WINC

WINC is a broadcast radio station licensed to Winchester, Virginia, United States. The station carries a news, talk, and sports format. WINC serves Winchester along with Frederick and Clarke counties in Virginia. Launched on June 26, 1941, by Richard Field Lewis, Jr., WINC was Winchester's first radio station. It remained in the hands of the Lewis family until sold to North Carolina-based Centennial Broadcasting in 2007. The station's current format, established in 1996, consists mostly of conservative talk programs and top-of-the-hour news from Fox News Radio. Sports programming from Virginia Tech is also broadcast. Prior formats heard on WINC include middle of the road music, adult contemporary, and classic hits. Several milestones have occurred during the station's more-than-70 years of history. WINC was the station on which country music singer Patsy Cline made her debut in 1948, when Cline asked the leader of a "hillbilly band" for a chance to perform with them on air. In the late 1950s, the station's chief engineer, Philip Whitney, designed a CONELRAD alarm device for FM stations to warn listeners in the event of an enemy attack during the Cold War.