WSPC (1010 AM) 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 ...

Albemarle, North Carolina Albemarle () is a city in and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,432 in the 2020 census. History Etymology This place-name is derived from the English surname Albemarle. According to a 190 ...

. It broadcasts a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format and is owned by Stanly Communications. 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

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 ...

are on Magnolia Street in Albemarle. By day, WSPC transmits with 1,000

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 In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

, but because AM 1010 is a Canadian clear channel frequency, WSPC must reduce power at night to 64 watts to avoid interference. Programming is also heard on 250-watt

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 tr ...

W297CE at 107.3

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 ...

Programming

Weekdays begin with a local news and information show hosted by Dave Andrews. A

tradio Tradio is a type of phone-in radio program formatted to provide a venue for listeners to freely advertise items they have to sell or trade. The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midw ...

show, known as "The Trading Post," follows. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of nationally syndicated talk shows from

Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...

, Mark Levin and ''

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 198 ...

with

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is radio syndication, syndicated to ...

''. Most hours begin with world and national news from

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

. WSPC carries

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

NFL football. It also airs

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

Tar Heels football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, as well as

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

sports. Local

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

games are broadcast on Friday nights in the fall.

History

The station

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 1946, broadcasting from the Albemarle Hotel. The original

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 ...

was WABZ.

Robert D. Raiford Robert D. Raiford (December 27, 1927 – November 17, 2017) was an American radio broadcaster and actor, best known for his political/social commentaries delivered during ''The John Boy and Billy Big Show'', a morning radio program heard on stat ...

was program director in 1947, at age 19. While a student a Pfeiffer College in March 1949, longtime WFMY-TV personality Lee Kinard went to work at WABZ doing

janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...

ial and filing duties. Later he became a DJ and producer. Kinard left Pfeiffer after one year and became a part owner of the station in 1952, along with station manager Bill Page, attorney Staton Williams,

chiropractor Chiropractic () is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of physical disorder, mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the vertebral column, spine. It is based on sever ...

Joe Ivester and farmer Keith Almond. Kinard left WABZ for WFMY in 1956. An FM station at 100.9 was added later. Today that station is WPZS. The AM station established a separate identity as WWWX on 10 September 1979. On 15 February 1990, the station changed its call sign to WXLX and on 26 August 1994 to the current WSPC. In April 1993, Bill and Susi Norman bought WXLX, which had gone off the air in November 1990. This was one of the first purchases of a second AM in the same community by the same owner. At first, WXLX simulcast the couple's other station,

WZKY WZKY (1580 AM, "Magic 103.3 FM") is a radio station licensed to serve Albemarle, North Carolina, United States. The station is owned by Stanly Communications and broadcasts an oldies music format that at one time included programming from the ...

.Bill Norman, "A History of WZKY Radio: The Sound of Stanly County," 1993, p. 9. Bill Norman was a Pfeiffer graduate who got his training at the college's station WSPC. Since the letters had become available, he put them on his station.

References

External links

* * * {{News/Talk Radio Stations in North Carolina SPC Radio stations established in 1979 Albemarle, North Carolina 1979 establishments in North Carolina