Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in South Carolina Classic country radio stations in the United States IHeartMedia radio stations ESC