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WFIR (960 AM, "WFIR 960 AM 94.5 FM 107.3 FM") is a commercial
radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...
licensed to
Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...
, and serving the Roanoke Valley. It airs a
news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...
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 broadcasting, ...
and is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. WFIR's studios and offices are on Electric Road in Roanoke. Programming is also heard on two
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 tr ...
s: W297BC 107.3
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
, off Catawba Valley Drive in Roanoke, and W233CK 94.5 MHz in Troutville. The WFIR
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
site is off Brandon Avenue SW. The station broadcasts with 10,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s non-directional by day. But at night, to avoid interfering with other stations on AM 960, it reduces power to 5,000 watts and uses a
directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...
.


Programming

Local news and talk programs air in weekday morning and afternoon drive times, with syndicated shows heard the rest of day, including '' The Glenn Beck Program, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey, The Mark Levin Show, Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis'' and '' Coast to Coast AM with George Noory''. Weekends feature shows on money, religion, technology, law, guns, home repair and gardening. Syndicated weekend programs include '' The Kim Komando Show, Rich DeMuro on Tech, Somewhere in Time with Art Bell, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk'' and '' Bill Handel on the Law''. World and national news from ABC News Radio is heard at the beginning of most hours.


History


WDBJ

WFIR is the second oldest radio station in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, preceded by only WNIS in Norfolk, which was first licensed September 21, 1923. WFIR was first licensed, as WDBJ, on May 5, 1924, to the Richardson-Wayland Electrical Corporation at 106 Church Avenue, transmitting on 1310 kHz. On June 20, 1924, WDBJ officially went on the air. The studios were in the back of the company's store. The first program was a live
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...
player. The original call sign was randomly assigned from roster of available call letters. This company already had some limited broadcasting experience. Employee Frank E. Maddox had begun experimenting with radio broadcasts in Roanoke with amateur radio station 3BIY. A March 16, 1922 advertisement for Richardson-Wayland referred to the 3BIY broadcasts, stating that "Saturday nights we give a concert to which all are cordially invited". However, in early 1922 the Department of Commerce, regulators of radio at this time, issued regulations that prohibited amateur radio stations from making broadcasts. A couple years later, Richardson-Wayland asked Maddox to establish a commercial radio station. The company sold radio receivers, but because people in the Roanoke area had no local stations to listen to, they could only pick up distant signals after sunset. In 1926, WDBJ moved to new studios at The American Theater on Jefferson Street and Campbell Avenue in Roanoke. In 1929, WDBJ began broadcasting at 930 kHz at 500 watts power, and also became the Roanoke affiliate of CBS Radio—a link that would last for more than 70 years. The station was sold to '' The Roanoke Times'' newspaper in 1931. Power increased to 1000 watts in 1934. In 1939, Chief Engineer J.W. Robertson increased the power to 5000 watts. In 1941, under the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement or NARBA, the station moved to its current dial position at AM 960. During the 1940s, 50s and 60s, WDBJ mixed
bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...
and
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
with adult standards and middle of the road popular tunes, while also carrying CBS Network dramas, comedies and sports. In October 1955, WDBJ-TV (channel 7) signed on the air as Roanoke's CBS television affiliate.


WFIR

Times-World Corporation, owner of the ''Times'', merged with
Landmark Communications Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC (a spinoff of Landmark Communications, Inc.) is a privately held technology company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. History The ''Norfolk Landmark'' was established in 1873. It had various editors. K. C. Murray ...
in 1969. As a condition of the merger, Times-World sold ts broadcasting properties. Channel 7 kept the historic WDBJ
call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...
, with AM 960 becoming WFIR, standing for First in Roanoke, reflecting its status as the first broadcasting operation in the Roanoke Valley. In 1979, WFIR was purchased by Jim Gibbons, the former play-by-play announcer for the
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team. Gibbons added more news and sports programming. In 1979, WFIR began carrying the syndicated
Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...
Show overnight, and later, family financial adviser Bruce Williams in the evening. Through the 1980s, WFIR aired a full service
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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
format, keeping WFIR among the top ten radio stations in the Roanoke- Lynchburg
media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
ratings, despite the shift to FM radio listening. In 1987, the station added Rush Limbaugh to its midday schedule, one of his first affiliates. In 1989 WFIR became a full-time News/Talk radio station. In 2000, it was bought by Mel Wheeler, Inc., which owns eight radio stations in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market. In 2001, WFIR switched from CBS Radio News to ABC News Radio hourly newscasts in order to be able to air Paul Harvey news which was dropped from WROV several years earlier.


Translators

In addition to the main station, WFIR is relayed by two FM translators to widen its broadcast area.


References


External links


960 AM and FM 107.3 WFIR Online

FCC History Cards for WFIR
(covering 1927–1981 as WDBJ / WFIR) * * * * {{News/Talk Radio Stations in Virginia 1924 establishments in Virginia News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1924 FIR