Radio WXYC

WXYC (89.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a college radio format. Licensed to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, the station is run by students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The station is currently owned by Student Educational Broadcasting. The station has obtained a construction permit from the FCC for a power increase to 1,200 watts.Prior to 1977, WXYC was a carrier current station known as WCAR.In the early 1970s, several UNC residence colleges had their own carrier current stations, such as WMO which broadcast to Morrison Dormitory. Eventually these stations consolidated into one station, WCAR. The WCAR studios were located in the basement of Ehringhaus Dormitory and broadcast to every other dorm via AM frequency 550 kHz. The management of WCAR planned to upgrade the service with the hope of eventually getting an FM license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). At that time, it was also hoped that the station would serve as a training ground for future broadcasters and not act solely an outlet for, what was called at the time, "progressive rock."In order to achieve their ambitious plans, many WCAR staff members ran for Student Legislature (SL). In 1972, the running joke around campus was that the SL was made up of three parties, the liberals, the conservatives, and WCAR. Through the shrewd use of political power, WCAR was allocated the funds necessary to move its studios and offices to the Frank Porter Graham Student Union in 1973. UNC students Jim Srebro, Gary Rendsburg, Jim Bond, Bob Heymann, Randy Wolf, Monte Plott, and George Frye were all instrumental in the upgrading of facilities and doing the preliminary engineering work in order to be licensed as an FM station. A student referendum was held to allocate the necessary funds to formally apply for and build an FM station. Through the work of WCAR volunteers, the referendum passed.Finally, in 1974, WCAR received its Construction Permit from the FCC to begin building its FM station. Unfortunately, when the UNC Administration realized that this "new" FM station would be licensed with over 10,000 watts of power and therefore could be clearly heard in Raleigh and by the North Carolina General Assembly, they pulled their support for the entire project. The FCC subsequently canceled the Construction Permit.In response, WCAR's management formed a not for profit corporation, Student Educational Broadcasting, which would be the new licensee of WXYC. Jim Srebro served as the first Chairman of Student Educational Broadcasting, Inc. In the intervening months, however, other new FM stations were licensed by the FCC in North Carolina which forced WXYC to be licensed with its current 400 watts of power. WXYC finally went on the air in 1977.In 1994 WXYC disc jockey Michael Shoffner set up the station's internet radio broadcast, which runs to this day and is widely considered to be the first such broadcast.WXYC should not be confused with WUNC, which is also affiliated with the university.