The 65-year-old WTOE AM radio station can now also be found on 101.1 FM.
The oldies rock station made the jump to FM on Dec. 1 and, according to Manager Mike Sink, the move will help the station reach parts of the region more easily and consistently.
“The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) limits the power of AM stations at nighttime, but FM keeps the same power at nighttime as daytime,” Sink said. “That means that some people who couldn’t receive the AM at night can now listen to the station around the clock for ball games and higher quality music.”
Sink said the addition of FM helps the station in its pursuit of connecting with listeners and making a difference for the community.
“Putting TOE on FM keeps us in line with our company philosophy of making a difference for those we serve,” Sink said. “This addition just makes it easier for people to listen to us because now we’ve got FM, AM and the web, so we can stay connected with our listeners and the community to a greater extent.”
Bruce Ikard, the primary announcer for WTOE for the majority of the past 40 years, said this was the biggest broadcast news since the AM station went on the air on Dec. 24, 1955.
“When TOE went on the air, the closest radio station nearby was in Marion and it went on four years before us, so it was a big deal” Ikard said. “To me, the addition of the FM is the most exciting broadcast happening in our area since TOE went on the air on Christmas Eve in ‘55.”
Ikard echoed Sink’s sentiment about reaching more people and connecting with them, which he deems the most important part of his job.
“It just gives us an opportunity to fill in the holes at night and early in the morning where we’ve always wanted to serve and where we’ve wanted to serve better,” Ikard said. “We’re small town and we’re old media, but being able to reach as many people in the community with what we do here, well, it’s something special.”
According to the station’s website, WTOE and WKYK combine to reach more than 80 percent of Yancey and Mitchell counties’ population each week.
Sink said many people believe the difference between AM and FM radio is the content, but it’s more about the engineering.
“A lot of people think that AM radio is talk radio while FM radio is all music, but it’s a bit more complicated than that,” he said. “The two work fairly similarly, but it’s about the modulation of the carrier wave, ultimately.”
AM stands for “Amplitude Modulation” while FM stands for “Frequency Modulation.” Sink explained AM and FM both experience frequent changes in amplitude, but it’s far less obvious on FM.
With an AM broadcast, changes in amplitude result in static. With an FM broadcast, slight changes in amplitude don’t really matter because the audio signal is conveyed through changes in frequency, not amplitude, so the FM receiver is able to just ignore the changes.
WTOE’s sister station, WKYK, started broadcasting on FM in December of last year.
Getting both stations on FM has been something the company has been working toward for about 20 years, Sink added.
“The FCC constantly juggle and make changes with the rules, so several years ago they changed the rules around enough to create FM translators for AM stations,” Sink said. “We’ve spent the last three years trying to dance through all the red tape and all the things it takes to do...We’re really excited about it.”
Mark Media Group, the company that runs both stations, invested approximately $250,000 in engineering studies, fees and equipment and facilities to be able to add FM stations for WTOE and WKYK.
Mark Media Group is a small business run by the Sink family that was founded in 1967 by J. Ardell Sink when WKYK went on the air.
J. Ardell Sink still remains the Chief Executive Officer and his wife, Remelle Sink, is Chief Finance Officer. Michael Sink, the couple’s son, is President and Chief Operating Officer and Holly Hall, their daughter, is Chief Marketing Officer.
“Being a small, family business has worked very well over the years because we’ve always been very business-like and don’t really act like family at work,” Michael Sink said. “We all respect each other and if we ever do step on each other’s toes, we communicate that pretty professionally.”