Press Releases

October 27, 2003

For Immediate Release:

WCPE RADIO TO PROVIDE CLASSICAL MUSIC SERVICE ON WUNC-OWNED TRANSMITTERS SERVING THE OUTER BANKS

Listeners in the region to hear both all-news and all-classical public radio stations

The management of WCPE and WUNC Public Radio has agreed to a partnership that will allow residents of North Carolina's Outer Banks to hear classical music 24 hours a day on two radio stations operated by WUNC. Beginning November 3, WCPE's classical music service will be broadcast on 90.9 FM/Manteo and 90.5 FM/Buxton, reaching listeners in Dare and Tyrrell Counties. The Outer Banks stations signed on the air in 2000, and have been broadcasting WUNC's mix of National Public Radio and local programming.

WUNC's news and information programming will continue to be heard in the northeastern part of the state at 88.9 FM, from a new radio station that signed on the air in Columbia, NC, September 1. WUNC and WCPE managers began discussing a retransmission of WCPE's Great Classical Music service once it became clear that WUNC's new station would overlap the signals of the two smaller stations in Manteo and Buxton. These overlapping signals allowed the possibility of providing a second distinct public radio service to listeners on the Outer Banks.

"I'm very pleased that this partnership with WCPE will allow listeners on the Outer Banks a choice of an all-news station and an all-classical station," says WUNC general manager Joan Siefert Rose. "This presents the best possible outcome for residents who had virtually no access to public radio as recently as four years ago. I credit a close working relationship with WCPE's staff for making this happen."

WCPE general manager Deborah Proctor says, "We are looking forward to serving residents and vacationers on the Outer Banks with the finest in classical music programming. We appreciate WUNC's efforts to make this possible. The listeners win all the way around thanks to this partnership."

As the change in programming may create some confusion for listeners used to tuning in to NPR's Morning Edition at 90.9 or 90.5 FM, announcements will direct listeners to find the familiar news programming at 88.9 FM. Likewise, announcements on 88.9 FM will inform listeners about the classical music service to be found slightly further up the dial.

Under the partnership, WCPE will provide classical music programming free of charge to the Manteo and Buxton stations. WUNC will maintain the technical operations at those sites. Each station will raise funds separately from listeners through on-air fund drives and by mail. WUNC and WCPE will explore the possibility of combining fund raising efforts in the region once the level of support from the audience has been determined.

The Classical Station, WCPE is a listener-supported radio station dedicated to bringing Great Classical Music to everyone 24 hours a day. WCPE broadcasts on 89.7 FM in central North Carolina and on 88.3 FM in the Sandhills area. Selected radio affiliates and cable TV systems around the United States relay WCPE's classical programming, which is also available on the Galaxy 5 Satellite, transponder 15, at 5.58 and 6.12 MHz. WCPE streams its programming on the Internet from TheClassicalStation.org.

WUNC is the public radio service licensed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is heard at 91.5 FM in the Triangle and Triad regions, at 90.9 FM in Rocky Mount/Wilson, and at 88.9 FM on the Outer Banks. WUNC serves more than 300,000 listeners each week with its news and information format.

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For more information, please contact David Wright, Assistant Director of Radio, WUNC at (919) 966-5454 or by e-mail at dwright@wunc.org; and Deborah Proctor, general manager, WCPE at (919) 556-5178 or by e-mail at signal@wcpe.org.

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