WCPE in the News

American FM Radio in the New Millennium

WCPE-FM, North Carolina's home of Great Classical Music, shows how it's done.

By Ken Reitz

Here, at the dawn of the new century and on the threshold of a new millennium, radio broadcasting is at a technological crossroads. No longer confined to the limitations of radio frequencies (RF) radiating from 3 tower at a given locale, today's broadcasters are: finding new ways to reach listeners. WCPE-FM, Wake Forest, NC, is a prime example of a broadcaster seizing every available means of transmission to further its mission. In the case of WCPE the mission is to "make great classical music available to the public 24 hours a day." And, this station delivers on its promise.

Broadcasting to most of central North Carolina and southern Virginia via its 100,000 watt transmitter feeding a state-of-the-art FM antenna atop a 1,200 foot tower. WCPE-FM serves its immediate listening area well. Most stations would consider that a happy ending to their technological achievement, but for WCPE is just the beginning.

The driving force behind this station's hi-tech quest is Deborah Proctor, General Manager and station founder. Proctor, a graduate of nearby North Carolina State University, received her degree in Electrical Engineering in 1973. A year later she applied for a license to launch WCPE and received FCC approval in 1975.

As every broadcaster knows, getting the license is only half the fun; finding the funding to actually hit the airwaves is another matter entirely. It took another four years to line up the rest of what it takes to get a station on the air; building the studios, getting the equipment, setting up an antenna and organizing a staff. Finally, on July 16, 1978, WCPE-FM went on the air with a respectable 12.5 kW. The timing was right, the location was right and listeners responded enthusiastically to the music by reaching for their checkbooks and wallets during each of their pledge drives.

Again, most public broadcasting stations would have been satisfied with the status quo, but remember, WCPE is on a mission and there's always room for new listeners. To help recruit new listeners and keep all their regular listeners informed, WCPE also publishes a bi-monthly 40 page program guide, which is sent to any listener contributing $35 or more to the station annually. Even this is negotiable. Ms. Proctor says they routinely make adjustments to people on fixed incomes or otherwise not able to contribute $35. The guide is filled with well written pieces about the music and composers heard on the station as well as reviews of recently released classical CDs.

The station also publishes Overture, a 12 page, tabloid size, newsprint magazine now in its fourth year. Overture is published in conjunction with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and distributed throughout the "Triangle" area of North Carolina through a division of the Herald-Sun Newspaper of Durham, NC. This publication is free and serves to introduce everyone in the area to the work of the NCSO and WCPE. Articles include upcoming concerts and events by the orchestra as well as WCPE station news and programming events.

Most public radio stations are either directly supported by a college or university or receive generous grants from state or federal budgets. WCPE clings stubbornly to its status as an independent radio station. They are not affiliated with any university and have no affiliation with or funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Nor do they receive any state or federal funding. The station conducts two major on-air fund drives during the year and receives grants from private foundations and businesses. This year the budget goal is $1.2 million.

So, without the CPB and the international news presence of National Public Radio, how do WCPE listeners stay informed? That's easy, 10 times daily WCPE broadcasts international news live from the BBC World Service.

WCPE also takes the community service side of their FCC license seriously. In 1996 during Hurricane Fran, WCPE was the only public radio station in the eastern half of the state to remain on the air after commercial power failed. The $200,000 diesel-powered generator and 1,000 gallon fuel tank Deborah Proctor had installed at the site ran day and night. Says Ms. Proctor, "We installed and tested the generator the day Fran was named a hurricane. A week later Fran was here, the power lines were in the mud and we ran 4 or 5 days constantly on our own generated power." The station broadcast information directly from the National Weather Service and served as an Emergency Broadcast relay station during the hurricane.

This past fall during Hurricane Floyd and the 500 year flood which ravaged the state, WCPE again remained on the air and provided weather service information. While escaping the serious flooding itself, the station manually left the grid and switched to auxiliary power hours before commercial power again failed. They remained on the generator until late the next day when power was restored.

The Sky's the Limit

WCPE's latest move in technology was to add its signal to the Galaxy 5 cable-TV satellite, thus making its programming available to over 2 million home satellite viewers and every cable-TV system in the country (potentially available in more than 70 million homes).

Galaxy 5 is one of the prime cable-TV satellites used by America's's cable systems to downlink programming. transponder 15 (WGN-TV Chicago) is a channel considered a "basic" service in most programming packages and therefore available to every cable-TV system. Since WCPE's signal is not encrypted, the station encourages cable-TV systems to provide their commercial-free programming to system subscribers.

Incidently, the WCPE signal gets to the Galaxy 5 uplink via an MPEGII up/downlink on Spacenet 4 from their transmitter site. Digital parameters are listed at the bottom of this page.

It's too early to say what impact the station's signal on Galaxy 5 will have. It does make one thing clear: in addition to the station's mission to spread great classical music, it also has a mission to do so on whatever new technology comes along. That's why you'll also find WCPE broadcasting on the Internet via www.broadcast.com, a service which started in the fall of 1998. And, if your computer is really up to the task, they provide an even better web-feed via a server courtesy of one of WCPE's inspired listeners.

This fact serves to point out the true distinction between WCPE and virtually all other public broadcasters: WCPE listeners aren't shy about donating. The fact is, WCPE-FM exudes prosperity. From its ultra-modern studios to its state-of-the art antenna, this is a broadcast facility which would be the pride of any metropolitan region in the U.S. What's the magic formula for this station's storybook success? It's simple: a station manager driven by a mission and obsessed by cutting edge technology; a dedicated, professional staff; a well educated listenership with deep enough pockets to fund the mission; and 25 years of chasing a dream.

What's next for WCPE? This is a station which embraces technology, so it won't be a surprise to hear it next on CD Radio or XM Satellite, the two direct-to-car satellite services expected to launch later this year. Once again WCPE-FM will be making "classical music available to the public 24 hours a day" and showing the way for broadcasters into the future.

For more information about WCPE-FM write them at Box 828 Wake Forest NC 27588 or call 919-556-5178; or visit their web site www.wcpe.org where you'll find links their two webcasts.

To listen via C-band satellite, tune Galaxy 5 channel 7, 5.58/6.12 narrowband. On 4DTV receivers WCPE tuning code is G5,Ch-7,#958. The programming is made available no charge to cable-TV companies for transmission to cable subscribers WCPE encourages potential listeners ask their local cable systems to do so. Digital reception via MPEGII receivers: Spacenet 4 (101 degrees W.) 3769.5 Horiz. Symbol rate: 192 kB, kHz sample rate. FEC: 1/2.

Back to WCPE in the News

Home | Listen | Programs | Classical Facts | Arts Calendar | WCPE Membership | People | About Us | Quarter Notes | WCPE News | What You're Saying | Contact Us | Site Map