The Mic is On (1924 - 1931)

WFIR is the second-oldest radio station in Virginia and one of the oldest commercial radio stations in the country. The station you listen to now for Roanoke Valley news, weather, and talk shows began long ago as the radio hobby of Mr. Frank E. Maddox. Maddox built and operated amateur station “3BIY” until his employer, the Richardson- Wayland Electrical Corporation, convinced him in 1924 to build a commercial station.

Frank Maddox

Richardson-Wayland sold radios and parts, and management knew they could sell more radios if people simply had something to listen to. Roanokers could hear nothing at all during the day and could pick up only sporadic signals at night.

A Richardson–Wayland store front in the 1920s. The original transmitter broadcast from a few doors down at 106 Church Street.

Close scrutiny of this photo suggests it is the original transmitter built by Frank Maddox in 1924. The map to the left represents confirmed reports of WDBJ reception, all limited to the Eastern U.S.

The 5’ x 4’ transmitter for Roanoke’s new 20 watt blowtorch (many modern stations broadcast at 50,000 watts!) went in the back of Richardson-Wayland’s shop at 106 West Church Avenue next to the current Texas Tavern. Mr. Richardson converted his office into an impromptu studio. Thus was born the radio station initially known as WDBJ. The first musician to go on the air on WDBJ’s assigned frequency at 1310 AM was Raymond Jordan. On June 20, 1924, a banjo player accompanied Jordan on the fiddle for several selections:“Soldier’s Joy,” “Turkey in the Straw,” and “Darling Nellie Gray.” Seven miles away, near present-day Lewis-Gale Clinic, a group of the station’s promoters gathered in the parlor of S. H. McVitty. McVitty owned one of the few factory-built receiving sets in the area and the broadcast reportedly came in loud and clear!

Hayden Huddleston

A 15-year-old Vinton High School dropout by the name of Hayden Huddleston assisted Maddox in those early days. Huddleston, the “Red-Headed Announcer,” eventually became Roanoke’s first radio and TV superstar. He worked in broadcasting for 60 years, including as host of The Hayden Huddleston Show and Klub Kwiz. The latter aired for an amazing 19 years and is perhaps Roanoke’s most successful show.

Most anyone else who heard WDBJ in these heady days listened on homemade radios that Maddox and Huddleston built themselves. Even with their homemade sets, listeners didn’t get to hear very much. Jordan says, “We were on the air for maybe two hours, three days a week,” and never according to a regular schedule.	Roanoke Jug Band
Poor Mr. Richardson eventually got his office back when he arranged to create a real studio for WDBJ in the music department of the Thurman and Boone Company where the Heironimous building is located now. Heavy rugs covered the walls and ceiling. Not long after that, WDBJ abandoned the Thurman and Boone room in favor of a second floor studio of the Grand Piano Company on Campbell Avenue. And during the winter of 1926-1927, WDBJ moved into its first modern, specially constructed studios in the American Theater Building located at Jefferson Street and Campbell Avenue.
American Theater
In February 1929, engineers modernized the transmitter and moved it to the top of the Shenandoah Life Insurance building. WDBJ was broadcasting now on 930 AM and technicians increased power to 500 watts during the day. The station upgraded its power two more times…to 1000 watts in 1934, and up to 5000 watts in 1936. The station still broadcasts at 5,000 watts today.
Hayden Huddleston introduces the Roanoke Entertainers.	Some of the earliest regular performers in those days were the Thursday Morning Music Club, the Roanoke Entertainers, the N&W String Band, the McCray Family, and the Roanoke Jug Band. At times the “entertainment” was home grown pickin’ and grinnin’ not too much more orchestrated than that first broadcast. Listeners could also tune in to hear poetry, storytelling, or a lecture on the evils of alcohol.

Significantly, WDBJ joined the Columbia Broadcasting System on October 8, 1929. CBS gave the station access to an extraordinary wealth of syndicated music, drama, serials, and news that had never been heard in Roanoke before, including programs such as Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra and the 1938 broadcast of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds.” America had now been brought inside Roanoke’s homes, and the affiliation with CBS would last for more than 70 years.

Ruth Etting

WDBJ managers realized the influence of radio was growing after the terrified response to Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds.”

That first musician to inaugurate WDBJ, Raymond Jordan, helped oversee this momentous explosion of programming. Jordan, the unlikely fiddle player who began his early employed life as a storekeeper with Norfolk and Western and as a teacher at Lee Junior High School, became WDBJ’s station manager in 1930. He eventually became one of the founding fathers of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters!

Raymond Jordan

In May 1931, Richardson-Wayland sold the station to the Times-World Publishing Company and five years later, a Roanoke landmark pierced the sky. On May 10, 1936, WDBJ broke ground on a new transmitter building and tower. Engineers built a 312-foot tower in Colonial Heights, which can still be seen jutting from the center of Towers Mall.

