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| Broadcast area | Research Triangle |
| Frequency | 680kHz |
| Branding | FM 92.9 and AM 680 WPTF |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Network | CBS News Radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WBBB,WKIX,WKIX-FM,WKJO,WKXU,WPLW-FM,WQDR,WQDR-FM,WYMY | |
| History | |
First air date | October 25, 1924 (1924-10-25) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | "We Protect The Family" (slogan of the station's former owner, Durham Life Insurance Company) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 21630 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°47′38.55″N78°45′40.02″W / 35.7940417°N 78.7611167°W /35.7940417; -78.7611167 (WPTF) |
| Translators |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | wptf |
WPTF (680AM) is acommercial radio station broadcasting anews/talkradio format.Licensed toRaleigh, North Carolina, the station serves theResearch Triangle area. It is owned by theCurtis Media Group, with studios on Highwoods Boulevard nearInterstate 440 in Raleigh.
WPTF'stransmitter site is a three-tower array off East Chatham Street, near Maynard Road NE, inCary, North Carolina.[2] Along withWBT inCharlotte, WPTF is one of two North Carolina AM stations powered at the maximum 50,000watts. However, WBT is aClass Aclear-channel station and has more protections from other stations than WPTF, which is classified as Class B. WPTF's daytime signal isnon-directional from a single tower. It switches to adirectional signal at night from two towers to avoid interference to other stations on 680 kHz. Even with this restriction, at night WPTF can be heard across much of the Southeastern United States with a good radio.
WPTF is relayed by fourFM translators: W225DF (92.9 MHz, Raleigh), W251CA (98.1 MHz,Rolesville), W253CY (98.3 MHz,Cary) and W298DB (107.5 MHz,Smithfield).[3]
Weekday programs on WPTF include local news blocks in morning and afternoondrive times. Threenationally syndicated talk programs are on the weekday line up:The Brian Kilmeade Show,Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla andRed Eye Radio.[4] WPTF's local news coverage is supplemented by theCBS Radio Network,AP Radio and the co-ownedNorth Carolina News Network.[5]
Weekends feature shows on health, money, gardening and home improvement, some of which are paidbrokered programming. Long-time staple "The Weekend Gardener", hosted by Mike Raley and Ann Clapp, is heard for three hours on Saturday mornings. Syndicated weekend programs includeThe Kim Komando Show,Eye on Travel with Peter Greenberg,CBS News Weekend Roundup, Jill on Money with Jill Schlesenger andFace The Nation.
WPTF is the Raleigh/Durhamaffiliate of theUniversity of North CarolinaTar Heel Sports Network, sharing flagship status withWCHL inChapel Hill. WPTF carries Tar Heels football and men's basketball games, along with the coaches' shows for both sports and the weekly "Primetime In The ACC" show.[6]
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WPTF was first licensed on October 25, 1924, as WFBQ with 50 watts on 1190 kHz, to the Wynne Radio Company, owned by William Avera Wynne, at 226 Fayetteville Street in Raleigh.[8] However, earlier that month the company had announced it was broadcasting World's Series reports,[9] and later advertised that "We built and operated said Station long before we received the license" for WFBQ.[10] The original call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of availablecall signs. WFBQ was the second Raleigh radio station, following the short-livedWLAC, which was licensed to theNorth Carolina State College from August 31, 1922, to October 29, 1923.[11]
William Wynne had long been a local technical leader. In 1899 he established the Raleigh Telephone Company, and prior to World War One built a radio receiver used to pick up nightly time signals broadcast byNAA in Arlington, Virginia, to accurately set the timepieces at the Jolly-Wynne Jewelry Store. In 1922, at the age of 55, Wynne sold his telephone company and opened the radio equipment store.[12] As of June 30, 1924, he held a license for amateur station 4RU, located at 323 Hillsboro Street in Raleigh.[13]
In 1922, there was rapidly increasing interest by the general public in the recently introduced innovation of radio broadcasting. However, in 1924 there were no local Raleigh radio stations, so listeners were limited to nighttime reception of distant stations, which required more expensive equipment. The establishment of WFBQ provided Wynne Radio Company customers an additional, local, programming source, that could be picked up during daytime hours by less expensive receivers. WFBQ offices and broadcasting facilities were located in the Boone Building next to theWake County Courthouse.
