WDBJ WFIR is the second oldest radio station in
Virginia, preceded by only
WNIS in Norfolk, which was first licensed September 21, 1923. WFIR was first licensed, as WDBJ, on May 5, 1924, to the Richardson-Wayland Electrical Corporation at 106 Church Avenue, transmitting on 1310 kHz. On June 20, 1924, WDBJ officially went on the air. The studios were in the back of the company's store. The first program was a live
banjo player. The original call sign was randomly assigned from roster of available call letters. This company already had some limited broadcasting experience. Employee Frank E. Maddox had begun experimenting with radio broadcasts in Roanoke with amateur radio station 3BIY. A March 16, 1922, advertisement for Richardson-Wayland referred to the 3BIY broadcasts, stating that "Saturday nights we give a concert to which all are cordially invited". However, in early 1922 the Department of Commerce, regulators of radio at this time, issued regulations that prohibited amateur radio stations from making broadcasts. A couple years later, Richardson-Wayland asked Maddox to establish a commercial radio station. The company sold radio receivers, but because people in the Roanoke area had no local stations to listen to, they could only pick up distant signals after sunset. In 1926, WDBJ moved to new studios at The American Theater on Jefferson Street and Campbell Avenue in Roanoke. In 1929, WDBJ began broadcasting at 930 kHz at 500 watts power, and also became the Roanoke
affiliate of
CBS Radio—a link that would last for more than 70 years. The station was sold to
The Roanoke Times newspaper in 1931. Power increased to 1000 watts in 1934. In 1939, Chief Engineer J.W. Robertson increased the power to 5000 watts. In 1941, under the
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement or NARBA, the station moved to its current dial position at AM 960. During the 1940s, 50s and 60s, WDBJ mixed
bluegrass music and
country music with
adult standards and
middle of the road popular tunes, while also carrying CBS Network dramas, comedies and sports. In October 1955,
WDBJ-TV (channel 7) signed on the air as Roanoke's CBS television affiliate.
WFIR Times-World Corporation, owner of the
Times, merged with
Landmark Communications in 1969. As a condition of the merger, Times-World sold ts broadcasting properties. Channel 7 kept the historic WDBJ
call letters, with AM 960 becoming WFIR, standing for First in Roanoke, reflecting its status as the first broadcasting operation in the Roanoke Valley. In 1979, WFIR was purchased by
Jim Gibbons, the former play-by-play announcer for the
Washington Redskins football team. Gibbons added more news and sports programming. In 1979, WFIR began carrying the
syndicated Larry King Show overnight, and later, family financial adviser
Bruce Williams in the evening. Through the 1980s, WFIR aired a
full service adult contemporary format, keeping WFIR among the top ten radio stations in the Roanoke-
Lynchburg media market ratings, despite the shift to FM radio listening. In 1987, the station added Rush Limbaugh to its midday schedule, one of his first affiliates. In 1989 WFIR became a full-time News/Talk radio station. In 2000, it was bought by Mel Wheeler, Inc., which owns eight radio stations in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market. In 2001, WFIR switched from CBS Radio News to ABC News Radio hourly newscasts to be able to air Paul Harvey news which was dropped from WROV several years earlier. ==Translators==