Charlotte Oldies Radio Question

[vchimpanzee]

[On another point, I am surprised that he has not made the 630 station into something besides jukebox, he got the call letters WAIZ, and is using the moniker "Big Ways" even went as far as getting some of the old Big Ways jingles redone.  But then he went with do-wop oriented oldies instead of the '60s I would have expected, and jockless too, basically a jukebox with commercials.

Yes I know its AM, but still I would have expected more out of Dave and anyone capitalizing on the old "Big Ways" franchise!

Just my $0.02 worth, adjusted for inflation, YMMV.

I am surprised he would do this with these songs. I even suggested after Magic went off the air that he move the WAIZ call letters and jingles to The Ride and add in more R & B and other styles to the progressive rock mix so it would actually sound like Big WAYS. I heard somewhere they didn't even do top 40 on WAYS in the years covered by WAIZ.

[amfmsw]

When I was in Fort Mill SC to visit my brother for a Charlotte Race, he listened to an Oldies Non-Com.  It was really good!  What was that, and do they stream?

[wncc]

WRBK, 90.3 Richburg, SC.  I don't think they stream, and you can't pick it up on the north side of Charlotte.

[Call Me Sherlock]

I believe the station you're talking about is WRBK (90.3 FM?) in Richburg, SC.  They are automated with a pretty broad playlist, good jingles and a decent signal in the south end of Charlotte.

There are no personalities, a pre-recorded weather forecast with a sponsor mention and that's about it.  Every so often, I notice a song that is not the original version, but on the whole -- a pretty good little oldies station.

I'm not up on FCC rules, how does this qualify as an "educational" station or is the rule that stations at that end of the dial simply have to be non-commercial?

[JimPastrick]

Hey Whitey... last week this time, we were sitting at The Deerhead on Clinton Street having some Beef On Weck and trading classic radio stories about Ampex 440-C's, Gates turntables, formatics, WBBF, WAXC and radio Elmira-Corning, Rochester and Buffalo. Definitely good times.

"Sherlock" is way too modest to admit it, but you guys (and ladies) have an outstanding talent with his contributions to this board.

To address your question, the "non-com" band starts at 88.1 (Channel 201) and goes through 91.9 (Channel 220), according to the FCC Table of Assignments.

Channels 201-220 are more aptly defined as "non-commercial" rather than "educational," which explains the interesting array of stations, from religious non-profits to colleges to community owned stations, that can be found operating in that part of the FM band.

Now, in Canada, the frequencies between Channels 201-220 are fair game to commercial operators, which makes the FM band pretty interesting in this neck of the woods with big ol' 50 kW flame throwers playing everything from commercial classical, commercial jazz and adult hits.

It's one of the most congested FM bands in the country, shared by two nations, which is why space is at a premium, and there are few, if any LPFM's for knuckleheads like me.

Hope this helps.