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WVOC (560 AM) – branded ''News Radio 103.5 & 560 WVOC'' – 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 ...
news/talk 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, interviews ...
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 serve
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station covers the Columbia metropolitan area. The WVOC studios and transmitter are located in Columbia. In addition to a standard
analog transmission Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an an ...
, WVOC is simulcast over FM
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 ...
W278CY (103.5 FM), and is available online via
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 ...
. WVOC's power is 5,000
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 around the clock from a three-tower facility west of Columbia. By day it uses a non-directional signal from a single tower. Its daytime signal provides at least secondary coverage as far north as the Charlotte suburbs, as far west as
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 Greenwood, and as far south as the Augusta and Charleston suburbs. At night, power is fed to all three towers in a directional pattern to protect other stations on
560 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 560 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission categorizes 560 AM as a regional frequency; the maximum power for any station on this frequency (in the United States) is 5,000 watts. Ar ...
. This concentrates WVOC's signal in the central part of the state.


History

The station signed on as WIS on July 10, 1930. The call letters were derived from South Carolina's nickname "Wonderful Iodine State"; before the modern-day manufacturing of
iodized salt Iodised salt ( also spelled iodized salt) is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various iodine salts. The ingestion of iodine prevents iodine deficiency. Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is the leading p ...
, a high level of
iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...
in the state's soil gave the state's residents "a low incidence of
goiter A goitre (British English), or goiter (American English), is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly. Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are ca ...
s." WIS was the last broadcast station in the United States to have been issued a previously unused call sign with three letters; this assignment took place on January 23, 1930. Soon after signing on, WIS was bought by Liberty Life Insurance Company of Columbia, becoming one of many early radio stations owned by insurance companies in the South. On October 10, 1931, WIS changed its network affiliation from
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
to the
NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Co ...
. In December 1940, the affiliation was switched to the
NBC Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...
. On November 14, 1949, a two-story studio on Bull Street was completed to house both the radio station and a planned television station. Construction of
WIS-TV WIS (channel 10) is a television station in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTES-LD (channel 16). The two stations share studios ...
was authorized January 29, 1953, and the station signed on the air on November 7, 1953. The two stations operated under a newly formed Liberty Insurance subsidiary, the Broadcasting Company of the South. After acquiring several other stations across the country, it changed its name to Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation, with WIS-AM-TV as the flagship stations. Cosmos pulled out of radio in 1986, and the new owners adopted the call sign WVOC on December 31. The TV station kept the WIS-TV call letters. The radio station had to change its call sign due to a since-repealed FCC rule that barred stations with different ownership from sharing the same call sign. (WVOC had been the call letters of the student radio station at
Canisius College Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...
in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
, from 1964 to 1976.) The new owners dropped the 56-year affiliation with NBC in favor of
CBS Radio News CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...
. WVOC began 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 with mostly syndicated shows, including
Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...
,
Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942) known by his professional name Michael Savage, is an American author, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Nation'', a nationally ...
,
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 ...
,
Matt Drudge Matthew Nathan Drudge (born October 27, 1966) is an American journalist and the creator/editor of the Drudge Report, an American news aggregator. Drudge is also an author and a former radio and television show host. Early life and education Dru ...
,
Kim Komando Kimberly Ann Komando (born July 1, 1967) is an American radio personality and the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websi ...
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 ...
. The station also featured a statewide-syndicated sports talk show in evenings. In 2001,
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 ...
bought the station. WVOC switched its network affiliation to
ABC Radio News ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-p ...
after signing a deal to run ABC Radio commentator
Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
. In 2005, as part of a corporate-wide change, the station changed to
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, ...
. From 1954 until 2002, WIS/WVOC was the flagship for the
University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
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 ...
, and touted itself as the "Home of the Gamecocks." However, on June 27, 2002, Host Communications, which handled game broadcasts for the university, decided to leave WVOC in favor of rival
Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...
stations. The decision put Gamecock athletics on Citadel's FM signals, which had wider coverage than WVOC. WVOC was the flagship radio station of the May 15, 2007, broadcast of the Fox News Republican Presidential Debate which took place in Columbia. On October 26, 2011, WVOC began simulcasting on its sister station
WXBT WXBT (100.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to West Columbia, South Carolina and serving the Columbia metropolitan area (South Carolina), Columbia metropolitan area. It airs an urban ...
, which had previously broadcast 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 ...
format. That November, WXBT changed its call sign to WVOC-FM. On January 3, 2012, as part of a three-way format swap, the
sports radio 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 comed ...
programming that was on WCOS (1400 AM) was moved to WVOC, and the call sign was changed to WXBT. As part of the swap, WXBT adopted the moniker "SportsRadio 560 The Team." In 2013, WXBT became an affiliate of
Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...
after it originally carried
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...
programming. WXBT fired most of its local hosts in October 2014 owing to poor ratings. That November 6, WXBT switched to a simulcast of WVOC-FM, while its former sports programming moved back to WCOS. The simulcast ended on December 10, when the talk programming moved exclusively to AM 560, which changed its call letters back to WVOC on December 15. WXBT also returned to its previous
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 ...
format; in effect, this move reversed the 2011 format swap. In November 2019, WVOC added an FM translator, W278CY at 103.5 MHz.