A two-story building for WDBJ’s new 5,000 watt “high fidelity” transmitter went up on the same 14-acre plot. Planners included an emergency studio and apartment for the resident engineer in the air-conditioned building. It was located in essentially the same spot where you now see Wachovia Bank on Towers’ upper level at Colonial and Brandon Avenues. The actual air studios remained in the American Theater, but not for very long. Any change in programming or location at the radio station was major news. Former transmitter building near present day Towers Mall

September 1935 schedule of WDBJ programs

A truly historic photo of the WDBJ staff in 1936. Ray Jordan is in the back row, 3rd from the left. 5th from the left is a young Irving Sharp and 2nd from the right is Hayden Huddleston.

In June 1936, the station owners started construction on a $105,000 structure at 124 West Kirk Avenue that was to become WDBJ’s studios for the next 20 years. Designers had been working on the building for two years and needed six months to complete the construction. CBS engineers helped with the design that was reputed to be completely soundproof.

According to Roanoke radio historian Steve Nelson, this was due to “the intimacies of construction. The studios…were vibration- free with acoustical qualities so accurately calculated that interference of human bodies, chairs, even music stands had to be considered.” Station offices were on the ground floor. Three studios surrounded a control room on the second floor. And the top floor held staff lounges and audition rooms for unknown talents to give station programmers their best tryout.

124 West Kirk Avenue

This machine-age building has stood the test of time. 124 West Kirk still stands, and a small portion of the radio station’s studios and the art deco lighting have been preserved. When Will Trinkle moved into the building, he converted the studios into an elegant loft. The glass that once looked into the WDBJ studios now shows off the home’s kitchen!

Inside 124 West Kirk Avenue today

Hall of Fame   Name Position                     Start with Station Raymond Jordan Founder, Station Manager 1924 Huddleston Founder, Air Personality 1924 Irving Sharp Musician, Air Personality 1936 Ted Rogers Air Personality 1956 Bob Clark Sports Director 1985

In the 1930’s, western swing music and western themes in clothing and books were all the rage, and the music on WDBJ followed right along. The Texas Troubadours were perhaps Roanoke’s favorite local western act. They joined national groups like the Sons of the Pioneers, the Girls of the Golden West, and Gene Autry. They played right alongside more traditional groups like Charlie Scott and his Harmonizers, who played in WDBJ’s Studio B.

Promotional match book

The Texas Troubadours

Charles Scott and his Harmonizers. The guitar player on the right is Lester Flatt.

Believe it or not, Roanoke rivaled Nashville during this era for country music influence. In time, WSM’s “Grand Ole Opry” made Tennessee the center of the country music universe and WDBJ’s influence in Dixie began to fade.

In just a few years, WDBJ would move something besides its studios. In 1941, the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement changed the dial position for about 800 radio stations. At exactly 3:00 in the morning on March 29, 1941, the radio station moved to its current frequency, 960 AM.

During the 1940’s, one of the radio station’s most enduring performers achieved national acclaim. Irving Sharp became known as “Mr. Dr. Pepper” because of his successful sales endorsements of the drink. He also hosted Sharp’s Daily Duzin’, Salt and Peanuts, and the Silver Dollar Man. “Cousin Irv” eventually went on to TV, hosting Cartoon Theatre and the Top of the Morning Show. And for decades, he continued to host weekend music programs on the radio station that made him a star.

Irving Sharp (L) & Artie Levin

Edward R. Murrow

With the advent of World War II, some of the most famous war coverage in broadcasting history enraptured Roanoke listeners. Edward R. Murrow, who anchored a pan-Europe roundup of war news from Vienna, became a CBS staple and international celebrity. The Roanoke Valley heard H. V. Kaltenborn’s hushed cries, “Calling Ed Murrow! Calling Ed Murrow!”when the signals from Europe grew faint.

Entertainers produced patriotic music to support the American war effort.

Patriotic American music took on new importance in these days on WDBJ, along with the growth of big band orchestras, and timeless performers like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Ray Contif, Henry Mancini, and Count Basie. Country music was still present on 960 AM, but as the decades passed, listeners heard fewer traditional fiddle tunes in favor of more commercial honky-tonk and bluegrass.

Frank Sinatra

According to the Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College, it was also during this period, as TV grew in popularity, that WDBJ and other radio stations began broadcasting fewer live performances and using less local programming in favor of slick network acts. Roanoke had its first television station in 1953 and within just a few years live country music had all but disappeared from the dial. After twenty years, WDBJ moved once again, this time to the building of its then-owner, Times-World Publishing, at 201 West Campbell Avenue. From 1956 to 1969, the radio station operated out of the building’s 2nd floor.

Arthur Godfrey Time in 1941 WDBJ took up residence in the newspaper offices for 13 years.

Ted Rogers

1956 was also the year the station hired one of its best-known and longest-serving air personalities, Ted Rogers. Rogers moved to the Roanoke Valley from Raleigh, North Carolina, and worked for 960 AM as a DJ and personality for 34 years, retiring in 1990. Perhaps best known for the advice segment, “Ask Your Neighbor,” Rogers’ name was synonymous with Roanoke radio for the last 15 years of his work at the station.

