WKNC
Encyclopedia
WKNC-FM North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...

's student-run radio station, is a College radio station in the United States. Broadcasting with an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...

 of 25,000 watts, its signal covers much of the Research Triangle and outlying areas. The station is entirely student-run, from the DJs and technicians to the station management. The primary weekday format is indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

. The station was recently named "Best of the Triangle" by the readers of the Independent Weekly
Independent Weekly
The Independent Weekly is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States and distributed throughout the Research Triangle area and counties .The Independent is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and has a...

.

Programming

WKNC's programming is divided into four main formats: Daytime Rock (primarily indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

), Afterhours (electronic/techno music), Underground (hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

), and Chainsaw Rock (heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

). The "Local Lunch" airs weekdays from 12:00PM to 1:00PM, during which only North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 artists are played.

WKNC airs many specialty shows including Geet Bazaar (music from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and others), Saturday Night Soul R&B, The 2.0 show Mixshow Hip-Hop, Neo soul
Neo soul
The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...

, Dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

, Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

, A cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

, Punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, Post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...

, Ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

, Americana
Americana
Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...

 and Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 and Grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

.

WKNC produces a weekly public affairs show called "Eye on the Triangle," which focuses on current events and culture in the Research Triangle. It is hosted by Public Affairs Director, Chris Cioffi.

The station carries NC State Wolfpack women's basketball
NC State Wolfpack women's basketball
The NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team is one of the most storied programs in women's college basketball history.-The Early Days :The women's basketball team at NC State had its beginnings in 1974...

 games and men's baseball games from the Wolfpack Sports Network. "The Pulse of The Pack" is a sports talkshow hosted by Cory Smith.

Each year since 2004, WKNC also holds a benefit concert named the Double Barrel Benefit
Double Barrel Benefit
Double Barrel Benefit , is WKNC-FM's annual fundraiser that provides for two nights of music from local North Carolina based bands. The benefit series was first organized by former General Manager Jamie Procter and held January 4–5, 2004 in Raleigh, North Carolina. 2005 was the first year that...

. The two-night concert series bring in North Carolina based bands in order to raise additional funds for the station.

The station has also expanded to online-exclusive content including a weekly podcast called SoundOff, which discusses new music and music news.

History

  • 1922 - First licensed as WLAC by communications department faculty and students; it was the second radio station in North Carolina.
  • 1923 - WLAC signed off due to financial troubles.
  • 1944 - A group of engineering students establish WOLF (the mascot of NCSU is the Wolfpack) as a carrier current
    Carrier current
    Carrier current is a method of low power AM radio transmission that uses the AC electrical system of a building to propagate a medium frequency, AM signal to a relatively small area, such as a building or a group of buildings...

     station for on-campus listeners.
  • 1945 - The station's call letters were changed to WNCS (W-North Carolina State) and the station was recognized by the Student Publications Authority. With university support, a permanent home for the station was established on campus.
  • 1947 - The call letters were changed, again, to WVWP (W-Voice of the Wolf Pack) as the station experimented with broadcasting sporting events.
  • 1948 - The station broadcast all home basketball games.
  • 1952 - The FCC shut the station down for over-radiation of its signal.
  • 1954 - WVWP returned to the airways.
  • 1958 - A final call letter change from WVWP to WKNC, 580 AM.
  • October, 1966 - WKNC 580AM became WKNC 88.1FM. The 10 watt transmitter expanded the coverage area from on-campus residence halls to much of the surrounding city. WKNC aired a mix of folk, jazz, and classical music at the time.
  • 1972 - The station moved into studios in the University Student Center, and a guyed 30 foot antenna tower was built atop the University's library.
  • 1974 - Transmitter power increased to 1,000 watts. Format changed to a progressive rock
    Progressive rock (radio format)
    Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...

     style, but continued to feature top-40, jazz, and soul.
  • early 1980s - The station moved into a hard rock/heavy metal format and gained praise as one of the top college stations in the nation.
  • 1984 - Effective Radiated Power increased to 3,000 watts, expanding coverage to a 40 mile radius. An 80 foot self-supporting tower replaced the guyed mast.
  • 1991 - WKNC moved into its current studios in the Student Center Annex (later named the Witherspoon Student Center).
  • 1997 - WKNC began its webcast
  • late 1990s & early 2000s - The format changed from a hard rock format to a wider blend of music focusing on independent and non-top-40 artists.
  • 2003 - Effective Radiated Power increased to 25,000 watts, making WKNC one of the most powerful college radio stations in America.
  • 2011 - Gospel Inspirational Station on 88.1 WJAE & FM WUSA in North River N.C. Broadcast for Morning Praise Weekday at 6am-11am, Mid-Day Gospel Connection Weekdays at 11am-1pm, UA 7 Gospel with Mike D. Weekday Afternoon at 1pm-2pm, Walking In The Light Every Friday Night at 6pm-8pm, and Heart And Soul tune in Mon-Fri Night at 8pm-12 Midnight. And On 95.3
    WFMV
    WFMV, known as "Gospel 95.3", is a full-time urban contemporary gospel station simulcast located in the Midlands region of South Carolina. WFMV is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to South Congaree, a small village located near Columbia to broadcast on 95.3 FM. WFMV broadcasts...

     WWJD What Would Jesus Do Radio in Fort Macon N.C. Play Good Gospel Music Such as Walking In The Light starting Friday at 6pm-8pm And On WENC-FM Gospel Glory 88.7
    WAGO
    WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG is a German company that manufactures components for electrical connection technology and electronic components for decentralized automation technology...

     in Cedar Island N.C. Play Music Such as John P. Kee
    John P. Kee
    John P. Kee is an American gospel singer and pastor.-Early life:John P. Kee was born the 15th out of 16 children in Durham, North Carolina. At an early age he began to develop his musical talent both instrumentally and vocally...

    , Kirk Franklin
    Kirk Franklin
    Kirk Dwayne Franklin is an American Gospel music musician, choir director, and author, and is most notably known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, God's Property and One Nation Crew .- Early years :...

    , Karen Clark Sheard
    Karen Clark Sheard
    Karen Clark-Sheard is an American gospel four-time Grammy Award winning singer, musician, and songwriter. The youngest daughter of pioneering gospel choral director Mattie Moss Clark, Sheard began her career as a member of the Grammy-Award winning, gospel legendary female group, The Clark Sisters...

    , and Marvin Sapp
    Marvin Sapp
    Pastor Marvin Louis Sapp is an American Gospel music singer-songwriter who recorded with the group Commissioned during the 1990s before beginning a record-breaking solo career...

    .

External links

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