News Radio 570 WWNC Expands to FM for First Time in Century

When Hurricane Helene's floodwaters rose close to 30 feet through Western North Carolina in September 2024, cutting power, internet, and cell service across the region within hours, WWNC's 570 AM signal became one of the few functioning information lifelines residents had left. On Thursday, iHeartMedia Asheville extended that lifeline: News Radio 570 WWNC launched its first-ever FM simulcast on 92.9, marking the first time in the station's nearly 100-year history that it has broadcast on the FM band.

The signal went live April 2 on translator W225CJ-FM, a 180-watt FM translator covering Asheville proper. WWNC remains simultaneously available on 570 AM. The 92.9 FM slot previously carried ESPN Asheville on WPEK 880 before iHeartMedia reassigned it within its Asheville cluster.

Morning host Mark Starling called the milestone historic. "This is a huge step for WWNC, not only for our station but for our clients and especially our listeners," Starling said, describing the expansion as a "first for western North Carolina in news/talk format."

Drew Salamon, Area President for iHeartMedia Carolinas, tied the move directly to Western North Carolina's appetite for local information. "Extending News Radio 570 WWNC to 92.9 FM gives Western North Carolina greater access to trusted news and talk at a time when local information matters more than ever," Salamon said.

FM signals are generally easier to receive than AM and tend to draw larger audiences in modern listening environments. That dynamic shows up in the ratings: WWNC ranked seventh in the Asheville market with a 3.1 audience share in the Fall 2025 Nielsen Audio ratings, well behind Blue Ridge Public Radio's BPR News on 88.1 WCQS, which ranked second in the market with a 10.6 share. The FM expansion is seen as a competitive move to close that gap.

WWNC is Asheville's oldest radio station. It was first licensed on June 24, 1925, as WABC to the Asheville Battery Company, and made its first official broadcast on February 21, 1927, from the George Vanderbilt Hotel in downtown Asheville. The call letters stand for "Wonderful Western North Carolina." In its pre-FM heyday, the station's Arbitron share sometimes exceeded 40 percent, with morning drive host Scotty Rhodarmer pushing it as high as 50 percent, making WWNC at times the highest-rated radio station in the entire United States.

The 92.9 FM simulcast carries WWNC's full programming lineup, beginning with First News on 570 from 6 to 9 a.m., followed by Glenn Beck, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, Sean Hannity, Dave Ramsey, and Jesse Kelly.

The expansion reflects a broader national pattern. The FCC's AM Revitalization initiative has encouraged AM stations to acquire FM translators as audiences migrate away from the AM band. The FCC counted 4,342 AM stations at year-end 2025, down from 4,383 the prior year, while FM translators nationally number roughly 8,867. More than two dozen AM broadcasters filed a petition with the FCC in late 2025 seeking expanded FM translator access. Zac Davis, Area Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Carolinas, said the move would allow WWNC to broaden its reach with trusted content across the region.

After nearly 99 years on a single frequency, WWNC now holds two.