WCEC-FM/WFMA In 1947, Mel Warner and his father-in-law,
Rocky Mount Evening Telegram founder Josh Horne, signed on WCEC 810 AM and WCEC-FM 100.7 FM in Rocky Mount. The stations hired legendary agricultural broadcaster Ray Wilkinson in 1948, and along with WRAL-FM Raleigh and WGBR Goldsboro, started the Tobacco Network. It was sold to WRAL-FM owner A. J. Fletcher, and has grown into what is now known as the
North Carolina News Network. Two years after its first sign on, the WCEC-FM call sign was changed to WFMA.
WTRG-FM WFMA had a country format when Ken Johnson's
Mobile, Alabama-based Capital Broadcasting (no relation to Raleigh's
Capitol Broadcasting Company) bought it and moved its studios to Raleigh. The call sign was changed to WTRG around August 1986. (WCEC 810, now a stand-alone which was authorized for daytime operation only, went dark and its license was subsequently returned to the FCC.) Along with the studio move, WTRG was upgraded to a 100,000-watt signal using one of the tallest towers in North Carolina. The station, now with a coverage area, claimed the 17th largest coverage area of any FM station in America. WTRG signed on with the fight songs from Duke, UNC, and NC State before debuting with an
oldies format, only to quickly change to an
adult contemporary format. They returned to oldies in 1989 as "Oldies 100.7".
Tom Joyner purchased WTRG in 1991 and built a community-minded station which took editorial stances: an example of this was the station's 1993 effort for increased rights of victims of violent crimes. With the relaxation of dual ownership rules, WTRG was sold in 1994 to Hicks Muse of Dallas, along with Carl Venters'
WRDU, a move-in from nearby Wilson. That same year, WTRG picked up
UNC Tar Heels radio broadcasts from
WZZU. Through several mergers, WTRG, WRDU and three other local stations became part of Clear Channel Communications, which would itself become
iHeartMedia in 2014. On November 8, 2004, WTRG axed its longtime oldies format and began stunting with simulcasts of Clear Channel sister stations WRSN (now WNCB), WDCG, WDUR and WRDU (now WTKK). At 5 p.m. on November 12, the station switched to country as "100.7 The Bull".
WRVA-FM However, "The Bull" also turned out to be a stunt, as three days later, on November 15, at 5 p.m., the station became
adult album alternative-formatted "100.7 The River", with the new call sign WRVA-FM following shortly thereafter. Even though it shared the same call sign as fellow
Clear Channel station
WRVA, a 50,000-watt AM station licensed to serve
Richmond, Virginia, the station was programmed independently. Per FCC requirements, the -FM suffix was attached to the call sign. On September 25, 2006, The River shifted to a rock adult contemporary (Rock AC) format, albeit with the same branding and logo. In anticipation of sister station and heritage rocker WRDU's switch to a
country format, which took place on October 6 of that year, "The River" shifted to
classic hits. In 2010, WRVA-FM changed its city of license from Rocky Mount to Wake Forest in part of a multi-station agreement that allowed Capitol Broadcasting sports outlet WCMC-FM 99.9 to increase its coverage. During 2011, WRVA shifted toward more of a mainstream classic hits/Rock-leaning Gold AC format, including more 1960s rock music and non-disco pop music from the 1970s, while continuing to play 1980s music. On November 11, 2011, at 6:00p.m., after playing The Beatles' "
Ticket to Ride" and going into Bobby Helms' "
Jingle Bell Rock", WRVA-FM made the switch to all-
Christmas music. It became the third station in the Clear Channel Raleigh cluster to make such a change. WRSN/WKSL made the holiday switch on an annual basis until 2007, and WRDU did likewise in 2009 when it switched from country music to
talk radio (as that station lost the ratings and revenue battle to
WQDR-FM). The switch led to rumors of a format change. On December 26, 2011, 100.7 The River returned with more of a mainstream classic hits format, including more 1960s and 1970s pop/R&B music, and less classic rock and 1980s music. This put the station in competition with Curtis Media's
WKIX-FM. Another format change took effect on June 8, 2012, with the station this time going in a more general
classic rock direction, with artists such as
Guns N' Roses,
Van Halen,
Pink Floyd, and
ZZ Top. As of November 7, 2012, the River changed to a harder brand of classic rock, similar to
WBBB, who switched formats to
adult hits in November 2011, and longtime classic rocker
106.1 RDU.
WTKK/WRDU On March 27, 2013, WRVA-FM changed its call sign to WTKK. On March 28, the station released morning host Kitty Kinnin. The next day, the station began running liners promoting that "The River has dried up" and a change would happen on April 1 at 9:00 AM. At that time, after a 3-hour
stunt with a loop of "
Back in Black" by
AC/DC and audio of a scene from
School of Rock, the station relaunched as "Classic Rock, 100.7 WRDU", with actor/
Tenacious D member Jack Black relaunching WRDU with the words "LET'S GET ROCKIN'!" The WTKK call sign was moved to 106.1, which rebranded itself as "106.1 WTKK" with the slogan "More Stimulating Talk Radio", while the WRDU call sign was moved to 100.7. On July 30, 2025, WRDU's format was slightly modified into a
mainstream rock format; while the station maintains a classic rock base for the format, it was significantly expanded to include more
active rock and
alternative rock from the 1990s onward under the new slogan "Everything Rock & Alternative". ==Previous uses of the call sign==