WZRH (defunct)

WZRH was an AM radio station broadcasting a religious format from Dallas, North Carolina. The station is owned and operated by Truth Broadcasting.

History

The 960 frequency in the Charlotte market first went on the air with the call letters WAAK on January 1, 1963.

As the station was initially applied for, it was to be licensed in Concord with 1000 watts daytime and nighttime.

Controversial Beginnings

In 1960. Fred Whitley, owner of WGTL in neighboring Kannapolis applied for the frequency as a daytime-only station in Dallas in order to keep new competition out of his market. He won the construction permit for the station in Dallas, took the call letters WAAK off the top of the FCC call letter list, refurbished WGTL's studio (bought the audio board from WSJS-TV) and put the old WGTL console in Dallas.

The WAAK Years

William E. Rumple was the Chief Engineer of the station for the entire time that Fred Whitley owned it. Whitley ran the station on a break-even basis for about 25 years. In the mid-1980's he sold it to the Marlow Brothers from New Jersey.

The new ownership made sweeping changes to the station, changing it from the Easy-Listening format the station carried during the Whitley years to an Adult-Leaning Top-40 sound, and adding an additional tower to allow the station to broadcast at night.

The establishment of several Top-40 stations in the Charlotte market eroded the listenership of WAAK, and by 1990 the station was sold again and moved to a Religious format. Several ownership changes took place over the next decade.

Zybek Media and WZRH

In December 2002, WAAK was sold to The Zybek Media Group. They changed the legendary calls to WZRH with the moniker "Hot Talk 960". The new owners immediately filed for a power increase in its attempt to place a stronger signal over the city of Charlotte.

Truth Broadcasting and WZRH

Two years later, the station was sold yet again to Truth Broadcasting of Winston-Salem. The station continued its talk format until May 21, 2007, when the station began airing religious programs 24/7.

External links

* [http://www.wzrh.com Official site]
* [http://www.thatwasradio.com Site with much historical information on Charlotte-area radio stations]