Anyone listening to WKNC 88.1fm around 8 p.m. found themselves listening to static after the broadcasting satellite was disrupted by a lightning storm.  It cannot be confirmed whether a direct strike or a power surge caused the outage.

Tommy Anderson, the general manager at WKNC, was not in the studio when the broadcasting signal stopped.

“The DJ in the studio called and said, ‘Yeah, we just lost the signal,’” Anderson said.

According to Jamie Lynn Gilbert, WKNC’s advisor, WKNC dispatched an engineer to D.H. Hill library to check the equipment, however no updates have been given.  Gilbert also said this is not the first time this has happened.

“We’ve been in similar situations before,” Gilbert said, “and we were able to get replacements [for the parts].”

Anderson expects WKNC to go back on the air Saturday morning.

WKNC was voted the “Best College Radio Station” and Michael Jones, also known as DJ Ones, was named a finalist for “Best Radio DJ” from Independent Weekly’s 2010 “Best in the Triangle Reader’s Choice” poll.