durham chapel hill research triangle branding newsradio 680 wptf slogan need to know radio frequency 680 khz repeater s 94.7 3 wqdr hd3 first air date september 22 1924 1924 09 22 as wfbq 1 format news talk power 50 000 watts class b facility id 21630 transmitter coordinates 35 47 38 n 78 45 41 w 35.79389 n 78.76139 w 35.79389 ; 78.76139 wptf callsign meaning we protect the family named for the slogan of the station s former owners durham life insurance company former callsigns wfbq 1924 1925 wrco 1925 1927 affiliations cbs radio network ap radio north carolina news network mrn radio prn radio owner curtis media group curtis media group sister stations wbbb wfnl wkix fm wptk wqdr fm wkjo wwpl webcast listen live website www.wptf.com wptf 680 am ; newsradio 680 is a news and talk radio station serving the triangle area of raleigh durham and chapel hill north carolina . the station is owned by curtis media group . its call letters date back to the former longtime owner of the station durham life insurance company whose motto was we protect the family . its studios are located in raleigh and the transmitter tower is in cary north carolina . programs on wptf include local news blocks in morning drive noon and afternoons national talk shows like consumer and family finances expert clark howard psychologist dr. joy browne and the overnight political show red eye radio . in addition the station also hosts local talk shows with bill lumaye and tom kearney . 2 3 4 from 1977 to 1991 wptf was sister station to wptf tv the longtime nbc affiliate in the triangle . that station is now wrdc myrdc an affiliate of mynetworktv . 5 6 wptf is one of the two most powerful am radio stations in north carolina along with wbt in charlotte . they both run at 50 000 watts with a non directional signal in the daytime and a directional signal at night to protect other radio stations on their frequency . as a class a station wbt has more protections from other radio stations while wptf enjoys class b status . its daytime signal gives am 680 at least grade b coverage as far west as charlotte as far east as wilmington and as far north as the roanoke suburbs . its nighttime directional signal can be picked up well south into the bahamas and other parts of the caribbean and was supposedly heard in venezuela at one time . however it is somewhat spotty in parts of virginia only 50 miles north . 7 it must avoid interfering with several 50 000 watt stations to the north also on 680 khz including wrko in boston and cftr in toronto as well as the dominant station on 680 knbr san francisco to the west so wptf s nighttime signal is stronger to the south . contents 1 early history 2 recent developments 3 hurricane coverage 4 wptf on air staff 5 references 6 external links early history edit wptf was originally called wfbq and was the second radio station in raleigh n. c. state had the first wlac but it did not last going on the air september 22 1924 at 1190 am broadcasting at 50 watts . the station was owned and operated by the wynne radio company owned by william a. wynne 7 and the offices and broadcasting facilities were located in the boone building next to the wake county courthouse . after a year of successful operation citation needed the station had its call letters changed to wrco for wynne radio company . 7 on august 19 1926 the station was authorized to increase its power to 100 watts . being a more powerful station they moved their operations to the sir walter hotel . the following year the power was increased to 250 watts . they signed on the air each morning at sunrise and signed off the air at sunset each day . early in 1927 the station requested from the government 500 watts of power . in june of that year they received word that their request would not be granted however they were given authority to move to 1380 on the dial along with unlimited time on the air citation needed . in 1927 the durham life insurance company purchased wrco outright from the wynne company and the station s call letters were altered to wptf . 7 the new owners were given a permit to increase their power to 500 watts and to move to 720 on the dial . new equipment was purchased and the operations were moved to the basement of the old durham life building . things moved rather rapidly for the new owners . on november 16 1927 wptf moved to 550 kilocycles remaining there until november 1 1928 when it changed to 680 . in 1928 the station was granted another increase in power this time to 1 000 watts but was required to sign off at sunset . citation needed in the early 1930s wptf was a pioneer in educational radio similar to educational tv many years later . students in area schools that had radio were able to listen to a daily broadcast with topics that included citizenship science social studies and art music and literature . 