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As many of you are aware, due to the loss of our lease for rooftop space on a building in southeast Charlotte – upon which our tower and antennae were mounted - WNCW’s 100.3 FM translator in Charlotte has been silent since early November 2007.

Our Charlotte-area listeners and supporters who’ve been affected by the loss of service have been anything but silent, however. My office phone and e-mail inbox have been inundated with calls and messages inquiring, begging and pleading for the return of 100.3 to Charlotte’s airwaves.

To paraphrase a former U.S. President, “I feel your pain.” The search for a suitable location for our Charlotte translator – an unexpected development during what had already proven to be a challenging year for WNCW - has weighed heavily upon our entire staff and taken a significant amount of time and effort to attempt to rectify.

I, too, want this ordeal to come to an end and our 100.3 translator to again bring WNCW’s unique and compelling programming to our Charlotte area listeners for whom our main 88.7 signal is not readily available.

What you’re reading is actually the fourth draft of an update that’s been written, re-written and re-re-written over six days. It’s not that I’m an obsessive editor. Well, OK, I am. But, that’s beside the point. This is more a matter of several months’ worth of work – phone calls, e-mails, proposals, drawings, meetings - finally starting to pay off, while I’m attempting to write an update for our loyal Charlotte supporters. It seems that every time I’ve finished a draft of the update, the phone rings or an e-mail arrives informing me of some encouraging development or sign of progress.

True, it’s taken far longer than I imagined last November to locate a suitable, secure location for our translator. Yet, the folks who can make the big decisions and sign the big agreements are – even as I tap at my keyboard - working out the details of proposals and counter-proposals. Progress – albeit slow – is being made. We have three locations pinpointed and negotiations on all three are taking place simultaneously.

The area in which WNCW is permitted to operate its Charlotte translator – within FCC regulations and avoiding any interference with other radio stations - is relatively narrow. There are only so many buildings within that given area that possess the height and secure facilities required to meet our – and our listeners’ - needs. We must choose wisely and have studies run on each location just to make certain our proposal will A) work and B) receive the FCC’s blessing.

It also has to be cost-effective. The financial support entrusted to WNCW by you – our supporters - must be well-spent.

Once we have a tentative agreement with a property-owner – and our engineering consultants give us the “thumbs-up” - the process of gaining approvals, permits, structural analyses and – finally – FCC approval will begin. There was a time – not so long ago – that I thought THAT would’ve been the difficult part of this process. Not so, anymore. The process of locating, settling on and negotiating an agreement for a location for our translator has disproved that assumption.

It’s important to note that dismantling and removal of WNCW’s tower and antennae from our Colwick Ave. location – along with the costs of seeking and receiving FCC approval to temporarily shut down the translator – have already cost WNCW several thousand dollars. The cost of returning WNCW to the Charlotte’s airwaves will cost even more.

Support from Charlotte-area listeners during our upcoming Spring pledge drive is more important that ever. I urge you to pledge generously to help us cover the costs of this project. Please don’t withhold your support due to our present circumstances. Look – with us – to the future. Your financial support will help return WNCW’s one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted programming to Charlotte. We need you now more than ever.

If you’ve received a letter from WNCW urging you to renew your membership, or if you’re a potential new member wondering about WNCW’s future in Charlotte, please join us and know that your support will help return – and sustain – the 100.3 translator to the airwaves.

In fact, if you want your pledge to be directed to the Charlotte translator project, please make a note of it on your check, in the comments box of the online pledge form or tell our phone volunteers when you call (800) 245-8870 during our upcoming Spring pledge drive (March 30 – Aprill 5).

To pledge your support NOW, please click HERE.

WNCW’s commitment to our Charlotte-area supporters remains strong. The support Charlotte has shown WNCW is not something we take for granted. The Queen City is crucial to WNCW’s success. We appreciate your continued patience and renew our commitment: We will return to Charlotte’s airwaves.