| WALC | |
| City: | WALC: Charleston, South Carolina WZLC: Summerville, South Carolina |
| Area: | South Carolina Lowcountry |
| Branding: | HIS Radio 88.9 - 100.5 |
| Airdate: | WALC: WZLC: |
| Frequency: | WALC: 100.5 MHz WZLC: 88.9 MHz |
| Translator: | 91.1 W216BJ (Wando, South Carolina) |
| Format: | Christian Contemporary music |
| Erp: | WALC: 13,500 watts WZLC: 70,000 watts horizontal - 54,200 watts vertical |
| Haat: | WALC: WZLC: |
| Class: | WALC: C3 WZLD: C1 |
| Facility Id: | WALC: 72377 WZLC: 173901 |
| Callsign Meaning: | "Alice" (for a previous Modern AC format) |
| Former Callsigns: | WALC: WSUY (1990–1997) WZLC: WKBR (2011–2014) |
| Owner: | Radio Training Network |
| Sister Stations: | WLFJ-FM, WRAF (FM), WRFJ, WRTP |
| Webcast: | Listen Live |
| Website: | HisRadio.com/Charleston |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
WALC (100.5 MHz) and WZLC (88.9 MHz) are non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations serving the Charleston metropolitan area and South Carolina Lowcountry. WALC is licensed to Charleston and WZLC is licensed to Summerville. They are owned by the Radio Training Network (RTN) and carry a Christian radio format known as HIS Radio 88.9 and 100.5.
WALC is a Class C3 station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 13,500. Its transmitter is off Venning Road at Volunteer Lane in Mount Pleasant.Radio-Locator.com/WALC WZLC is a Class C1 station. It has an ERP of 70,000 watts horizontal and 54,200 watts vertical. Its transmitter is on North Parler Avenue (U.S. Route 15) in St. George.Radio-Locator.com/WZLC WALC also has an FM translator W261BJ at 91.1 MHz in Wando.[1]
Most of the day, WALC and WZLC play Christian Contemporary music. A few hours a day, they air Christian talk and teaching programs such as Focus on the Family, Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah and In Touch with Charles Stanley.[2]
WALC and WZLC are part of a network of HIS Radio stations in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. RTN also owns Christian stations known as "Joy FM," "His Radio Talk," "His Radio Praise" and "His Radio Z."
FM 100.5 signed on the air on . Its original call sign was WSUY and it aired a soft adult contemporary format as "Sunny 100.5". This lasted until late 1997 when the station was purchased by Jacor Communications and was added to its Charleston cluster. Those stations were later absorbed by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner to today's iHeartMedia, Inc. Clear Channel shifted the station toward Modern AC as "Alice @ 100.5" using the call sign WLLC.
By Spring 1998, Alice was becoming a popular station in Charleston with its "Lilith Fair-type programming", though program director Todd Haller admitted a lot of people still did not know about the station.[3] Less than a year later, the call letters switched to WALC to match its Alice moniker.
By 2001, the station had shifted toward more of a traditional Hot Adult Contemporary sound. In 2004, the station flipped to an Adult Album Alternative format as "100.5 The Drive", later transitioning to Alternative rock after the flip of WAVF 101.7 to adult hits.
In 2006, WALC was placed in Clear Channel Communications' Aloha Station Trust, LLC, a group of stations to be spun off due to FCC regulations. On November 26, 2008, Clear Channel announced that the station had been sold to the Radio Training Network. RTN is a non-profit organization based in Port Richey, Florida, which operates Christian stations, mostly in the American South.[4] The company also owns WLFJ-FM in Greenville, South Carolina, and WAFJ-FM in Augusta, Georgia.
WALC switched to a Contemporary Christian music format on January 26, 2009. The Alternative rock format previously heard on 100.5 is now heard on 104.5 WRFQ's HD Radio subchannel. Previously, "His Radio" was only able to be heard in the Charleston area on two translators, at 91.1 and 91.9 FM. These are now translators relaying WHRZ from Spartanburg, South Carolina.
FM 88.9 began broadcasting in . WKBR was its original call sign. WKBR, along with WKRI Cokesbury, South Carolina, and WFBK Fort Mill, South Carolina, were sold by Spirit Broadcasting Group Inc. for $460,832.[5]
All three stations were acquired by the Radio Training Network. WKBR changed its call letters to WZLC on September 11, 2014.[6] WZLC became a full-time simulcast of 100.5 WALC.