First in Roanoke (1969 - 1989)

In 1969, just as Rogers was becoming a fixture on 960, something really important happened—Times-World was compelled to divest its radio and TV properties. The paper sold WDBJ Radio and WDBJ TV to separate owners in May 1969. However, the TV properties were spun off first, by a matter of just a few days. That meant that the new owners of 960 AM, the Vodrey Family of Canton, Ohio, had to find a new name for their radio station. Beginning November 1, 1969, the radio station became known as “WFIR,” an acronym for the radio station’s position as the area’s pioneering broadcaster, “First In Roanoke.”

An early ad for the renamed “WFIR” from the 1970s.

Babs lays on the melodrama in this promotional photo signed “Barbara Streisand”

The radio station’s music during the 60’s and 70’s moved away from country, and edged a little closer to the popular “light rock” music you can still hear today. Elvis Presley, the Mamas and the Papas, Anne Murray, Elton John, and even a little disco like Donna Summer were popular on WFIR during these years. Because the station was perceived as the “adult” music station, DJs still played quite a bit of big band music and oldies.

This was a time of dramatic change for WFIR in other ways.

Just a year or so after WFIR changed hands, it moved to perhaps its most appropriate location, Towers Mall, still site of the station’s towers. In April 1970, WFIR took over the space next to the current Katie’s Ice Cream where the mall management office is now located on the lower level.

WFIR in the Age of Aquarius!	WFIR’s Towers Mall location
In 1977, Jim Gibbons, the “Voice of the Washington Redskins,” purchased WFIR and the sound of the radio station began to change forever. That same month, listeners began hearing more news and sports reports. Gibbons was changing WFIR into a full-service radio station with a mix of local news, national commentary by CBS legends like Charles Kuralt, and easy listening music to fill in the spaces.	The WFIR staff in 1979. Ted Rogers is on the far left; Bill Thomas looking handsome in plaid at the bottom center. Disc jockeys Bill Bratton and Pat Garrett are on the right and longtime WFIR personality Jerry Joynes is at center top.

Bruce Williams

In August 1979, Larry King made his debut on WFIR as a syndicated overnight talk show host on the erstwhile Mutual Radio Network. He joined iconic financial advisor Bruce Williams as one of WFIR’s first two talk shows, although the conversion to an all News/Talk format did not take place for another ten years.

Charles Kuralt

In 1985, the year “Back to the Future” took over movie theatres, and Phil Collins’ “No Jacket Required” topped the record charts, there were two important staff changes. Longtime station DJ Bill Bratton was promoted to program director; Bratton is principally credited with changing WFIR to its current format. And a New England native named Bob Clark joined Ted Rogers in the morning as WFIR Sports Director.

Clark started as a DJ on a New Hampshire radio station in 1962. Hired just weeks before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he also saw two Kennedys and Martin Luther King assassinated during his first few years on the radio. In his more than 20 years at WFIR, Clark has been a DJ, morning show host, afternoon show host, and sports personality. He and his wife, Mary Lu, have one daughter who works in television news in South Carolina.

“Station Senator” Bob Clark

In the spring of 1988, the staff moved once more, making their home on Hounds Chase Lane next to the Kabuki restaurant. One year later, WFIR took two giant steps towards becoming the station you hear today.

WFIR’s location on Hounds Chase Lane. The Kabuki restaurant is to the immediate right.

Roanoke enjoyed an extremely rare market visit by Rush Limbaugh.

WFIR became one of the earliest affiliates of the Rush Limbaugh show on March 13, 1989. At that time, Rush broadcast from 12:00 – 2:00 PM. Rush would visit Roanoke and broadcast from the Hounds Chase studios just a year or two later. One week after becoming a Rush Limbaugh affiliate, on Monday morning, March 20, listeners turned on 960 AM to hear an all News/Talk radio station.

Everyone was talking about WFIR’s new format!

The lineup that morning was: 5 AM          Ted Rogers 9 AM          John Schreiner 12 PM        Rush Limbaugh 2 PM          Gary Minter 4 PM          Dr. Dean Edell 5 PM          Local News 7 PM          Bruce Williams

Depend On It! (1989 - Present)

Today WFIR is still the Roanoke Valley’s only local news station, especially notable on fateful days in American history such as September 11, 2001. That day, at approximately 9:20 AM, WFIR began nearly 30 straight hours of wall-to-wall news coverage of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. All commercials were cancelled and “normal” programming did not resume until noon the following day.

Some of WFIR’s staff worked 35 straight hours on September 11 and 12, 2001.

WFIR has come a long way from a back office at 106 Church Street.

WFIR did change hands one more time after switching to the News/Talk format, in the year 2000. Locally-owned Mel Wheeler, Inc, bought WFIR and in 2001, moved the station to its current location, the “K92 Building” on Electric Road. On Friday, May 17, 2002, WFIR ended its longtime affiliation with CBS Radio. At 7:00 PM that day, listeners began hearing ABC newscasts at the top and bottom of the hour. Also in May 2002, Joey Self began hosting the Roanoke Valley’s Morning News.