8 although many attempts were made over the next several years it was not until 1933 that the station increased its power to 5 000 watts . with this authority wptf purchased new equipment and moved to cary north carolina on us highway 1 . in june 1940 wptf was given authority to operate unlimited hours and a month later was granted a construction permit to install new transmitter equipment and increase its power to 50 000 watts . almost a year later on a late spring evening listeners heard these words from the announcer on duty ladies and gentlemen there will be a few moments of silence while engineers switch from wptf s 5 000 watts transmitter unit and begin operation for the first time with its new 50 000 watts transmitter . thus on may 24 1941 wptf began a new era in broadcasting . citation needed as of 1948 wptf was an affiliate of nbc radio . wptf added an fm station that year signing on at 94.5 in 1949 using the tallest of the am station s three towers off n.c. highway 54 near the present day interstate 40 . wptf fm later moved to 94.7 and today is country music station wqdr still co owned by curtis media . at the time both stations operated from 410 south salisbury street in downtown raleigh . 7 the tower used by wptf fm when it signed on is currently used by wkix fm . citation needed 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 . 9 by the 1970s the am station offered a full service format with news talk and adult contemporary music 7 and the fm was playing classical music before switching to album rock and the call letters wqdr fm in 1973 . 5 ritner moved to news in 1980 . he was the only reporter at a 1982 hostage incident at central prison helping to negotiate and end the standoff . ritner returned to open line in 1986 and moved it from evenings to afternoons . 9 bob kwesell whose conservative views offended a number of listeners but attracted many newcomer and increased advertising was dropped on november 17 1986 . 10 wptf tv a nine year old station previously called wrdu tv when durham life bought it joined the two radio stations at their highwoods boulevard studios on the north end of raleigh . in 1991 durham life sold its broadcasting stations . don curtis who bought all of wqdr had a controlling interest in wptf . 7 recent developments edit wptf had served as the flagship station for the nc state wolfpack sports network for more than 40 years until wolfpack sports marketing announced it had signed a ten year deal to move its flagship to capitol broadcasting company s wral fm . 11 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 . 12 after the september 2008 death of jack boston scott fitzgerald took over north carolina morning news 5 30 9 00 am . as of september 15 of 2008 wptf began streaming the popular syndicated host rush limbaugh as well as the rest of their local and syndicated line up . parent company curtis media announced in august 2009 the acquisiiton of the north carolina news network from capitol broadcasting company of raleigh . 13 on november 2 2009 curtis media president phil zachary said limbaugh would be leaving wptf december 31 2009 after more than 20 years . 14 the show moved to clear channel communications now iheartmedia s new fm talk radio station 106.1 wrdu now wtkk which competes now is now with wptf . the loss of long time staples rush limbaugh and sean hannity has proved challenging for wptf . following the move of the conservative programs to the new fm talk radio station wptf s ratings were significantly impacted . after having been among raleigh s most popular stations these days the station s ratings are considerably lower . in december 2009 brian freeman program director of sister station wsjs in winston salem north carolina took over the same duties at wptf and became the host of north carolina s morning news . starting with the 2011 daytona 500 wptf began airing nascar sprint cup series and nationwide series racing . 15 previous wptf logo used until 2009 wptf s format was in effect split on march 13 2012 when much of its talk programming moved to sister station wptk which was branded as talkradio 850 wptf . wptf then shifted most of its daytime programming to all news retaining the newsradio 680 wptf identity . the station continued to air the dave ramsey show in the late morning hours until it was picked up by wtkk on june 15 2013 ; other talk shows still comprise wptf s nighttime and weekend schedule . 4 wptf s local coverage is supplemented by the cbs radio network ap radio and the co owned north carolina news network . 16 in august 2015 wptf dropped the split programming from 850 am . this brought bill lumaye back to 680 am from 9am noon clark howard 1pm 3pm with lumaye again from 8pm 9pm . a new north carolina s noon news with bruce ferrell airs between lumaye and howard noon 1pm . the second half of the afternoon drive is branded still as north carolina s evening news with scott briggamon between 4pm 7pm . tony riggsbee who retired from wptf in 2004 had returned to the station on a part time basis a few months prior . he currently helms wptf s saturday morning news prior to eye on health and long time staple the wptf weekend gardner hosted by mike raley and ann clapp . hurricane coverage edit wptf has historically provided hurricane coverage to residents of the carolinas . wptf first provided reports of