WTPT (93.3 FM) is an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

station licensed to

Forest City, North Carolina Forest City, formerly known as "Burnt Chimney", is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,377 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous municipality in the county. History The Alexander Manu ...

, and serving the

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 ...

and

Western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United S ...

regions, including

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 ...

, and

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

. The

Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...

outlet is licensed by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) to broadcast with an ERP of 93 kW. The station goes by the name 93.3 The Planet Rocks and is the home station of the nationally syndicated The Rise Guys Morning Show with Matthew "Mattman" Harris, James "Nine" MacDonell, Jeremy "Fat Boy" Ellenburg. The station broadcasts from near

Columbus, North Carolina Columbus is a town and the county seat of Polk County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,060 at the 2020 census. History The Green River Plantation, J. G. Hughes House, and Polk County Courthouse are listed on the National ...

, with studios in Greenville, South Carolina. However, it is licensed to

History

The station, then known as WBBO-FM and WBBO (780 AM) ("We Build Business Opportunities"), signed on September 10, 1947, in

. The station was owned by the Anderson family, which also owned the "Forest City Courier" newspaper and WPNF in nearby

Brevard, North Carolina Brevard ( ) is a city and the county seat of Transylvania County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 7,609 as of the 2010 census. Brevard is located at the entrance to Pisgah National Forest and has become a noted tourism, ret ...

. Both stations simulcasted with each other on a full-time basis until the late 60s. WBBO-FM featured a variety of formats throughout the next decade, including

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, ...

and

adult contemporary 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 ...

. On January 1, 1988, after building a tower on Tryon Peak near

, to improve its signal range, WBBO-FM switched to a satellite

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

format, distributed from

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, and began calling itself "The Breeze". artists included

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine; namesake of the word ''sadism'' * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

, as well as

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

performers, and artists playing the music of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

. Listeners tended to be very educated and also enjoyed

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

. WBBO-FM planned to move to Greenville, South Carolina in 1989. One listener described the music as "lasting quality ... not something that will be a big hit for six months and then fade away." On February 14, 1991 (

Valentines Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

), WBBO-FM flipped to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

(CHR) as "Power 93". This move brought back the format to the nearby Greenville-Spartanburg market that the former WANS (now

WJMZ WJMZ-FM (107.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Anderson, South Carolina and serving the Upstate South Carolina region, including Greenville and Spartanburg. The station is owned by SummitMedia and airs an urban adult contemporary ...

) had before they abandoned it for adult contemporary. Initially, ratings were very good, but quickly fizzled out to 9th place, where it stayed throughout much of its existence. In August of next year, the Power 93 moniker was dropped for "93.3 WBBO" as the station became more Dance-oriented. Again, ratings had shown little improvement and was re-adjusted toward Mainstream CHR within a year. In mid-1994, the station was re-branded as "Q-93" and adopted a more uptempo-ed CHR format sprinkled with plenty of

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

. Ratings started to slowly tick upward, but the station was sold to Benchmark Communications (then-owners of

WESC WeSC (short for "We are the Superlative Conspiracy") is a Swedish clothing brand that is primarily influenced by skateboarding and snowboarding. The company's CEO is Joseph Janus. Retail outlets In 2009, WeSC signed an exclusive retail deal wi ...

and

WESC-FM WESC-FM (92.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Greenville, South Carolina, serving the Upstate region, including Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson, South Carolina, as well as Asheville, North Carolina. It airs a classic country radio ...

) and the format was dropped altogether on January 1, 1995, for a younger-skewing

format as "93-Q Country" under the WFNQ call letters. The station began the format with 19,095 songs in a row commercial-free, the most ever on a commercial radio station up to that time. The idea was to use WFNQ as a flanker against then-rival country outlet

WSSL-FM WSSL-FM (100.5 MHz, "Whistle 100.5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Gray Court, South Carolina, and serving Greenville, Spartanburg and Upstate South Carolina. It airs a country music format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The ...

so that WESC-FM could be the #1 station in the market. This strategy failed miserablely as WFNQ went to the bottom of the ratings within several months. Programming also included the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

music program ''Face to Face'' from Right Turn Radio. On September 13, 1996, WFNQ dropped Young Country for

as "93.3 The Planet". The call letters of WTPT were adopted by the end of the year. After being acquired 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 ...

in the late 1990s, Barnstable Broadcasting purchased the station in 1999, along with

WROQ WROQ (101.1 FM) is a classic rock radio station licensed to Anderson, South Carolina, and serving the Upstate South Carolina region, including Greenville and Spartanburg. The station has had a classic rock format since December 1, 1987. This ...

. The company sold WTPT as well as WROQ and WGVC to

Entercom Communications Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...

in 2005.

HD Radio

WTPT-HD2 carries a simulcast of

WHQA WHQA is a Southern Gospel station located in the Upstate region of South Carolina. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the town of Honea Path and broadcasts on 103.1 MHz with an effective radiated po ...

's southern gospel format, known as ''The Life FM'', and is simulcast on the following

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

: WTPT-HD3 carries Audacy's

BetQL Network The BetMGM Network (known on air as The Bet) is a radio network owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. that focuses on the world of sports betting. It is heard on the Audacy app as well as Audacy's portfolio of sports stations. The network was laun ...

, which was added on February 23, 2022.

References

External links

* * * {{Entercom Active rock radio stations in the United States TPT Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in North Carolina Audacy, Inc. radio stations Forest City, North Carolina