On August 15, 1925, the call letters were changed to WRCO, for Wynne Radio Company.[14][15] Operations were moved to theSir Walter Hotel, with the station's transmitting antenna strung between two towers constructed on the roof.[16] The following year the power was increased to 250 watts. In June 1927 the station was assigned to 1380 kHz.[17]
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In the summer of 1927, WRCO was purchased by the Durham Life Insurance Company, which moved the station to 720 kHz, now with 500 watts, and changed the callsign to WPTF,[19][20] reflecting the new owner's motto of "We Protect The Family". New equipment was purchased and the operations were moved to the basement of the old Durham Life building. Following a series of test transmissions, WPTF made its formal debut on November 14, 1927.[21] On December 1, 1927, the station moved to 550 kHz,[22][23] which was followed by a power increase to 1,000 watts. William Wynne initially stayed on as station engineer,[21] but later left, continuing to work in the radio industry, and in 1933 set upWEED, the first radio station in Greenville.[24]
On November 11, 1928, with the implementation of theFederal Radio Commission'sGeneral Order 40, WPTF was assigned to 680 kHz.KPO in San Francisco was designated as the primary occupant of this "clear channel" frequency, so WPTF was restricted to "limited time" operation, which prohibited WPTF from operating after San Francisco sunset, unless special permission had been received to operate with reduced power for additional hours.[25]
In the early 1930s, WPTF was a pioneer in educational radio. Students in area schools that had radios were able to listen to a daily broadcast, with topics that included "Citizenship", "Science", "Social Studies" and "Art, Music and Literature".[26]
Although many attempts were made over the next several years, it was not until 1933 that the station was authorized to increase its power to 5,000 watts. WPTF purchased new equipment and moved its transmitter site to nearCary, North Carolina, onUS Highway 1. Two towers were built, that turned out to be defective, and in June of the next year winds from a thunderstorm collapsed one of the towers and damaged the other,[27][28] requiring their replacement. These towers served as a prominent local landmark, and some nearby companies advertised their locations by noting their proximity.[29]
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In June 1940, WPTF was authorized to operate unlimited hours, using a directional antenna to limit westward signals after sunset in San Francisco. A month later the station was granted aconstruction permit to install new transmitter equipment and increase its power to 50,000 watts, the maximum for AM stations in the U.S.[32] A new transmission plant was constructed at the Cary transmitter site, which included replacing the two existing towers with 370-foot (113-meter)Blaw-Knox towers.[33] The upgrade to 50,000 watts was delayed when a fire destroyed a new transmitter before it could go into regular service.[34] On May 24, 1941, WPTF began operating with a replacement 50,000 watt transmitter. The next day, the station held an "open house" at the transmitter site, to show off "the new equipment, as modern and powerful as any in the country".[35]
As of 1948, WPTF became anaffiliate of theNBC Red Network. That year the station also received permission to install a third, taller, tower, designed to support the antenna for a new FM station.
Bart Ritner went to work at WPTF in 1966, staying for 39 years. He hosted the morning show "Ask Your Neighbor", with people giving advice or recipes. His most popular show was "Open Line", an hour-long call-in-show started in 1966 and expanded to two hours in 1973. Don Curtis, whose company later bought the station called the show "one of the nation's first daily two-way talk programs".[36] Ritner moved to news in 1980. He was the only reporter at a 1982hostage incident atCentral Prison, helping to negotiate and end the standoff. Ritner returned to "Open Line" in 1986 and moved it from evenings to afternoons.[36]
By the 1970s, WPTF offered a "full service format with news, talk, andadult contemporary music". On July 1, 1983, WPTF began broadcasting inC-QUAMAM stereo. Bob Kwesell, whose conservative views offended a number of listeners but attracted many newcomer and increased advertising, was dropped on November 17, 1986.[37]
In 1991, Durham Life exited broadcasting to focus on its core insurance business. WPTF served as the flagship station for theNC State Wolfpack sports network for more than 40 years, until in 2008 the Wolfpack Sports Marketing announced it had signed a ten-year deal to move toCapitol Broadcasting Company'sWRAL-FM.[38] NC State athletic officials cited their desire to be on an FM signal with a multi-year contract and the ability to collect more local advertising revenue, conditions that Curtis Media was unwilling to provide. Some Wolfpack fans around the East Coast were unhappy with the move because it cut the audience of Wolfpack sports, especially at night, because of the reduced power.[39]
As of September 15, 2008, WPTF began streaming its local and syndicated line up. After the September 2008 death of Jack Boston, Scott Fitzgerald took over North Carolina Morning News. Parent company Curtis Media announced in August 2009 the acquisition of TheNorth Carolina News Network from Capitol Broadcasting Company of Raleigh.[40] On November 2, 2009, Curtis Media President Phil Zachary said that Rush Limbaugh's program would be leaving WPTF on December 31, 2009, after more than 20 years.[41] The show moved toClear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia's) FMtalk radio station, 106.1 WRDU (nowWTKK). The loss of long-time staples Limbaugh andSean Hannity proved challenging for WPTF, and the station's ratings declined.
