WCHL (AM) - History

History

Chapel Hill's oldest continuous broadcaster signed on January 25, 1953 under the ownership of Sandy McClamroch, who went on to become the town's longest-serving mayor. Originally a 1,000 watt station, the station boosted its daytime power to 5,000 watts in 1978. WCHL served as the launching point for the Village Broadcasting Companies, which bought Burlington's WBAG-FM in 1983, moving it to Raleigh as WZZU (now WKSL "Kiss 93.9").

Over the years, the station developed a loyal following for being highly community-oriented. The WCHL news department brought home many Associated Press awards. WCHL played top 40 music, and later adult contemporary before going news/talk in the early 1990s. In 1997, The Village Companies (now Vilcom) sold WCHL to the Raleigh-based Curtis Media Group for $400,000. Curtis moved WCHL's studios to the WDNC studios at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and dumped the highly acclaimed local news and community-driven talk for an automated middle-of-the-road/oldies format, limited news and a simulcast morning show with co-located WDNC. However, in 2002, Vilcom regained control of its former property's sales and programming under a local marketing agreement. Vilcom moved the station back to Chapel Hill and returned the station's format to local news and talk on November 25, 2002, just two months before the station celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003. In June 2004, Vilcom bought the station back from Curtis Media Group for $775,000.

Vilcom's longtime owner, Jim Heavner, sold a minority stake in WCHL to Barry Leffler, former president of WNCN in Raleigh, in late 2009. He now serves the station as CEO and managing partner. Heavner has remained as chairman.

On January 21, 2010, WCHL's affiliate Air America filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and ceased live programming the same night. Reruns of Air America's programming continued to air until Monday, January 25 at 9PM Eastern Time.