On Wednesday afternoon, local NPR member station, WHQR, extended its broadcast down to the Grand Strand.

The 91.3FM signal had reached from Onslow County near Jacksonville down to North Myrtle Beach serving about 400,000 potential listeners. But today, the station began broadcasting its programming on 98.9FM in Myrtle Beach, which adds about 80,000-100,000 potential new listeners, increasing WHQR’s audience by 20-25 percent.

“I think it’s an underserved market. They’ve had one public radio service,” WHQR station manager Cleve Callison said from Myrtle Beach where he was testing the station’s new signal. “This is a very fast growing area in Horry County. It will only continue to grow as people move in from the Northeast.”

The station submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission for the signal in 2003 and was granted it. But WHQR did not have the finances to lease the equipment at that time, Callison said.

In 2011, WHQR raised $15,000 from a group of supporters that enabled the station to expand. This year, the station was able to lease and install equipment including a translator and antenna at the Time Warner Cable tower in downtown Myrtle Beach. The station will pay a monthly fee to lease tower space to broadcast.

The station has held off from advertising in Myrtle Beach before testing the 91.3FM signal. But it has been intentionally expanding its local news coverage to include Horry County, Callison said.