WRCM
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| City | Wingate, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Charlotte/Metrolina |
| Branding | "K-LOVE" |
| Slogan | Positive, Encouraging, K-LOVE |
| Frequency | 91.9 (MHz) |
| First air date | June 14, 1993 |
| Format | Contemporary Christian music |
| ERP | 30,000 Watts |
| Callsign meaning | W Robertson C. McQuilkin (Former president of Columbia Bible College, the former owner) |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| Sister stations | WWLV, WMHK |
| Website | http://www.klove.com |
WRCM is a radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. It airs contemporary Christian music and identifies itself as "K-LOVE". It is a non-commercial listener supported ministry. The station is licensed to Wingate, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte.
Columbia International University, then known as Columbia Bible College, applied to the FCC for the license in 1982. Internally, this was known as The 92 FM Project. Other entities applied on top of CBC including Wingate College (now Wingate University) and a church in Waxhaw, North Carolina area. After 10 years of negotiations with the other groups, WRCM was granted the license and was signed on the air by founding general manager Ken Mayfield at 12 noon on June 14, 1993. Present at sign on were CIU president, Johnny Miller; CIU vice president John Davidson and former CIU president, Robertson C. McQuilken. (The station's call letters -RCM- were in honor of his father, Robertson C. McQuilkin, the first president of Columbia Bible College.)
WRCM's first staff consisted of full-timers Ken Mayfield, the station's first general manager and afternoon personality, program director and morning host, Rodney Baucom, and Karen Wycoff, who served as mid-day announcer and secretary. Mayfield had built and managed another contemporary Christian station, WNOW and had hosted a very popular Sunday morning Contemporary Christian music program for 7 years on Charlotte's 100,000 watt WBCY (now WLNK). Part-time staff members included Shelly Mitchell and Joe Paulo. Paulo stepped into the role of general manager shortly after Mayfield departed in 1999.
WRCM garnered immediate success with a 2.4 in its first Arbitron ratings. This success was in spite of the lack of advertising. Almost all of the "promotion" for the fledgling station had to come by word of mouth and from the station staff at Christian concerts.
Original plans were for WRCM to be a satellite station of Columbia Bible College's original station, WMHK. However, these plans were scrapped, and the station has been largely operated and programmed separately from WMHK. However, longtime general manager Joe Paulo was named director of broadcasting at CIU after the departure of WMHK's General Manager Jerry Grimes, with oversight over both stations. Under his watch, WMHK began simulcasting WRCM's "Family Friendly Morning Show," and the two stations both aired the syndicated "Scott and Sam" show on weeknights.
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