WNCI
|
|
| Contents |
General Information
FM Radio station in Columbus, Ohio located at 97.9MHz. Its official print brand identifier is WNCI 97.9 in a purple oval, while the station is known on-air as 97.9 WNCI.
WNCI plays mostly Top 40 music, and is consistently the #1 rated station in Central Ohio by Arbitron.
WNCI is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications. Previously owned by Jacor Communications Incorporated. Jacor acquired the assets of Nationwide Communications in 1997 for $620 million. WNCI was once the flagship station for the 17 radio station group Nationwide Communications, a division of the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (http://www.nationwide.com). In fact, the call letters NCI stand for Nationwide Communications Inc.
The broadcast tower for the station is still located atop the Nationwide building at One Nationwide Plaza in Columbus, along with the transmitters for sister stations WCOL and WFJX.
The station broadcasts with a power of 175,000 watts, which is 3.5 times what would normally be permitted. The station is permitted to do so because it was operating with a 175,000 watt power output before current Federal Communications Commission regulations were enacted. There are only 6 FM stations in the United States that operate with more power.
Mornings, the station airs the popular WNCI Morning Zoo. From 7:00 PM to 12:00 Midnight, the station airs the Joey Hoops Radio show, hosted by Joey Hoops, who is as of May 2005, the station's newest DJ.
History
WNCI started broadcasting with a classical music format in July of 1961 as WRFD-FM, sharing studios with AM sibling WRFD, east of Powell, Ohio. In 1972, WNCI moved to the sixth floor of the new Scot's Inn, at 4900 Sinclair Road. Since that time, the studios of WNCI have been relocated to various places in the Columbus area, including the Nationwide Building, The Continent, Broadcast Lake (a former quarry overlooked by several Clear Channel radio studios and the television studios of WSYX), and their current location at 2323 W. Fifth Avenue.
Throughout much of its history, WNCI was known as Stereo 98.
Although there is still a WRFD on the AM dial, it no longer has any affiliation with WNCI.
Trivia
The former Scot's Inn studio site, now called The Midwest Hotel and Conference Center, is located very near The Alrosa Villa, site of the December 8, 2004 murder of Dimebag Darrell.
External Link
Official website (http://www.wnci.com)