Reviewed by Peter Berk, President and Chief Media Strategist, Berk Marketing · Last updated 31 October 2026
Charlotte, Gastonia and Rock Hill
A two state metro whose heritage news station has moved to FM, a sports signal with the Hornets, and the Panthers on a classic rock station. Berk Marketing buys Charlotte for advertisers and represents no station in it.
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Short answer. Charlotte has been rearranged. WBT, the market’s heritage news talk station, moved to 107.9 FM in December 2025, and the old 1110 AM signal no longer carries programming. 92.7 WFNZ is the sports station and the home of the Hornets, and the Panthers are on 99.7 The Fox. There is no commercial all-news station. On the music side Country 103.7, Power 98, V 101.9, K104.7 and 96.9 The Kat are the big signals. The metro crosses into South Carolina, with Rock Hill and Fort Mill as core suburbs. The practical entry point is about five thousand dollars a week.
Station by station
The table below lists the commercial signals most plans here start from. Our top 100 markets page lists every market we buy, and radio stations by market covers the largest markets in full.
The market at a glance
The commercial stations most Charlotte plans start from. Formats and owners as of October 2026.
| Station | Dial | Branding | Format | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBT-FM | 107.9 FM | WBT | News Talk | Urban One |
| WFNZ-FM | 92.7 FM | Sportsradio 92.7 WFNZ | Sports | Urban One |
| WRFX-FM | 99.7 FM | 99.7 The Fox | Classic Rock | iHeartMedia |
| WSOC-FM | 103.7 FM | Country 103.7 | Country | Beasley |
| WPEG-FM | 97.9 FM | Power 98 | Urban | Beasley |
| WBAV-FM | 101.9 FM | V 101.9 | Urban AC | Beasley |
| WKQC-FM | 104.7 FM | K104.7 | Classic Hits | Beasley |
| WKKT-FM | 96.9 FM | 96.9 The Kat | Country | iHeartMedia |
| WHQC-FM | 96.1 FM | Hits 96.1 | CHR | iHeartMedia |
Stations change formats and owners often, so we confirm every station against the current Nielsen book before a proposal goes out. A plan built for you shows the current audience for each station on it.
How Charlotte listens
WBT is on FM now. In December 2025 WBT moved its news talk programming to 107.9 FM, and 1110 AM, where it had been for generations, now carries only a message pointing listeners to the new frequency. Any plan or rate sheet that still lists WBT on AM is out of date. On FM it reaches a younger audience than the AM did.
Sports is split by team. 92.7 WFNZ is the full time sports station and the Hornets flagship, renewed in 2026. The Panthers are on 99.7 The Fox, a classic rock station, so a football schedule is bought on a music signal. 610 AM, once a sports station, now carries gospel.
The metro is in two states. York and Lancaster counties in South Carolina are core suburbs, and several Charlotte signals are licensed there. Commutes run along I-77 and I-85 and the metro keeps spreading. For a business licensed in one state only, we plan coverage around where you can actually work.
The listener is following a story or a game, so fewer commercials a day do the job. In Charlotte that means WBT for news and talk, and WFNZ for sports, with The Fox during Panthers season.
The listener is half attending, so the message needs repeating, which means weight on one station rather than money spread across four. Country 103.7, Power 98, V 101.9 and K104.7 each reach a large habitual audience bought for frequency.
Why format decides frequency, in full, is on the local radio advertising page.
Money
Beasley owns Country 103.7, Power 98, V 101.9 and K104.7, iHeartMedia has The Fox, The Kat and Hits 96.1, and Urban One holds WBT and WFNZ. Each group prices its stations as a package built for its own inventory. We buy the station, negotiate each group against the others, and take remnant inventory where it exists.
The practical entry point for a terrestrial campaign here is about five thousand dollars a week, the same floor as every market we buy, and it needs to run long enough to build frequency rather than a week or two to see what happens. What sets the rate, what moves it and how remnant inventory changes the arithmetic is covered on the radio advertising costs page.
Berk Marketing represents advertisers and holds no Charlotte inventory. We go to the stations and the groups for availability and price, negotiate each against the others, write and produce the commercial in house, place the schedule and track what it returns by station. Where a station has unsold airtime, we buy it as remnant, typically 40 to 60% below the published rate card, and you are refunded or credited for any spot that does not run.
Fit
Worth knowing first
We work with advertisers who have not already been in contact with a radio station’s sales rep. We are not in the business of taking clients away from stations, and once an advertiser has been quoted directly, our ability to bring remnant pricing on that station is compromised.
The consequence lands on you rather than on us. If Charlotte is on your list and you have not spoken to anyone yet, that is exactly when this is worth a call.
We will run a competitive monitoring report at no charge and with no obligation. It shows which Charlotte stations your competitors are on, at what times of day, how many spots, and it includes the actual audio of their commercials.
In many cases nothing shows up at all, and that is worth knowing too.
Get the ReportQuestions
For a considered purchase, WBT or WFNZ bought properly usually does more than a music station. For a broad consumer offer, one music station with enough weight beats several bought lightly.
No. Since December 2025 WBT programming is on 107.9 FM. The 1110 AM signal now carries only a message pointing listeners to FM.
The Hornets are on 92.7 WFNZ and the Panthers on 99.7 The Fox.
Plan on about five thousand dollars a week as the practical entry point for a terrestrial schedule, run long enough to build frequency. The rate on any one Charlotte station depends on daypart, season and how much inventory is unsold, and remnant airtime can bring it down considerably. What sets a rate is covered on our radio advertising costs page.
No. Berk Marketing represents advertisers and holds no inventory on any Charlotte station. We negotiate with every group on your behalf and are paid to get the schedule right for you, not to fill a station’s airtime.
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