WUNC 91.5

WUNC 91.5

WUNC 91.5 is a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate station at UNC—Chapel Hill. The station made its first broadcast in the early 1940s on AM and in 1952 began broadcasting on FM. Charles Kuralt and Carl Kasell, both of whom would have long and prominent careers in broadcasting, were involved with the station as students in the early 1950s. Staffed by students and volunteers, the station lasted until the early 1970s, when equipment problems forced it off the air.

WUNC returned to the air in 1976 as an NPR affiliate. The station operated from Swain Hall, which housed the university's Communication Center, a centralized location for all of the radio and television projects. In 1999 the radio station moved into a new facility, the James F. Goodmon Building, near the Friday Center. The Goodmon Building is named for James Fletcher Goodmon, president and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting Company and president of his family's foundation, the A. J. Fletcher Foundation. In addition to the Goodmon Building, WUNC has a broadcast facility on the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, North Carolina. One of WUNC's most popular local programs is Back Porch Music, showcasing folk and acoustic music for more than forty years. Another longtime popular program is The People's Pharmacy, which focuses on health education.

Date Established: 1940

Date Range: 1940 – 1970

Students Charles Kuralt (left) and Kent Jackson read at a performance during the dedication ceremony for WUNC radio, March 1953. UNC Photo Lab Collection, North Carolina Collection Photo Archives, Wilson Library.