is a
Public Radio network based in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina . It broadcasts
NPR ,
American Public Media , and
BBC programming in an "all-news-and-information" format. On the weekends, the network broadcasts locally-produced
Folk Music programming; the longest-running continuously-produced program offered by the station is ''
Back Porch Music '', a weekly folk and
Traditional Music program.
The network consists of three stations: , broadcasting from Chapel Hill on 91.5
FM ; '''WRQM''', from
Rocky Mount on 90.9; and '''WUND''', from
Manteo on 88.9. WRQM and WUND were added to the service in the 1990s. WUNC is the network's main transmitter, and all three stations were referred to simply as "WUNC" until
2005 . The stations are now called "North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC", ostensibly to allow transition time between the two names. The call letters of the other stations are identified only during required station IDs at the start of each hour.
Aside from ''Back Porch Music'', North Carolina Public Radio also produces ''
The People's Pharmacy '' with Joe and Terry Graedon, a nationally-syndicated program first broadcast on WUNC in the early
1980s ; and ''
The State Of Things '', a regionally-syndicated local affairs show. The network began offering
Podcasts for ''The State of Things'' and other locally-produced news stories in
September 2005 .
North Carolina Public Radio's main studios are located in Chapel Hill near the
Friday Center ; in
2005 , a second broadcast facility was opened in
Durham 's
American Tobacco Historic District . On
October 17 ,
2005 , ''The State of Things'' began production at the new Durham location. Other programs continue production in the Chapel Hill studios.
Dick Gordon , former host of
WBUR 's ''
The Connection '', began hosting a new interview show called ''
The Story With Dick Gordon '' on
February 16 ,
2006 .
North Carolina Public Radio is operated out of the
University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill . WUNC first signed on the air in the 1950s and was run by students early in its life. Broadcasters
Carl Kasell and
Charles Kuralt both worked at WUNC during this early period. A lightning strike silenced the first incarnation of the station in
1971 .
WUNC began transmitting again on
March 23 ,
1976 , as an
NPR affiliate. One of its earliest shows was ''
Gary Shivers On Jazz '', a jazz program produced by the station and syndicated regionally. (Shivers was the station's first program director and second General Manager.) WUNC had studios in Swain Hall on the UNC-CH campus; new studios were completed in
1999 , into which the station has since moved. Prior to its switch to its news and information format, the station was a multi-format station of
NPR news,
Classical Music and
Jazz Music .