Programming

WVOC personalities Gary David and Christopher Thompson host the morning drive program; ''The Glenn Beck Program'', ''
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show ''The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show'' is an American radio program hosted by former Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis and former '' America Now/The Buck Sexton Show'' host Buck Sexton. It is broadcast on over 400 talk radio stations ...
'', ''
The Sean Hannity Show ''The Sean Hannity Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Sean Hannity. The program is broadcast live every weekday, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The show is produced in the New York City studios of radio station WOR and is transmitt ...
'', air in late mornings, middays, and afternoons, all of which are from
Premiere Networks Premiere Networks, Inc. (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It is th ...
. ''
The Mark Levin Show ''The Mark Levin Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Mark Levin. History Levin began his career as a radio host in 2002 in a Sunday afternoon timeslot on WABC. WABC assigned Levin to fill in starting on June 16, 2003, after the ...
'' (via
Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
), and
Clyde Lewis Clyde Lewis (born 25 September 1997) is an Australian competitive swimmer. Lewis won the gold medal in the 400 metre individual medley at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He also won the gold medal in the 200 metre individual medley at the 2015 ...
(via Premiere) air in the evening hours, while ''
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 ...
'' (via Premiere) and ''
This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal ''This Morning: America's First News'' (formerly ''The Wall Street Journal This Morning'') is a two-hour radio news/talk program hosted by Gordon Deal and Jennifer Kushinka, who replaced long-serving co-host Gina Cervetti on January 2, 2015. I ...
'' (via
Compass Media Networks Compass Media Networks is an American radio network. The company launched in January 2009. It is owned by former Westwood One CEO and former COO of Connoisseur Media, Peter Kosann. The company focuses on radio and offers representation and m ...
) air in the overnight hours. Weekends hosts include
Kim Komando Kimberly Ann Komando (born July 1, 1967) is an American radio personality and the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websi ...
, Rudy Maxa, Ron Wilson, Gary Sullivan,
Joe Pags Joseph John Pagliarulo (born August 1, 1966), also known on the air as Joe Pags, is an American nationally syndicated conservative television and radio talk show host. Biography Born in Amityville, New York, Pagliarulo later lived in nearby C ...
,
Art Bell Arthur William Bell III (June 17, 1945 – April 13, 2018) was an American broadcaster and author. He was the founder and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program '' Coast to Coast AM'', which is syndicated on hundreds ...
and Bill Cunningham.


References


External links


A Sunday in Columbia, S.C.
* * {{IHeartMedia
VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus * ...
News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1930 1930 establishments in South Carolina IHeartMedia radio stations