All autotune…all the time…ninety-eight-point-nine W-T-U-N!!! is the new synth-drenched station ID blaring out of car radios all around the Carolinas. The Spartanburg, SC station has become the first in the nation to adopt the novel format, exclusively playing songs embellished with autotune, the robotic vocal processing that is currently all the rage in pop and hip-hop music.

“We’ve tried every conceivable format, to no avail,” lamented Ric Bunsen, program director of the pioneering FM station. “Country, polka, lite rock, even death metal…nothing seemed to give us traction in the ratings around here. But we think autotune songs will be the silver bullet that’ll spike our audience share. It’s what everybody wants now and we’ll give it to ‘em.”

WTUN’s playlist features songs by the likes of T-Pain, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne and Cher - artists whose heavy use of the pitch-correction effects have distinguished their careers. WTUN management predicts the station will rocket to number one with listeners aged 12 to 24.

So far, area listeners appear to be receptive (pun intended). “I really like the whiny, nasally sound of the singers,” exclaimed a middle school-aged girl at a local mall. Her friend chimed in: “The distortion is, like, cool. I listen to it all day - it gives my mom headaches!”

But competition on the airwaves is fierce in the town of 40,000 and many are skeptical of WTUN’s hoped-for success.

“It’s the flavor-of-the-month,” claimed another local broadcaster. “I don’t see it going anywhere…the music is quite irritating. Last year they tried ’80s drum-machine hits and the year before it was punk country.”

But WTUN staff is confident in its musical direction.

“I guess we’ll have to wait until the next ratings sweep,” added the hopeful Bunsen. “But we think this is gonna be big! In a few months you’ll be hearing this in the majors, mark my words!”