WPTI

For the Louisville, Kentucky radio station, see WRKA.
WPTI
City of license Eden, North Carolina
Broadcast area Piedmont Triad
Branding 94.5 WPTI
Frequency 94.5 MHz
First air date 1949 (as WLOE-FM)
Format Talk
Power 100,000 watts
HAAT 299 meters
Class C1
Facility ID 55754
Transmitter coordinates 36°20′48″N 79°54′30″W / 36.34667°N 79.90833°W
Callsign meaning W Piedmont Triad International (name of the airport)
Former callsigns WLOE-FM (1949-?)
WEAF (?-?)
WSRQ (?-1984)
WWWI (1984–1986)
WKLM (1986-?)
WWMY (?-1991)
WMKG (1991–1992)
WNEU (1992–1994)
WXRA (1994–2001)
WWCC (2001–2003)
WGBT (2003–2009)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
Sister stations WMAG, WMKS, WTQR, WVBZ
Webcast Listen Live
Website rushradio945.com

WPTI (94.5 FM), is an talk radio station serving the Piedmont Triad area of the United States, covering the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point metropolitan area. The iHeartMedia, Inc. station's community of license is Eden, North Carolina. Its transmitter is located in Madison, North Carolina, and has studio facilities and offices located on Pai Park in Greensboro.

WPTI carries Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Jason Lewis, The Schnitt Show and Coast to Coast AM, along with the morning show from co-owned WTKK in Raleigh, and other programming.[1]

History

The station was WLOE-FM, WEAF and then WSRQ in Eden, North Carolina. In 1984 the station increased power to 100,000 watts and became a country music station called WWWI "I-95". Later the name was changed to "I-94.5". In 1986 the letters were switched to WKLM when the station became beautiful music[2] "Classy 94.5". Later, when the station had moved to Greensboro, the name changed to WWMY "My 94.5", though the format remained the same.[3] 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".[4][5]

"La Preciosa" logo

In 1994, the station became WXRA "94.5 the Rock Alternative", playing modern rock.[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 became WWCC, a classic-leaning country music station, but the ratings weren't there and in 2003 WWCC became WGBT and flipped to a Rhythmic Top 40 format.

On Thursday, February 16, 2006, WGBT switched to an all-Spanish language format, La Preciosa,[7] playing music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. As such, WGBT became The Triad's first FM Spanish-language radio station (the 2nd 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

Curtis Media Group announced that its WSJS/WSML news talk simulcast would no longer carry The Rush Limbaugh Show after December 31, 2009.[1][8] 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 (much as WRNO did in April 2008). The Glenn Beck Program and a local show called The Morning Rush hosted by Bill Flynn and Pamela Furr debuted January 4.[9]

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. In 2012 Furr moved to Atlanta to anchor/report for Cumulus owned All News 106.7) After Christmas of 2010, Dmitri Vassilaros began hosting the morning show.[10] In 2011, WPTI replaced Vassilaros with K.C. O'Dea and Carmen Conners of WRDU, and moved The Schnitt Show from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M., putting Jason Lewis in the 6 P.M. slot.[11]

ON May 24, 2013 WPTI dropped the "Rush Radio 94.5" branding, now just calling itself "94.5 WPTI".[12]

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.[13]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rush Radio 94.5 http://www.rushradio945.com
  2. ↑ Jeff Borden, "The Readers Write: "'Beautiful Music' Listeners Find Ways to Fill Void After WZXI Format Switch," The Charlotte Observer, April 14, 1986.
  3. ↑ Bradley Johnson, "Aiming for an Audience," Greensboro News & Record, July 20, 1987.
  4. ↑ Sutter, Mark (1991-08-16). "Triad Radio Stations Plan Marketing Staff Mergers". Greensboro News & Record.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Maria C. (1993-05-20). "Radio Stations Fighting for Fans". Greensboro News & Record.
  6. ↑ Folk, Mark (1994-09-23). "Ex-Country Station Ready to Rock 'N' Roll". Greensboro News & Record.
  7. ↑ "94.5 FM Becomes La Preciosa". WXII12. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  8. ↑ "Conservative Talkers Moving To FM In Triad". wxii.com. 2009-11-02. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  9. ↑ Rowe, Jeri (2010-01-07). "Radio host shifts to the right with a new station". News & Record. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  10. ↑ "Rush Radio Hires New Morning Show Host". WGHP. 2010-12-10. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  11. ↑ "Ask SAM: Straight Answers". Winston-Salem Journal. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
  12. ↑ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/82176/less-rush-for-wpti-greensboro/
  13. ↑ Cain, Brooke (2012-03-22). "UNC distances itself from Rush Limbaugh". News & Observer. Retrieved 2012-03-22.

External links