First air date March 16, 1946 | ||
City Salisbury, North Carolina Broadcast area Charlotte metropolitan area
Piedmont Triad (limited) Branding "New Rock 106.5 The End" Slogan "Charlotte's New Rock Alternative" Frequency 106.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) | ||
WEND (106.5 FM) – branded 106.5 The End – is a commercial alternative rock radio station licensed to Salisbury, North Carolina, serving primarily the Charlotte metropolitan area, as well as parts of the Piedmont Triad. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., WEND is the local affiliate for Skratch 'N Sniff and the home of radio personalities Jack Daniel, Chris Rozak, and the Woody & Wilcox Show. The WEND studios are located in Charlotte, while the station transmitter resides in China Grove. Besides a standard analog transmission, WEND broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online via iHeartRadio.
History
WEND began broadcasting on March 16, 1946 under the callsign WSTP-FM. It became WRDX in 1970 and began airing its own programming. Pat Heiss was the morning host.
Doug Rice (now Speedway Motorsports radio play-by-play announcer) joined WSTP and WRDX in 1977, working a variety of on-air jobs and eventually becoming morning host and program director. He also served as play-by-play announcer for Catawba College football for nearly a decade, and color analyst for Howard Platt for Catawba basketball, and he called the Rowan County high school football game of the week on WRDX.
WRDX was playing country music prior to a signal increase in 1987 that allowed the station to cover both Charlotte and the Triad. At that time the station switched to satellite adult contemporary. Late in the 1980s the station began playing more oldies, especially from the category of beach music.
Dalton Group, owner of WWMG in Charlotte, bought WRDX and WSTP for $3 million in 1995 and began operating the stations under a local marketing agreement. In May, WRDX changed its call letters to WEND, adopted its current format, and moved its studios to Charlotte. This triggered numerous letters of protest in the Salisbury Post.
WEND's transmitter is located further north than the most of the other major Charlotte stations. It only provides a grade B signal to Rock Hill and most of the South Carolina portion of the Charlotte market. This is because it is short-spaced to WTCB in Columbia at nearby 106.7. Additionally, its transmitter is located as close as it can legally get to Charlotte while still remaining within 15 miles of Salisbury; FCC regulations require a station's transmitter to be located within 15 miles of its city of license.
WEND was the local affiliate of the syndicated Bob and Tom Show until March 31, 2010. Woody & Wilcox, from KBFX in Anchorage, Alaska, moved their morning show to Charlotte on April 19, 2010, though they continued to air on KBFX. The audience for mornings jumped 74 percent. On February 24, 2014, co-owned WVBZ in Greensboro, North Carolina became the first station other than WEND and KBFX to add the team. During 2014, Woody & Wilcox added three other affiliates: KKZX in Spokane, Washington; KKED in Fairbanks, Alaska on September 29; and KPAW in Fort Collins, Colorado.
WEND airs Skratch 'N Sniff, a music program syndicated via Compass Media Networks, on Saturday nights.
In October 2015, it was announced that iHeartMedia had acquired local rights to the Motor Racing Network and Performance Racing Network's coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series inder a 2-year deal, with races to air on WEND. Representatives of the two networks were positive over the new deal, as WEND provides better over-the-air coverage of North Carolina than previous rightsholder WRHM.