In May 2018, East Carolina Radio purchased 104.9 WFMZ Hertford NC from Hengooch LLC for $150,000 to round out its cluster in the northeastern corner of North Carolina.
The company took the station silent immediately after it closed on the acquisition in August. This week 104.9 WFMZ returned to the air simulcasting sister Urban “96.7 The Block” WKJX Elizabeth City and has begun promoting the upcoming move of the format from 96.7 to 104.9.
While both stations are 50kW Class C2 signals, the 96.7 is further east and puts more of its signal over the Atlantic Ocean
The competition’s biggest station is a Hot AC. There’s no CHR or AC in the market so seems like one of those two formats would be a no-brainer.
Inland eastern NC has a pretty high percentage of African American residents. So an “urban” format is actually a mainstay in such an area. There’s a big urban AC in that area as well (WBXB) and this flanks it nicely. In fact, given the African American population percentage of this market, I’m surprised at how few stations are out there serving them directly. There are various AC/variety hits/and CHR stations in the region already.
Smart move, IMO.