| City of license | Radford, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Pulaski County, Virginia Montgomery County, Virginia |
| Branding | "Sports Radio 1460 WRAD" |
| Slogan | "Your 24-Hour Sports Station" |
| Frequency | 1460 kHz |
| First air date | 1950 |
| Format | Sports/Talk |
| Power | 5,000 Watts daytime 500 Watts nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 73919 |
| Callsign meaning | W RADford |
| Affiliations | ABC Radio, PRN, MRN |
| Owner | Cumulus Media, Inc. (Cumulus Licensing, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WBRW, WFNR, WNMX, WPSK, WWBU |
| Website | http://sportingnewsradio.com/SportsRadio1460WRAD |
WRAD is a sports/talk formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Radford, Virginia, serving Pulaski and Montgomery counties in Virginia. WRAD is owned and operated by Cumulus Media, Inc.
In 1947, O. Wayne Rollins founded Rollins Broadcasting and bought 1460 WRAD, an AM radio station based in the rural town of Radford, Virginia. As television continued to intrude on the traditional radio market, Rollins Broadcasting took advantage of falling radio station prices by increasing its holdings and launching programming targeted toward African-Americans. Rollins then developed a coordinated approach to advertising by buying billboards that allowed him to offer clients multiple advertising venues for their products. In 1956, Rollins Broadcasting expanded its business into television.
WRAD's format in 1948 was current popular music—what is now known as "nostalgia" or Adult standards--broadcasting with 200 watts on 1340 AM and known as "The Big "R" Radio". The station originally broadcast from downtown Radford, next to the train station and the old post office on Main Street next to Radford University. Later, the frequency was changed to 1460 kHz in favor of a larger signal—therefore a greater coverage area—and moved across the bridge. The 1340 frequency was sold to new owners and is now WBLB. Throughout the years, the wattage was upgraded to 500, 1,000, then 5,000 watts during daytime hours. The format was changed to country, putting themselves into direct competition with Roanoke's 610 WSLC-AM (now WVBE-AM).
WRAD was the first AM station in the New River Valley to broadcast in AM stereo, beginning in the early 1980s. The AM stereo phenomenon didn't catch on with consumers. WSLC & WRAD both remained in AM stereo until about 1999.
In 1965 WRAD acquired a FM sister station WRIQ-FM (currently WWBU) 101.7 mHz. WRIQ used to broadcast a country format independent of WRAD-AM. In 1996, new owners made WRAD a simulcast of WRIQ's CD Country format. Two years later, WRAD was changed to Music and Memories, a nostalgia format. Then in 1999 WRAD moved to facillites' that would also house 3 other area sister FM stations, and 2 other sister AM stations. In 2004, the nostalgia format was dropped in favor of a sports talk format.
They became "Timeless Favorites" 1460 WRAD August 4, 2008.
WRAD has been the home of Radford High School Bobcat Football since 1969, celebrating 50 years in 2009.
Due to "Timeless'" (Citadel Media) demise on February 15, 2010, this station has flipped back to its previous format.
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