97.9 The Hill WCHL (97.9 FM / 1360 AM) will begin airing hourly national updates from ABC News Radio in its broadcasts starting on Monday, May 4.

The Chapel Hill radio station’s affiliation change comes ahead of CBS News shuttering its radio division after nearly a century of broadcasting, which is set to happen on May 22 after being announced in March. It has been a CBS affiliate since 2002.

Starting on Monday, WCHL listeners will hear the ABC News radio team’s reports at the top of each hour during typical daily programming. The segment will be shorter than the CBS News updates, with all of WCHL’s shows starting at the four-minute mark of the hour instead of six minutes in — meaning the radio and streaming audience will get two additional minutes of their hometown radio station’s local shows every hour.

“At 97.9 The Hill, our mission is rooted in hyper-local storytelling, but we also recognize that our community doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” said General Manager Aubrey Williams. “Our station has long played a top-of-the-hour, national news update from its affiliate partner. Access to trusted national and global reporting through ABC News Radio allows us to keep our audience informed on the critical issues that connect Chapel Hill to the world. And this change helps give the 97.9 The Hill on-air talent and news team more air time to share their reporting, music and personalities.”

97.9 The Hill WCHL is part of the Chapel Hill Media Group, which has been owned by Chris Ehrenfeld, Mark Vitali and Jim Kitchen since 2015 and comprises of the radio station and Chapelboro.com. More about the radio station’s seven-decade history can be found here. As always, listeners can find the daily and weekly broadcast schedule for 97.9 The Hill’s local programming on the WCHL Broadcast Calendar.

Featured photo by the Chapel Hill Media Group.

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