WLNC to acquire FM frequency

LAURINBURG — Though the station is currently restricted to daytime broadcasting only, by the end of summer listeners of WLNC radio will be able to tune in to their favorite local station after sunset.

According to station owner Gary Gallman, WLNC, which has broadcast as an AM station at the 1300 frequency since its inception in the 1960s, will be rebroadcast on an FM signal by mid-August. Though listeners will still be able to tune in on AM radio, the FM broadcast will likely have less static for better sound quality and, more importantly for Fighting Scots football fans, can remain on air after dark.

“Our AM signal has to sign off by legal sundown as prescribed by the FCC,” said Gallman. “As the days get shorter, we have to sign off earlier and earlier, so by the time we get into late October and early November we have to sign off so early that we can’t continue with our football coverage.”

The station is working to establish an arrangement with the Scotland County Board of Commissioners to place equipment to translate the AM signal and broadcast an FM signal on the county’s EMS tower. The station also must be equipped to transmit its signal to that translator.

Former Laurinburg resident Don Curtis, the chairman and CEO of Raleigh-based Curtis Media Group, alerted WLNC to the availability of FM frequency 95.1, and will lease the translating equipment necessary to rebroadcast on FM to the Laurinburg station.

Until now, WLNC has worked with WEWO, another local AM station, to broadcast football coverage after dark. At frequency 1460, WEWO has been on the air about 20 years longer than WLNC and is permitted to remain live during the nighttime hours — when the increased propagation of AM radio waves would cause interference were all stations to continue broadcasting at daytime operating power.

The ability to broadcast at night will also expand WLNC’s capacities as an emergency communication service.

“In cases of emergency, like weather emergencies and that kind of thing, we’ve sort of been the voice to get the word out to people,” said Gallman. “This gives us an even larger voice to be able to get word out when it’s needed.”