Once again, your hometown radio station has been named the best in the state.
The North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (NCAB) announced 97.9 The Hill WCHL as its 2024 Non-Metro Station of the Year at its annual awards luncheon on Wednesday, given to the top station outside of large and medium-size markets in the state. The victory for WCHL marks its eighth consecutive Station of the Year award, dating back to 2016, and recognizes the Chapel Hill station’s contributions from the 2023 calendar year.
“It is an honor to be recognized by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters,” Chapel Hill Media Group General Manager Aubrey Williams said. “This award for the work done in 2023 is especially meaningful, as the station was working through a physical challenge being in a space that was undergoing a major redevelopment (University Place Mall). Being a small, locally owned and operated company, operations pushed forward as usual, delivering to our community the much needed news, information and entertainment that our community relies on us for. The year ended with a bang, as we relocated the radio station to its new home on Chapel Hill’s famous Franklin Street —a fitting return to the same street where our broadcasting began in 1953.
“Thanks to NCAB for this wonderful recognition,” she added. “Thanks to our community for supporting us in all the ways you do. And most of all, I thank the hardworking staff of WCHL for their commitment to excellence.”
Chapel Hill Media Group General Manager Aubrey Williams (right) accepts the NCAB 2024 Non-Metro Station of the Year Award from presenter Mick Mixon — who is also a WCHL alumnus.
Additionally, a member of the 97.9 The Hill team was also recognized by NCAB. Jim Davis, a long-time radio engineer who is contracted by WCHL, was honored with the Engineering Achievement Award for his decades of work in the industry. Davis spent many years as the Chief Engineer for Radio One in Raleigh alongside leading a consultation firm to help radio stations with their on-air operations and hardware. This was the first year NCAB gave out the Engineering Achievement Award, which is combined for both audio and television engineers.
97.9 The Hill has a history of winning other distinctions with the NCAB Awards Program. The Radio Community Involvement Award is given to the one station that contributes the most to a community’s well-being through its operations, events, and efforts to give back — and WCHL earned this honor for three consecutive years when the award was introduced. Additionally, the station has seen its morning show anchors earn the NCAB Non-Metro Personality of the Year award. Ron Stutts earned the recognition in 2015, 2015, 2018, and 2019 — while “This Morning With Aaron Keck” host Aaron Keck earned the title in 2021 and 2022.
The NCAB Awards Program is sponsored annually by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters and aims to recognize outstanding achievement by North Carolina radio and television broadcasters, while encouraging high standards of reporting, community service and production creativity. Additional station awards can be found on NCAB’s website.
To see a list of past honors won by 97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com, visit our Trophy Case page.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Congratulations WCHL on receiving the prestigious “2024 Non-Metro Station of the Year” Award from the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (NCAB)! That was a great video/audio segment and article , too!
With over 525 radio stations across North Carolina, this award by the NCAB is a tremendous accomplishment and a reflection of the quality and excellence that has defined WCHL ever since it went on the air in 1953, when Elvis Presley was a senior in High School and Charles Kuralt of fabled CBS fame was just getting his start in Chapel Hill and air time on WCHL, too!
From cutting edge interviews with leaders in local government, history and the arts, education, public policy, news, music and sports, featuring the best of alterative and local music that keeps you listening, and “you are there” news and sports broadcasts, WCHL keeps listeners abreast with the latest local government and community news, music, sports, and featured insights into what matters, reflecting the vibrant and creative energy that defines Chapel Hill and the surrounding communities that makes this area so unique,
broadcast on 97.9 FM and 1360 AM locally, and streamed live worldwide on the internet with archived segments, too,
Winning the “2024 Non-Metro Station of the Year” Award from NCAB doesn’t happen by accident, so a big “Kudos and Congrats” to all the staff at WCHL in front of the mic and behind it, too, who routinely make the difficult look easy (that’s much harder than it looks!). WCHL’s staff have a creative ethos and dedicated work ethic that makes them the “best of the best.” That’s worth celebrating, too.
Congrats to all the community partners who play such a vital role in making WCHL an award winning radio station, too. Every local business who supports WCHL can take pride in this accomplishment, too, and that goes for the community partners who contribute so much throughout the year, too.
And finally, a big “Thank YOU” to the Chapel Hill Media Group founders who also help ensure that WCHL is the kind of award winning radio and media station (via Chapelboro.com) that is a true community resource for “the rest of us” offering the best of entertainment, information, education, advocacy, insights, news, interviews, music, sports, creative features, and the local businesses that are featured on WCHL, too, whether we listen on car radios on the go, on radios in workplaces and homes, or streamed on cell phones, tablets and PCs.
The North Carolina Association of Broadcasters 2024 award of “Best Non-Metro Station of the Year” to WCHL reflects what so many of us already know, the best kept secret of Chapel Hill: WHCL is a World Class Radio and Media station worth listening to any day and Chapelboro.com’s a website worth visiting everyday, too!
“CONGRATULATIONS WCHL & THANK YOU, TOO!”