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WYRD-FM

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Coordinates: 35°10′11.4″N 82°17′27.4″W / 35.169833°N 82.290944°W / 35.169833; -82.290944 (WYRD-FM)
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WYRD-FM
Broadcast area
Frequency98.9 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingNews Talk 98.9 WORD
Programming
FormatNews/talk
SubchannelsHD2: Adult contemporary "Magic"
NetworkFox News Radio
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
August 29, 1946 (1946-08-29)
Former call signs
WSPA-FM (1946–2023)
Call sign meaning
derived from sister station WYRD
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID66400
ClassC
ERP
  • 100,000 watts (analog)
  • 3,980 watts (digital)[2]
HAAT581.4 meters (1,907 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
35°10′11.4″N 82°17′27.4″W / 35.169833°N 82.290944°W / 35.169833; -82.290944 (WYRD-FM)
Translator(s)HD2: 105.9 W290BW (Greenville)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via Audacy)
Websitewww.audacy.com/989word

WYRD-FM (98.9 MHz, "98.9 WORD") is a news/talk station licensed to Spartanburg, South Carolina, and covering the Upstate region, including Greenville as well as part of North Carolina. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., with studios on Garlington Road in Greenville. WYRD-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM stations. The transmitter is on Hogback Mountain Road in Landrum.[3]

"98.9 WORD" carries three local programs on weekdays: The Tara Show with Tara Servatius airs in morning drive time.[4] Straight Talk with Bill Frady is heard in late mornings and The Charlie James Show airs in late afternoons. Syndicated talk programs include The Dana Show with Dana Loesch, The Mark Levin Show, Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and America in the Morning. Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.

History

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Logo as Magic 98.9

WSPA-FM

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The station signed on the air on August 29, 1946. The call sign was WSPA-FM and the station largely simulcast its AM sister station, 950 WSPA. WSPA-FM was the first FM station in South Carolina.[5] On August 1, 1961, it added the first stereo signal in the Southeastern United States.[6]

WSPA-FM became the strongest FM station in the United States with a move to Hogback Mountain, 3,200 feet (980 m) in elevation. Coupled with a 100,000-watt signal, WSPA-FM was one of the first stations to use a new system of vertical and horizontal towers. The station could be heard from Asheville, North Carolina, to Augusta, Georgia, and from Gainesville, Georgia, to Charlotte.

Beautiful music

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By the late 1960s, WSPA-FM had a separate format from 950 AM. WSPA-FM aired a beautiful music sound including some classical music, such as "The Metropolitan Opera," 'The Classical World of Stereo" and other shows on Sundays.[7]

The station broadcast from 8 a.m. to midnight seven days a week, with light music during the day, dinner music in the evening, and "featured works" at night.[5]

As of 1976 WSPA-FM used the syndicated "FM 100" beautiful music format.[8] It originated at FM 100 WLOO 100.3 in Chicago.

Move to soft AC

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WSPA-FM ranked third in the Arbitron ratings and second with adults in Fall 1984, with midday numbers taking a significant jump. Though still considered beautiful music, WSPA-FM added more contemporary artists such as the Captain and Tennille, Dionne Warwick and John Denver while decreasing the instrumentals. The station was making an effort to stop being considered background music.[9][10]

With the switch by WZXI in the Charlotte area from beautiful music, WSPA-FM showed up in the Spring 1986 Arbitron ratings for Charlotte, the only beautiful music station serving the area.[11]

On February 19, 1991, WSPA-FM officially made the switch to soft adult contemporary or "Lite music."[12] which according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal was "the first format change since Harry Truman". WSPA-FM had always played easy listening music and was the area's only remaining station of that type. Though still seventh with listeners 25-54, WSPA-FM needed to reach younger listeners, and WSPA-FM was doing this with soft vocals and a few instrumentals as "Lite FM, 98.9", which was still the area's softest station. Many people liked the new sound, which included lots of 70s music, but some complained to the newspaper and to the morning show of Mike Vassy, who had worked at the station since 1968.[13] The change improved the station's ratings from eighth in Fall 1990 to fifth in Winter 1991, and from sixth to fourth with adults.[12]

