WSCZ (93.9 FM) is a commercial

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 ...

Winnsboro, South Carolina Winnsboro is a town in Fairfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,550 at the 2010 census. The population was 3,215 at the 2020 census, a population decrease of approximately 9.5% for the same 10 year period. It is the ...

. It is owned by

Alpha Media LLC Alpha Media LLC is a radio broadcasting company based in Portland, Oregon, and led by Bob Proffitt. The group does business under the Alpha Media name. It was formed from the merger of Alpha Broadcasting, L&L Broadcasting, and Main Line Broadc ...

and it

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

WHXT WHXT (103.9 FM) is a mainstream urban radio station licensed to Orangeburg, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Alpha Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an eff ...

103.9 in

Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Burg'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2020 United Stat ...

. Together both stations cover most of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, with WSCZ based to the north and WHXT based to the south. The stations air a

mainstream urban Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ' ...

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, ...

. The studios are on Pineview Road in Columbia and WSCZ's

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 Flint Hill Road in Winnsboro.

Station history

WQKI-FM first

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 ...

in 1990 as the FM

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 ...

of WQKI. WQKI-FM featured an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

music format under the "Quikie 93.9" moniker. In 2003, Miller Communications acquired WQKI-FM and swapped its

call letters 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

with WIGL 102.9. It got a construction permit to upgrade its signal to cover parts of Columbia. In that year, Miller flipped 93.9 to

Hot AC 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, ...

as Mix 93.9 with the

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

program "

The Bob and Sheri Show ''Bob and Sheri'' is a syndicated U.S. radio program hosted by Bob Lacey and Sheri Lynch. It is heard in morning drive time. Its flagship station is WKQC-FM "K104.7" in Charlotte, North Carolina. For 29 years, the originating station had bee ...

" in the morning. Two years later, WIGL flipped to Classic Hits as Bad Dog 93–9 with

Rick & Bubba ''The Rick and Bubba Show'' was an American comedy radio show based in Birmingham, Alabama. Nationally syndicated and produced at WZZK-FM, the show was live every weekday for five hours and was hosted by Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey. ...

in the morning. The station shared the same programming with sister WICI-FM 94.7 in

Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumt ...

. On March 30, 2007, after a year that saw little audience growth, WIGL was LMA'ed to Peregon Broadcasting, the operators of WQVA 1170 in Lexington and temporary operator of WHZQ 94.1 in Cross Hill (WHZQ was dropped several weeks after Peregon acquired control of WIGL). Peregon flipped WIGL to Spanish Contemporary as "Radio Ritmo" (Spanish for "rhythm"), making it the first

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

FM in the Columbia radio market. Programming included contemporary music and

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

as well as community affairs. The state's Latino population had increased by 45 percent in five years, fourth in the country. Miller Communications' Harold Miller said, "The response has been excellent." In July 2008, WIGL went dark and the Ritmo format was relegated to the 1170 AM signal. The LMA with Peregon fell through. On Thursday, July 8, 2010, WIGL's call letters were changed to WSCZ-FM. On Friday, July 16, 2010, WSCZ-FM signed on with

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 ...

as "Z 93-9" with the slogan "Everything That Rocks." Then, in November 2010, WSCZ became "Cat

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

93.9", "Columbia's New Station For Today's Country & Your All Time Favorites". On September 9, 2014, WSCZ began simulcasting WHXT "Hot 103.9". Effective November 30, 2015, Miller Communications sold WSCZ to

for $900,000.

References

External links

* SCZ Radio stations established in 1992 Mainstream urban radio stations in the United States 1992 establishments in South Carolina Alpha Media radio stations {{SouthCarolina-radio-station-stub