WFAE

Student-run station

WFAE first signed on the air on April 18, 1977.^[6] It was the student radio service of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, playing classical music and jazz. It was originally on 90.9 MHz, broadcasting from a 10-watt transmitter atop the library building. It succeeded a student-run carrier current station known as "WVFN" (Voice of the 49ers), which operated from the basement of the Cone University Center.^{[citation needed]} As of 1976, the station had reduced the amount of Top 40 music and increased jazz programming.^[7]

The outlet was limited by its small budget, $25,000 a year, all collected from UNCC student fees. Its signal was limited to only the campus and surrounding neighborhoods of northeastern Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.^[8][9]

NPR affiliation

Charlotte was one of the largest markets in the South without an NPR member station until South Carolina Educational Radio outlet WPRV (now WNSC-FM) launched from a transmitter at Rock Hill on January 3, 1978.^[10] It initially broadcasting instructional programs during the day before beginning a full-time schedule in July.^[11]

In September 1978, WFAE secured Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to move to 90.7 MHz with a full 100,000 watts.^[12] However, construction of the upgraded facility was hindered by state procurement delays.^[13]

High power debut

The station went off the air on December 7, 1979, to allow construction of its full-power facility to begin.^[14] It returned at full power on June 29, 1981.^[15] On that day, it became North Carolina's third full NPR member station, alongside WFDD in the Piedmont Triad and WUNC in the Triangle.

In addition to NPR programs, the new station aired jazz during the day with classical music at night and on Sundays. Later, jazz was moved to night.^[16] The station grew rapidly, and within five years moved to larger studios in the One University Place building near the UNC Charlotte campus, where the station is still based today.

In February 1986, WFAE began airing new-age music on a Sunday evening show emphasizing contemporary jazz, featuring such artists as George Winston and Kitaro.^[17] The show was called "New Age Sunday" at first, but the station dropped that name to distance itself from the new age spiritual movement.^[18] In 1987, WFAE began broadcasting 24 hours a day^[19] and began airing more news and information programming along with more contemporary jazz, dropping classical music because WDAV played it.^[20][21]

Foundation control

WFAE's growth occurred amid financial uncertainty. UNC Charlotte was eventually forced to end support for the station due to a budget crunch. On April 15, 1993, UNC Charlotte handed over control to a nonprofit community board, the University Radio Foundation, which still owns the station today.

WFAE continued to grow through the next decade. It added a satellite station in Hickory, North Carolina, WFHE, at 90.3 MHz, in 1995. WFAE's signal is spotty at best in some parts of the North Carolina Foothills. WFHE simulcasts WFAE.

More news, less music

In 1996, WFAE largely dropped music in favor of a news/talk. It was one of the first NPR stations to air NPR's midday news/talk block (The Diane Rehm Show, Fresh Air and Talk of the Nation). However, it had been committed to news long before then.

In 1998, it launched Charlotte Talks, hosted by longtime WBT host Mike Collins. Charlotte Talks is a popular local show that focuses on local issues and figures and airs live at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. It soon became "the de facto talk show of record in Charlotte".^[22]

In November 2000, WFAE dropped its last jazz program, Jazz Tonight with Barbara Nail, which ran from 8 to midnight weekdays, replacing it with a rerun of Fresh Air, The Todd Mundt Show, and two extra hours of The World Today.^[23]

Weekend programming

In April 2023, WFAE dropped its last remaining music programming, consisting of ambient music program Echoes and the rock music talk show Sound Opinions. WFAE also used to air a locally produced Sunday evening program of new-age music called Nightscapes, but replaced that with an expanded broadcast of Echoes. For many years, WFAE was the originating station for The Thistle & Shamrock, a popular Celtic music show from NPR that originated on WFAE when it was licensed to UNC Charlotte and its host, Fiona Ritchie, was a visiting professor at the university. It began as a local program soon after WFAE signed on, and was picked up nationally in 1983. Even after WFAE dropped most music programming from its schedule, Thistle remained on the schedule until 2013.

HD Radio

In 2004, WFAE became the first station in Charlotte and the first public radio station in North Carolina to broadcast using HD Radio.^[24] HD Radio was also added to WFHE.

On July 28, 2008, WFAE began airing jazz from JazzWorks on one of its HD channels to reach those disappointed by WNSC-FM joining SCETV's all-news network. Locally produced jazz shows were a possibility as well, since the station still has a large music library.^[25]

In 2012, WFAE added two low-powered translators in the Sandhills—one in Laurinburg and one in Southern Pines.

Translators

WFAE programming is broadcast on the following translators: