WRFX (99.7 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Kannapolis, North Carolina Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

and serving the

Charlotte metropolitan area The Charlotte metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as Metrolina, is a metropolitan area of the U.S. states of North and South Carolina, within and surrounding the city of Charlotte. The metropolitan area also includes the cities of Gasto ...

. Owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

, it airs a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

, and calls itself "99.7 The Fox." The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enou ...

s and offices are on Woodridge Center Drive in South Charlotte. WRFX is the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

for the ''

John Boy and Billy John Isley (born August 15, 1956) and Billy James (born August 31, 1957), known as John Boy & Billy, are American radio hosts based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their comedic morning program ''The John Boy & Billy Big Show'' broadcasts from 6:00& ...

Big Show'', a

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

morning show heard around the country. WRFX has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is off Caldwell Road in Charlotte. WRFX broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

technology; its

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compres ...

carries the

all news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

Black Information Network Black Information Network (BIN) is a radio network and content brand owned by iHeartMedia. Launched on June 30, 2020, it is an all-news radio network of stations targeting the African American community, carrying mostly important national news hea ...

, which feeds

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W254AZ W254AZ (98.7 FM) is an FM translator station licensed to serve Belmont, North Carolina. History In August 2014, W254AZ began broadcasting a sports talk format from WRFX's HD-2 channel. This station was an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio, and wa ...

(98.7 MHz) in Belmont.

History

WRKB-FM

In September 1964, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

as WRKB-FM, in Kannapolis, North Carolina. The station was owned by former WGTL Chief Engineer and Radio/TV Repair Shop owner Foy T. Hinson, who also served as General Manager and Chief Engineer. Initially licensed with 3,000

s on a tower, the station covered most of

Cabarrus County, North Carolina Cabarrus County ( )
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Rowan County, North Carolina Rowan County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina that was formed in 1753, as part of the British Province of North Carolina. It was originally a vast territory with unlimited western boundaries, but its size was reduced to 524 sq mi ...

, but little beyond. WRKB-FM was co-owned with

WRKB WRKB (1460 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Southern Gospel format. Licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States, it serves the Rowan and Cabarrus county areas. The station is owned by Ford Broadcasting. History Carl L Ford' ...

1460 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1460 kHz: 1460 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * LT29 in Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe * LU30 in Maipu, Buenos Aires * LU34 Pigüé, Buenos Aires * LRK204 in Yerba Buena, T ...

, and

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

the AM station's daytime-only operation, only separating from the AM station to carry high school sports in the evenings. WRKB-FM's first studios were located at 101 West 1st Street in Kannapolis, on the second floor of a Jewelry Shop in a building owned by Cannon Mills. In 1967, the station built a tower and increased the FM power to 10,000 watts. The early format was

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

and was programmed by Bob Lee. With the additional power and tower height, the station could be heard from Charlotte in the south to Lexington in the north.

Bill Hefner

On weekday afternoons from 3 to 5 p.m., the station played Top 40 music, on a program called "Tunes For Teens." Early in 1969, Foy T. Hinson died from lung cancer, and his wife, Gertrude Hinson began to manage the station. Her management tenure was short-lived, and in 1971 the WRKB stations were sold to

Southern Gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

singer

Bill Hefner Willie Gathrel Hefner (April 11, 1930 – September 2, 2009), was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from North Carolina, serving between 1975 and 1999. Life and career Born in Elora, Tennessee, Hefner graduated from high school in Sardis, Al ...

who partnered with Cabarrus County judge Robert L. Warren. Upon taking control of the stations, the operating hours of WRKB-FM were extended to 1 a.m. nightly and the stations launched a full-time

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. Popular

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...

s during this time were Randy Whitley, Kip Yates, Tracey Hudson, David Roberts, George Berry and Randy Turner, the latter of whom would return to the station 15 years later as Animal R. O'Boogie. In 1972, the nighttime programming of WRKB-FM was changed to

music. Popular disc jockeys in this format included John Stiles, Jeannette Kenley and Sammy Oxendine. On July 12, 1976, the stations relocated to a studio/transmitter complex at 910 Fairview Street in Kannapolis, and WRKB-FM began broadcasting in

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

. Less than a month later, the programming of the AM station was separated from that of the FM station. About a year later, the religious organization, The

PTL Club ''The PTL Club'', also known as ''The Jim and Tammy Show'', was a Christian television program that was first hosted by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, running from 1974 to 1989. The program was later known as ''PTL Today'' and as ''Heri ...

, brokered the overnight hours on WRKB-FM, to make it a 24-hour operation.

AC and Top 40

On May 15, 1982 the station began an

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format aimed at gaining new listeners in Charlotte. One month later, the station changed the call letters to WJZR. Downs Radio, Incorporated bought WJZR-FM in June 1983. New owner/General Manager Paul Downs extensively improved the station technically, and built out the station's existing

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

for a power increase to 50,000 watts, significantly improving its coverage in Charlotte. Simultaneously with the August 1983 power increase, the format flipped from Adult Contemporary to

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

. The station was then branded as Z-100.

Album rock

In late 1985, the WJZR transmitter moved to a tower near Enochville, North Carolina in Rowan County, and the power increased to the legal maximum 100,000 watts. The station made the change to

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

under its current call letters to WRFX, "99.7 The Fox", in 1986. Later that year,

were hired as morning hosts. The show began airing nationally in 1993 out of WRFX's studios. Over the years, the station's music has moved more in a

direction. In 1996, the WRFX transmitter site moved again, this time to co-locate with

WTVI WTVI (channel 42) is a PBS member television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, owned by Central Piedmont Community College. The station's studios are located in the Chantilly-Commonwealth section of east Charlotte, and its tra ...

's facilities in Charlotte.

Sports broadcasts

In 2000, WRFX became the flagship station of the NFL's

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

. That agreement ended after the 2004 season, when the Panthers went back to WBT, their flagship prior to 2000. It picked up sports programming again from 2008 to 2011, simulcasting

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the stat ...

basketball with formerly co-owned

Sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

station

WFNZ WFNZ may refer to: * WFNZ (AM), a radio station (610 AM) licensed to Charlotte, North Carolina, United States * WFNZ-FM WFNZ-FM (92.7 MHz) is a sports radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina owned and operated by Radio One. The station's s ...

to compensate for the latter's limited nighttime signal. In 2011, WRFX joined the

Performance Racing Network The Performance Racing Network (PRN) is a radio syndication network controlled by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) founded in 1981. PRN airs NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series events held at Speedway Motorsports and Penske Corporation-owned and ...

to carry

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

races. The station became the flagship of the Carolina Panthers Radio Network once again starting with the 2022 season.

HD2 channel

In August 2014,

W254AZ 98.7 MHz began broadcasting a

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format from WRFX's

. This station was a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent compan ...

, and was also heard on

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHe ...

. Jeff Kent was program director. The programming included Andy Furman and Mike North in the morning drive, Dan Patrick in the late morning and

Steve Gorman Steve Gorman (born August 17, 1965) is an American musician and sports talk radio host. Gorman is best known as the former drummer of the American rock and roll band The Black Crowes He spent time as the drummer for British rock band Stereophoni ...

in the afternoon. On August 1, 2016, Martz Media Inc. began leasing the HD channel and translator, and flipped it to

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

CHR as "Ke Buena 98.7". At 8:00 p.m. on October 31, 2017, iHeartMedia re-assumed control of the HD2 channel and translator, and flipped the Spanish CHR format to an all-

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ...

format as "Christmas 98.7." On December 29, 2017, the station flipped to

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

as "UP! 98.7". "Christmas 98.7" would return to W254AZ/WRFX-HD2 at the start of November for the 2018 and 2019 holiday seasons, with "UP! 98.7" returning after Christmas. On June 29, 2020, fifteen iHeart stations in markets with large

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

populations, including W254AZ/WRFX-HD2, began stunting with African American speeches, interspersed with messages such as "Our Voices Will Be Heard" and "Our side of the story is about to be told," with a new format slated to launch on June 30.Fifteen iHeartMedia Stations Stunting Ahead Of New Network Launch
/ref> That day, W254AZ/WRFX-HD2, along with the other fourteen stations, became the launch stations for the

, an African American-oriented

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

network.

References

External links

Official websiteAnother Useful Site on Charlotte Radio
* * * {{IHeartMedia Classic rock radio stations in the United States RFX Radio stations established in 1964 IHeartMedia radio stations