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WNOW (1030 AM) "Activa" is a
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...
broadcasting a Regional Mexican format licensed to
Mint Hill, North Carolina Mint Hill is a suburban town in southeastern Mecklenburg and northwestern Union counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, it is a major suburb on the outskirts of Charlotte and near the Cabarrus County line. The population was 22,722 at the ...
, United States. The AM frequency is currently owned by Noberto Sanchez's Norsan Group, through licensee Norsan Media LLC. The AM frequency is a daytime-only operation, as it operates on the same frequency as
clear-channel A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...
WBZ in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
.


FM Translator

In addition to the main station at 1030
kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...
, WNOW is relayed by an
FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...
in order to widen its broadcast area and provide 24 hour coverage with
stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
high fidelity sound.


History

The station signed on August 1, 1987, in Union County as a
contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it i ...
station by the founding general manager, Ken Mayfield. An April sign-on date was delayed by paperwork problems. Artists included
Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...
,
Dion Dion may refer to: People Ancient *Dion (mythology), a king in Laconia and husband of Iphitea, the daughter of Prognaus *Dion of Syracuse (408–354 BC), ancient Greek politician *Dio of Alexandria, first century BC, ancient Greek philosoph ...
,
Dan Peek Daniel Milton Peek () was an American musician best known as a member of the folk rock band America from 1970 to 1977, together with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. He has been called a "pioneer in contemporary Christian music". Early life Pe ...
and
Deniece Williams Deniece Williams (born June Deniece Chandler; June 3, 1951) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free", "Silly", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and two ''Billb ...
. Russ Jones took over as manager soon after Mayfield's departure in 1989 for WTYC. By 1992, WNOW was already offering programming from other countries. A two-hour Saturday show called "Gemutlichkeit" originating from
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...
and hosted by Inge Fischer-White included
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
,
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...
and Austrian music. Also in 1992, Charlotte's Latin American Coalition asked Jones to add Spanish programming.Kay McFadden, "Spanish on the Dial: Charlotte's WNOW-AM Aims Its Programming at the Fast-Growing Hispanic Market," ''The Charlotte Observer'', May 11, 1997. By 1996, with WRCM playing music, WNOW had switched to
Christian talk Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk program ...
. By May 1997, half of WNOW's programming was in Spanish, as various groups added shows. Luis Beltran hosted "RadioSol" starting on April 1, which was two-thirds music, mostly
Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mex ...
, along with information such as news from
Caracol Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District, of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau, ...
and
Hispanic Radio Network The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
. WNOW aired music, soccer, and Christian programming such as "La Voz De Redencion" ("The Voice of Redemption"). The area's Spanish-speaking population had increased from 12,000 to 75,000 since 1990, though
illegal aliens Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
would probably put that number closer to 100,000. Although WNOW carried the programming of "Radio Lider," this name was owned, and programming produced, by a separate company called Orbimedia Lider Communications Inc. Orbimedia first began to rent time on WNOW in 1994 and only for a few hours on Saturday afternoons. Later, Orbimedia began to rent larger portions of time and added music programming, a departure from its main talk format. WNOW was the first commercial station in the Carolinas to broadcast entirely in Spanish. The station was doing this by July 1999. Aura Maria Gavilan-Posse, who was WNOW news director in 1998, was the morning host. Her husband Julian Posse served as president of Orbimedia.Mark Washburn, "'Radio Lider' to Bid Its Listeners 'Adios,'" ''The Charlotte Observer'', July 4, 2008. Other shows included "Digalo Sin Miedo" ("Say It Without Fear"). On June 12, 2008, the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...
announced a deal with Radio Lider to broadcast all of its games for the coming season in Spanish, making the club the 12th team to do so. Since WNOW is a daytime-only station, all of the preseason games along with the Monday night contest against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
on December 8 were to be carried on a tape-delayed basis, with the remaining games being broadcast live. On July 5, 2008, Radio Lider ended its broadcasts after Orbimedia and
Davidson Media Group The Davidson Media Group (DMG) is a Charlotte-based broadcaster specializing in multi-cultural, community focused formats. The company runs stations in a number of markets in 10 states and also specializes in selling large blocks of time on some of ...
could not agree on a price acceptable to both parties for the programming to continue. On September 1, 2009, Radio Lider La Super Estacion - WNOW 1030AM was acquired by 4M Group and returned to the air with Aura M. Gavilan-Posse, Roble Zarate, Rafael "alias Punch", Claudio Bonus and Richard Bonanno in a new format—News/Talk, sports and music. In 2011, WNOW became an
ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (wh ...
affiliate, with
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
on Sundays as well as Mexican League Soccer. The station also added the
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 comedy ...
programs "Cronómetro Deportivo" and "A nivel de Cancha," with Bonus, Bonanno, Monica del Pozo and Saul Rodriguez, which will cover
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
, local soccer and other topics. Davidson Media sold WNOW and eleven other stations to TBLC Holdings, LLC effective November 5, 2015, at a purchase price of $3.5 million. Effective January 16, 2020, TBLC Media sold WNOW and translator W256BP to Noberto Sanchez's Norsan Media LLC for $500,000.


History of call letters

The call letters WNOW were previously assigned to a station in York, Pennsylvania. It began broadcasting June 22, 1948, on 1250 kHz with 1 KW power (daytime).


References


External links


Orbimedia Lider Communications, Inc.
{{Daytime-only radio stations in North Carolina Spanish-language radio stations in North Carolina, NOW
NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...
Radio stations established in 1987 1987 establishments in North Carolina
NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...