Contemporary Christian station powering up

A radio broadcaster that caters to youthful church-going listeners and promotes a Biblical message is scheduled to make its local debut today.

After months of preparation, and barring any last-minute disasters, contemporary Christian music station WAY-FM will go live at 6 a.m. on WPAL-FM's former frequency at 100.9.

Bret Bremberg, general manager, said unlike his direct local "CCM" rivals, which transmit their shows from afar by wire, WAY-FM can distinguish itself as a bona-fide local station staffed with local employees, even if the bulk of the programming will be piped in from other cities.

The on-air schedule for the station's Spaulding Drive studio centers around three primary shows: Mornings with Brant Hansen, Afternoons with Donna Cruz and Totally Axxess with Wally.

Thanks to various tricks of the trade, most local listeners likely won't notice that Hansen, for instance, broadcasts from Fort Myers, Fla., Bremberg said.

WAY-FM is leasing the old WPAL signal, which went dead in April 2007 only to flicker back to life Feb. 25 with a generic loop of instrumentals.

Bremberg's station has been spreading the word of its pending arrival by running "teaser" spots on 100.9. It also has been reaching out to local churches and other religious institutions, including Charleston Southern University, where Bremberg recently was named to the Baptist school's board of visitors.

Bremberg said he hopes to build up WAY-FM to include some local on-air programming in the mix, probably starting with basics such as traffic and weather.

"Those are way-down-the-road type things," he said.

WAY-FM also is planning remote broadcasts throughout the region and other promotional live events.

"I'm a concert freak, so we're going to start bringing in shows," Bremberg said.

Compared to companies such as Clear Channel Communications and Citadel Broadcasting, WAY-FM is "a slightly different animal" because of its status as a nonprofit organization, he said. While most so-called 501(c)(3)-operated stations cannot sell advertising under federal law, WAY-FM's Charleston operation is allowed to because of the type of signal it is leasing. That means Bremberg will be relying on a dual revenue stream of donations rustled up mainly during annual pledge drives and straight-up ad dollars.

"We're a nonprofit ministry with a commercial arm," he said.

WAY-FM's parent organization is based in Colorado Springs, Colo. It was formed about two decades ago in Florida by a former programming director named Bill Augsburg, who remains president. It has since expanded its Christian-youth radio network into more than a dozen markets, tapping into what some media experts say is one of the fastest-growing and most sought-after listening audiences.

"The one thing about Charleston is that it's one of the top few cities of its size that does not have a full-power Christian format dedicated to youths and young adults," Augsburg told The Post and Courier earlier this year.

Reach John McDermott at 937-5572 or jmcdermott@postandcourier.com.