In December 2009, Brian Freeman, program director of sister stationWSJS inWinston-Salem, North Carolina took over the same duties at WPTF and became the host of North Carolina's Morning News. WPTF airedNASCARSprint Cup Series andNationwide Series racing, starting with the 2011Daytona 500.[42]
WPTF's format was split on March 13, 2012, when much of its talk programming moved to sister stationWPTK, which was branded asTalkRadio 850 WPTF. WPTF shifted most of its daytime programming toall-news, retaining theNewsRadio 680 WPTF identity. The station continued to airThe Dave Ramsey Show in the late morning hours until it was picked up byWTKK on June 15, 2013. In August 2015, WPTK dropped its talk show programs.
Until July 16, 2021, WPTF hosted a local talk show on weekday evenings with Tom Kearney.[43] On July 28, 2021, theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill'sTar Heel Sports Network switched its Raleigh/Durham affiliate from WTKK to WPTF beginning with the 2021 football season. The agreement also included broadcasts of men's basketball, along with the coaches' shows for both sports, and the weeklyPrimetime in the ACC show.[6] This deal also made WPTF the new flagship station for the network.[44] Charlotte's WBT is also an affiliate of the network; between them, this allows nighttime games to be heard across most of the eastern half of North America.
In 2024, WPTF replaced the 98.5 translator W253CY with W225DF at 92.9 and changed its branding to FM 92.9/AM 680 WPTF.[45]
Although WPTF remained one of the market's dominant stations through the early 1970s,[46] the rise of FM eroded its audience, and by July 2024 its share of listeners had dropped below 1 percent.[45]
WPTF has historically provided hurricane coverage to residents of the Carolinas. WPTF first provided reports ofHurricane Hazel and has covered most major storms ever since.
Because of WPTF's directional nighttime signal, the station assisted the residents ofCharleston, South Carolina afterHurricane Hugo hit the state in 1989. Most of coastal South Carolina, including the city of Charleston was without power, so local radio stations were knocked off the air. WPTF broadcast emergency information and even won several awards from the state of South Carolina for their assistance.
In 1996, WPTF provided coverage ofHurricane Fran even though the station was without utility power for nearly a week. The station and transmitter site ran on generator power, allowing residents in the Triangle and beyond to call in for storm and damage information and find out where to get needed supplies, such as ice, water, and food.
In 1996, the opening images of the music video for theSquirrel Nut Zippers songHell included still photographs of the WPTF transmitter site in Cary, to establish the video's 1940s theme.[47]
The exterior facade of the WPTF transmitter building served as an inspiration for the fictional WSQK radio station, featured in the fifth and final season ofStranger Things. The facade was recreated inChattahoochee Hills, Georgia for filming, and was struck when filming concluded.[48]
WPTF added an FM station on 94.5 MHz in 1949,[49] with its antenna placed on the tallest of the AM station's three towers. At the beginning both stations operated from 410 South Salisbury street in Downtown Raleigh. The tower used by WPTF-FM when it signed on is currently used byWKIX-FM.[citation needed] WPTF-FM later moved to 94.7. The station played classical music before switching toalbum rock and the new call lettersWQDR-FM in 1973, and later became aCountry music station, still co-owned by Curtis Media.
In 1977, Durham Life bought the Triangle's longtimeNBC affiliate, WRDU-TV (channel 28) and changed the call letters to WPTF-TV. All three stations were housed at studios in the Highwoods office park on Raleigh's north end.[50] This station is nowWRDC Channel 28 and affiliated with My Network TV.
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