WSSL-FM (100.5

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 ...

, "Whistle 100.5") 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

Gray Court, South Carolina Gray Court is a town in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 795 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Greenville– Mauldin– Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Gray Court was incorporated a ...

, and serving Greenville,

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-most populous city in the state. The Office of Management and Budg ...

and

Upstate South Carolina The Upstate, historically known as the Upcountry, is a region of the U.S. state of South Carolina, comprising the northwesternmost area of the state. Although loosely defined among locals, the general definition includes the 10 counties of the ...

. It airs a

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 ...

format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios are on North Main Street in downtown Greenville. On weekdays, WSSL-FM carries two

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 ...

country music programs, ''

The Bobby Bones Show ''The Bobby Bones Show'' is an American, nationally syndicated country music radio show aired during the morning hours. The Bobby Bones Show, which originally aired from Austin, Texas, now broadcasts from studios at WSIX-FM in Nashville. Premie ...

'' heard evenings and '' After Midnite with Granger Smith'' heard overnight. WSSL-FM is a Class C0 station. It 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 most 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 Bethel Grove Church Road near Sawmill Road in Gray Court. Its auxiliary transmitter next to the main transmitter operates at 98,000 watts ERP. WSSL-FM broadcasts using

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 ...

technology. Its HD2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

formerly carried

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

's "Club Jam Country" channel, which played rhythmic country songs. The HD2 subchannel has since been turned off.

History

The first station at 100.5 MHz in the Greenville-Spartanburg market was WDXY-FM, a

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 ...

WORD A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...

910 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 910 kHz: 910 AM is a regional broadcast frequency. See also List of broadcast station classes This is a list of broadcast station classes applicable in much of North America under inter ...

in Spartanburg. It was owned by the Spartanburg Radiocasting Company and launched in 1948. But with few people owning FM receivers in that era, the owners saw little opportunity to make the station profitable. The company turned in the license after a few years. A new 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 ...

the air in . 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 ...

was WLBG-FM, the FM sister to WLBG

860 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 860 kHz: CJBC Toronto is the Class A station on 860 AM, a Canadian clear channel frequency. In Argentina * Digital in Lanus, Buenos Aires * LRA56 in Perito Moreno In Canada Sta ...

in Laurens. It became WGXL in the 1970s. The tower was moved to Gray Court and the power was increased to allow it to be heard in the Greenville-Spartanburg

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 ...

. Well known local

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

Monty Dupuy moved his morning show from WFBC 1330 AM to what was then called "XL Stereo 100." Former WFBC-TV news director Dave Partridge also provided news on the station during this time. WGXL was sold in the early 1980s to the Keymarket Group, which flipped the station to country music in September 1981. The call letters became WSSL-FM. In August 2000, the station was acquired by Capstar.''Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005'' page D-460. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
/ref> Capstar was later merged into

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 ...

, the forerunner to today's iHeartMedia. This meant WSSL would be co-owned with competing country station WESC-FM 92.5 MHz. Musically, the stations were similar and both scored well in the ratings. Over time, WSSL became the more contemporary country station with WESC-FM leaning toward classic country. WSSL is home to the popular Ellis & Bradley morning show.

References

External links

* * {{IHeartMedia SSL-FM IHeartMedia radio stations