Join 97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com as we celebrate National Radio Day on Thursday, August 20! National Radio Day honors the day that the first commercial radio station in the U.S. made its debut in Detroit in 1920.
There are so many reasons to celebrate having a local radio station like ours in our community. Aside from the fact that radio is free and easily accessible to people of all ages and incomes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we provide news and information including coverage of local stories and events that help our community stay connected.
We offer regular interviews with important local people like the mayors of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough, town council members, leaders of local government departments, and even UNC football coach Mack Brown! We broadcast local sports, allowing easy access to UNC football, basketball, baseball, and soccer games, as well as some local high school games (which will be important when we play sports again!). We also offer access to new and hit music, in addition to playing a lot of great songs from local bands.
We are not part of a media conglomerate that homogenizes our content. Having a local ownership group gives our small group of hard-working staff creative autonomy to serve our community with unique content crafted specifically for our local listeners. We offer organizations in our community a unique platform from which they can immediately reach thousands of local people. We connect our community to local businesses, and vice versa, and we connect local businesses to the customers they are trying to reach.
All day long we will highlight the importance of local radio, airing over a dozen special interviews with town leaders, Chapelboro columnists, and former 97.9 The Hill employees like Bob Holliday and Mick Mixon (see the full list below). Plus, we will feature more local music than ever before with performances from some of the great artists that have come through our studio to play, including Mandolin Orange, Reese McHenry, and many others.
Live stream or tune-in to celebrate National Radio Day and 97.9 The Hill WCHL’s 67 years on the air and counting!
Throughout the day, 97.9 The Hill will be talking to town leaders, Chapelboro columnists, and former 97.9 The Hill employees. Here’s a list of who we’ll be speaking to. After each interview airs, we will post a link of the audio below.
Jenn Weaver — Hillsborough Mayor
Rain Bennett — Chapelboro columnist of “Right as Rain”
Bob Holliday — former 97.9 The Hill broadcaster, now with WRAL
Adam Hochberg — UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media Lecturer, longtime correspondent with NPR, former 97.9 The Hill reporter
Mick Mixon — former 97.9 The Hill broadcaster, now play-by-play voice of the Carolina Panthers
Ran Northam — former 97.9 The Hill news director, now Town of Chapel Hill Communications Manager
Freddie Kiger — famed local historian and “trivia meister;” current 97.9 The Hill radio guest
Jean Bolduc — host of the “Weekend Watercooler” on 97.9 the Hill
Max Owre — host of “Oh, the Humanities!” on 97.9 The Hill
Lydia Lavelle — Carrboro Mayor
Andrea Cash — Chapelboro columnist of “The Downtowner”
Karen Howard — Chatham County Commissioner
Phil Ford — former UNC basketball star
Fred Black — Honored Chapel Hill community volunteer
Pam Hemminger — Chapel Hill Mayor
Blake Hodge — former 97.9 The Hill news director, OWASA Communications Specialist
Tom Jensen — Public Policy Polling, Weekly Guest on The Aaron Keck Show, famed UNC baseball superfan
Scott Washington — host of History Matters on 97.9 The Hill
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