WCRY

WCRY (1460 AM, "Joy 1460") was a radio station broadcasting a black gospel music format. Licensed to serve Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, United States, it broadcast to the Research Triangle metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1949 under the call sign WFVG, and ceased operations in 2004. The station was owned by Willis Broadcasting.

WCRY
CityFuquay-Varina, North Carolina
Broadcast areaResearch Triangle
Frequency1460 kHz
Branding"Joy 1460"
Programming
FormatDefunct
Ownership
OwnerWillis Broadcasting
(Durham Christian Radio, Inc.)
History
First air date
1949 (1949)
Last air date
June 2004 (2004-06)
Former call signs
WFVG (1949–1967)
WAKS (1967–1989)
WNBR (1989–1992)
Technical information
Facility ID52645
ClassD
Power5,000 watts daytime
122 watts nighttime
Transmitter coordinates
35°36′36″N 78°48′14.4″W

History

The station went on the air in 1949[1] as WFVG, a 1,000-watt daytimer in Fuquay Springs owned by Wake Broadcasting Company;[2] the call letters stood for "Watch Fuquay-Varina Grow".[3] In 1950, S. S. Adcock sold a 60-percent interest in the station to J. M. Stephenson and W. J. Davis for $34,000;[4] a few months later, Adcock sold his remaining interest to Stephenson and Davis for over $50,000.[5] Davis sold his stake to B.H. Ingle Sr. for $16,000 in 1951;[6] Ingle then sold his stake to Stephenson after applying for a station in Raleigh.[7] WFVG became an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1957.[8]

James M. Stephenson was part of a group that bought WKIX AM-FM in Raleigh in 1958;[9] as a condition of this purchase, Stephenson sold WFVG to a group led by James F. Flanagan for $42,000.[10] In 1960, Gail Lewis sold his 37.5-percent stake in the station to the remaining partners, Flanagan and Dr. Robert C. Currin, for $10,000; the sale coincided with Lewis' purchase of WEYE in Sanford.[11] H. Cloid Wade Jr. and Carl W. Venters Jr., owners of WFAG in Farmville, bought WFVG in 1962.[12] As WFVG, the station provided agricultural information, along with country music and rock and roll.[3]

In 1967, WFVG was sold to Gray Broadcasting Corp.;[13] on October 18, it changed its call letters to WAKS.[14] As WAKS, the station programmed a full-time country music format.[3] Gray Broadcasting sold WAKS to Joseph B. Wilder, James M. Butts, and L. Keith Whittle for $125,000 in 1971.[15] In 1978, the station increased its power to 5,000 watts and changed its city of license to Fuquay-Varina;[14] Fuquay Springs and Varina had merged in 1963. An FM sister station, WAKS-FM (103.9), was added on December 9, 1980; it simulcast 90 percent of WAKS' programming.[16]

Wake County Broadcasting sold WAKS and WAKS-FM to Mohr-Engledow Broadcasting for $850,000 in 1986.[17] After WAKS-FM changed to easy listening station WAZZ in 1987, the country format remained on WAKS.[18] Meca Broadcasting sold WAKS and WAZZ to Ceder Communications for $1.43 million in 1989.[19][20] On October 20, 1989, the call letters were changed to WNBR,[21] as the station moved to a business news/talk format.[3] The station was also granted 122 watts of nighttime power.[20] In December 1991, WNBR dropped the business news format and went silent.[22]

The station changed its call letters to WCRY on April 15, 1992.[21] In February 1993, WCRY returned to the air with a news/talk format[23] as the flagship station of the "North Carolina Talk Network", which also included WEEB in Southern Pines and WHPY in Clayton;[24] later that year, WCRY was sold to Pinehurst Broadcasting Corporation.[25] In August 1996, the station switched to a black gospel format and entered into a local marketing agreement with WSRC;[26] WCRY was then sold to WSRC's owner, Durham Christian Radio, controlled by L. E. Willis, for $175,000[27] and became part of Willis Broadcasting Corporation.[28]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered Bishop Willis to surrender the licenses for four of his AM stations — KLRG in Little Rock, Arkansas, KVLA in Vidalia, Louisiana, WCRY, and WSVE in Jacksonville, Florida — on June 16, 2004 after accumulating $84,000 in fines due to violations of FCC rules dating to 1999.[29] By June 21, 2004, WCRY had left the air;[3] on June 24, WCRY's license was cancelled by the FCC.[30]

References
  1. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-321. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  2. Broadcasting-Telecasting 1950 Yearbook Number (PDF). 1950. p. 226. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  3. "Radio R.I.P." Raleigh-Durham Radio Waves. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  4. "FCC Actions" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. April 3, 1950. p. 66. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  5. "New Applications" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. July 10, 1950. p. 76. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  6. "FCC Actions" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. April 2, 1951. p. 91. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  7. "New Applications" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. July 30, 1951. p. 77. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  8. "Mutual Reports Rising Demand For Affiliations With Network" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 23, 1957. p. 70. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  9. "Price Group Buys WKIX Raleigh" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 17, 1958. p. 10. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  10. "For The Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 15, 1958. p. 84. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  11. "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 1, 1960. p. 78. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  12. "For The Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 5, 1962. p. 79. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  13. "For The Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 14, 1967. p. 93. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  14. "WAKS history cards" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  15. "For The Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 5, 1971. p. 84. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  16. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1982 (PDF). 1982. p. C-171. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  17. "For The Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 25, 1986. p. 103. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  18. Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-214. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  19. "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 26, 1986. pp. 88–9. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  20. The Broadcasting Yearbook 1990 (PDF). 1990. p. B-225. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  21. "Call Sign History (DWCRY)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  22. "Format Changes" (PDF). The M Street Journal. December 2, 1991. p. 1. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  23. "Format Changes" (PDF). The M Street Journal. February 24, 1993. p. 1. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  24. "Elsewhere" (PDF). The M Street Journal. February 24, 1993. p. 7. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  25. "Proposed Station Transfers" (PDF). The M Street Journal. September 8, 1993. p. 4. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  26. "Format Changes" (PDF). The M Street Journal. August 14, 1996. p. 2. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  27. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. October 11, 1996. p. 12. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  28. "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. February 10, 1997. p. 68. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  29. "Willis Must Surrender Licenses". Radio World. June 16, 2004. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  30. "Station Search Details (DWCRY)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
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