WPTI

WPTI (94.5 MHz), is a commercial FM talk and sports radio station serving the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina, covering the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point media market. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and is licensed to Eden, North Carolina. Its transmitter is located in Madison, North Carolina, and its studios and offices are located on Pai Park near Interstate 40 in Greensboro. WPTI broadcasts with 100,000 watts.

For the Louisville, Kentucky radio station that held the WPTI call sign from 2000 to 2008, see WRKA.
WPTI
CityEden, North Carolina
Broadcast areaPiedmont Triad
Frequency94.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding94.5 WPTI
Slogan"Your News, Talk & Sports Station!"
Programming
FormatTalk, Sports
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
Fox News Radio
Fox Sports Radio
TheBlaze Network
Ownership
OwneriHeartMedia, Inc.
(iHM Licenses, LLC)
WMAG, WMKS, WTQR, WVBZ
History
First air date
1950 (as WLOE-FM)
Former call signs
WLOE-FM (1950-1968)
WEAF (1968-1980)
WSRQ (1980-1984)
WWWI (1984–1986)
WKLM (1986-1987)
WWMY (1987-1991)
WMKG (1991–1992)
WNEU (1992–1994)
WXRA (1994–2001)
WWCC (2001–2003)
WGBT (2003–2009)
Call sign meaning
W Piedmont Triad International (name of the airport)
Technical information
Facility ID55754
ClassC1
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT299 meters (981 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
36°20′48″N 79°54′30″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitehttps://945wpti.iheart.com/

WPTI is one of North Carolina's most powerful stations, providing at least secondary coverage from the southern suburbs of Roanoke to the northern suburbs of Charlotte. Its transmitter is located further north than most of the major Triad stations, allowing much of Southside Virginia (Martinsville, Danville) to get a city-grade signal.

Programming

WPTI airs mostly nationally syndicated talk shows by day and sports shows at night. Weekends feature both talk and sports shows, as well as paid brokered programming. National news from Fox News Radio is heard at the beginning of most hours, except when sports shows are airing.

History

The station first went on the air in 1950 as WLOE-FM, simulcast with its AM sister station 1490 WLOE. In 1968 the station switched call letters to WEAF as a beautiful music outlet. It later took the call letters WSRQ. In 1984, the station increased power to 100,000 watts, relocated its studios to Greensboro, and switched to country music as WWWI "I-95," competing against the market's entrenched and top-rated country outlet, WTQR. Later the name was changed to "I-94.5" to help listeners more easily find the station during the time that digital tuners were replacing traditional analog receivers. In 1986 the call letters were switched to WKLM "Classy 94.5" when the station returned to beautiful music.[1] Later the name changed to WWMY "My 94.5", though the format remained the same.[2] WWMY switched to MOR in 1990, later changing to the new call letters WMKG and the name "Magic Lite" when WMAG began providing the station's programming. In 1992, WMKG became WNEU "New Country 94.5", later changing its name to "Cat Country".[3][4]

"La Preciosa" logo

On September 22, 1994, the station became WXRA "94.5 the Rock Alternative", playing modern rock.[5][6] Later in the 90s, the station began playing a mix of old and new rock and called itself "The Rock Station". Around New Year's Day, 2001, WXRA's format moved to 100.3 FM, with 94.5 FM becoming WWCC, a classic-leaning country music station. Ratings for this format were poor. On February 24, 2003, WWCC became WGBT, and flipped to a Rhythmic Top 40 format as "94.5 The Beat."[7]

On February 16, 2006, at 5 p.m., after playing "Don't Forget About Us" by Mariah Carey, WGBT switched to a Spanish-language classic hits format as "La Preciosa."[8] The station played Regional Mexican music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. As such, WGBT became The Triad's first FM Spanish-language radio station (and the second in North Carolina). This made the fourth distinctly different radio format in five years to be broadcast on the 94.5 frequency in the Greensboro market.

WPTI today

At the end of 2009, the Curtis Media Group announced that its WSJS/WSML news talk simulcast would no longer carry The Rush Limbaugh Show.[9][10] On December 31, 2009, WGBT became a talk station known as "Rush Radio 94.5" under new calls WPTI. The station stunted with weekend-long continuous replays of The Rush Limbaugh Week in Review through New Year's weekend. The Glenn Beck Program and a local show called The Morning Rush hosted by Bill Flynn and Pamela Furr debuted January 4.[11]

On July 26, 2010, Sean Hannity moved to WPTI.

In November 2010, the station canceled The Morning Rush with Flynn and Pamela Furr (although Furr continued with anchoring news for both WPTI and WRDU). After Christmas 2010, Dmitri Vassilaros began hosting the morning show.[12] In 2011, WPTI replaced Vassilaros with K.C. O'Dea.[13]

ON May 24, 2013 WPTI dropped the "Rush Radio 94.5" branding, now just calling itself "94.5 WPTI".[14]

WPTI is the Triad's FM affiliate of the Tar Heel Sports Network, which broadcasts football and basketball games involving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels. Following derogatory comments made by Rush Limbaugh regarding Sandra Fluke, WPTI was asked not to promote the university or the Tar Heel Sports Network during The Rush Limbaugh Show.[15]

References
  1. Jeff Borden, "The Readers Write: "'Beautiful Music' Listeners Find Ways to Fill Void After WZXI Format Switch," The Charlotte Observer, April 14, 1986.
  2. Bradley Johnson, "Aiming for an Audience," Greensboro News & Record, July 20, 1987.
  3. Sutter, Mark (1991-08-16). "Triad Radio Stations Plan Marketing Staff Mergers". Greensboro News & Record.
  4. Johnson, Maria C. (1993-05-20). "Radio Stations Fighting for Fans". Greensboro News & Record.
  5. Folk, Mark (1994-09-23). "Ex-Country Station Ready to Rock 'N' Roll". Greensboro News & Record.
  6. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-09-30.pdf
  7. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2003/RR-2003-02-28.pdf
  8. "94.5 FM Becomes La Preciosa". WXII12. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  9. Rush Radio 94.5 http://www.rushradio945.com
  10. "Conservative Talkers Moving To FM In Triad". wxii.com. 2009-11-02. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  11. Rowe, Jeri (2010-01-07). "Radio host shifts to the right with a new station". News & Record. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  12. "Rush Radio Hires New Morning Show Host". WGHP. 2010-12-10. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  13. "Ask SAM: Straight Answers". Winston-Salem Journal. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
  14. http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/82176/less-rush-for-wpti-greensboro/
  15. Cain, Brooke (2012-03-22). "UNC distances itself from Rush Limbaugh". News & Observer. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
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