In fall 1994, Spartan Radiocasting, owner of WSPA and WSPA-FM, made a local marketing agreement with Augusta, Georgia-based Keymarket Communications. Early in 1995, WSPA-FM, described as "light-rock", was moving its studios to Greenville, along with WFBC and WORD (AM), while 950 WSPA would move in with WSPA-TV.[14]

Changes in ownership

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River City Broadcasting, which bought Keymarket, also purchased an option to buy the radio stations. Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of WFBC-TV and WLOS-TV, bought River City and on July 1, 1998 bought "Light Rock 98.9", WFBC-FM, WYRD (formerly WFBC), WORD, WOLI-FM and WOLT.[15]

In December 1999, Entercom bought 41 radio stations from Sinclair.[16] Entercom became Audacy in 2021.[17]

By 2002, WSPA-FM was "Magic 98.9, The Upstate's Best Variety",[18] with a mainstream adult contemporary format.[19]

Switch to talk radio WYRD-FM

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On March 6, 2023, Audacy announced that WSPA-FM and WYRD-FM (106.3) would swap formats and call signs beginning March 28. The move was intended to put WYRD-FM's talk radio programming on the larger 98.9 signal running 100,000 watts vs. the 25,000-watt signal on 106.3 FM.[20]

The Magic format was heard on 106.3 FM until April 1, 2024[21] and continued to be available on HD Radio via 98.9's HD2 digital subchannel,[22] WFBC-FM's HD4 subchannel[23] and their translators W236CD (95.1, Seneca) and W268DL (101.5, Anderson).[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WYRD-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Full Power FM Digital Notification Application [WSPA-FM], Imported Letter Attachment". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. May 26, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WYRD-FM
  4. ^ "The Tara Show". Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "S.C. Station to Up Its Power". The State. December 6, 1964. p. 14C – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "WSPA ad". The Greenville News. August 2, 1961. p. 13. Retrieved March 29, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Nutt, Karen (May 9, 2001). "History of radio in Sparkle City". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. p. D1.
  8. ^ "WSPA ad". The Greenville News. November 14, 1976. p. 7F. Retrieved March 29, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Harrison, Tom (February 27, 1985). "Dialing for ratings". The Greenville News. p. 1B – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Harrison, Tom (February 27, 1985). "Dialing for ratings". The Greenville News. p. 6B – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Borden, Jeff (August 12, 1986). "S.C. Stations Gain Entry into Charlotte Radio Ratings". The Charlotte Observer. p. 13A.
  12. ^ a b "Country still area favorite". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. April 27, 1991.
  13. ^ "WSPA change strands older listeners". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. April 13, 1991.
  14. ^ "Keymarket takes over WSPA radio". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. January 5, 1995.
  15. ^ Franco, Jose (August 11, 1998). "Upstate radio stations have new owner". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. p. B1.
  16. ^ "Entercom completes purchase of Sinclair". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. December 17, 1999.
  17. ^ Spangler, Todd (March 30, 2021). "Entercom Changes Name to Audacy, Kills Off Radio.com Brand". Variety. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  18. ^ "RiverPlace Arts Festival Features". The Greenville News. April 28, 2002. p. 260 – via newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Hudson, Eileen Davis (March 17, 2003). "Market Profile: Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.". Mediaweek. Vol. 13, no. 11. p. 18.
  20. ^ Magic 98.9 And 106.3 WORD To Swap Frequencies
  21. ^ "WSPA Greenville-Spartanburg, SC Makes Its 'La Raza' Debut". Inside Radio. April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  22. ^ a b "WYRD-HD2 Spartanburg / Greenville, SC (+3 others) "Magic" TOH Legal ID 6/21/24 12am". Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  23. ^ "Spartanburg, SC FM Bandscan 5/25/24". Event occurs at 4:09.
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