WAYX-FM to cater to young Christians

A Christian radio broadcaster that ministers to youthful souls with its rock-and-pop music format is aiming to spark new life into a underused but well-known spot on the FM side of the dial.

Colorado Springs, Colo.-based WAY-FM Network plans to makes its local debut in June at WPAL-FM 100.9, which recently went back on the air with a continuous loop of generic instrumental music.

"We've wanted to get into the Charleston area for a long, long time," said Bill Augsburg, president and founder of WAY-FM.

To prepare for the upcoming launch, the network recently hired Bret Bremberg as general manager of the Charleston operation, which will go by the new call letters WAYX-FM. It also is setting up a studio in North Charleston that will be staffed mostly with locally based talent. And it is in talks to relocate its signal from rural Ridgeville to a taller tower closer to the listening masses.

"That will improve our coverage," Augsburg said.

While the Lowcountry has its share of Christian-oriented stations, WAY-FM targets a specific demographic — a growing segment that Augsburg said is not being served in an otherwise crowded local radio spectrum.

"The one thing about Charleston is that it's one of the top few cities of its size that does not have a full-power Christian format dedicated to youths and young adults," he said.

Augsburg, a former programming director who with wife Felice built WAY-FM from a Florida radio station they acquired in 1987, has expanded the network into markets around the country.

He noted, as have other media experts, that the Christian-youth radio market is now one of the industry's fastest-growing and sought-after audiences.

"They're typically younger families, 30 to 40 years old, who either like the rock and pop version of our Christian format or see that their kids are embracing it," he said. "That's a real common thing."

The network recently posted a brief notice on its Web site to announce its Charleston rollout. Augsburg said the early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. "It amazing how bloggers ... have found that," he said. "We're getting calls at the office from people in Charleston asking, 'When are you coming on the air?'"

The network plans to spread the word to the flock, as it were, by running "teaser" spots on 100.9, probably starting next month.

What sets WAY-FM apart from the Clear Channels of the world is its status as a nonprofit group. As such, it relies on a dual revenue stream of donations rustled up primarily during annual pledge drives and straight-up advertising dollars.

"We'll obviously be selective," Augsburg said of advertisers. Product promotions, he noted, "cannot conflict with our mission and the promise that were providing something that will be safe for the whole family."

Once settled in, WAY-FM plans to put its name on community events, such as concerts featuring popular Christian bands.

"Concerts will be part of our fiber there," Augsburg said. WAY-FM isn't technically buying WPAL-FM — it's leasing the signal, which went dead last April only to flicker back to life Feb. 25.

The soon-to-be-changed call letters carry some significance locally. WPAL-FM became the successor in 1998 to WPAL-AM 730, which up until that point had been a leading voice of Charleston's black community for 51 years. During the civil rights movement, the station nudged integration along by hiring the first black on-air personality in the state. It also hired the first female radio personality in the area.

The actual ownership of WPAL-FM is tied up in legal limbo. The station was set to be sold by locally based Gresham Communications Inc. to Caswell Communications of New York several years ago but the deal came unglued. The federal broadcasting license is currently held by Charles W. Cherry of Plantation, Fla.

Cherry, a lawyer and executive with Tama Broadcasting, is the court-appointed receiver for financially struggling Gresham Communications. Cherry could not be reached for comment Friday.

Reach John McDermott at jmcdermott@postandcourier.com or 937-5572.