Recent Developments
WPTF had served as the flagship station for the NC State Wolfpack sports network for more than 40 years until Wolfpack Sports Marketing announced it had signed a ten-year deal to move its flagship to Capitol Broadcasting Company's WRAL-FM. NC State athletic officials cited their desire to be on an FM signal with a multi-year contract and the ability to collect more local advertising revenue, conditions that Curtis Media was unwilling to provide. Some Wolfpack fans around the East Coast were unhappy with the move because it cut the audience of Wolfpack sports, especially at night, because of the reduced power.
After the September 2008 death of Jack Boston, Scott Fitzgerald took over North Carolina Morning News (5:30–9:00 am).
As of September 15 of 2008, WPTF began streaming Rush Limbaugh as well as the rest of their local and syndicated line up.
Parent Company Curtis Media announced in August, 2009 the acquisiiton of The North Carolina News Network from Capitol Broadcasting Company of Raleigh.
On November 2, 2009, Curtis Media President Phil Zachary said Limbaugh would be leaving WPTF December 31, 2009, after more than 20 years. The show moved to Clear Channel Communications new news talk station, WRDU, which is now up against WPTF.
In December 2009, Brian Freeman, program director of sister station WSJS in Winston-Salem, took over the same duties at WPTF and became the host of North Carolina's Morning News. Scott Fitzgerald moved to 9 to 11 am as host of his own show and as the host of North Carolina's Evening News from 5 to 7 pm.
The loss of long-time staples Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity has proved challenging for WPTF. Following the move of the conservative programs to "Rush Radio," WPTF's ratings were significantly impacted. In the Winter book, WPTF dropped to a 2.6 rating. That was down from a 6.2 in the Fall book.
Starting with the 2011 Daytona 500, WPTF began airing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series racing.
WPTF's format was, in effect, split on March 13, 2012, when much of its talk programming moved to sister station WPTK, which is branded as TalkRadio 850 WPTF. WPTF then shifted most of its daytime programming to all-news, retaining the NewsRadio 680 WPTF identity; the station still airs The Dave Ramsey Show in the late morning hours, and talk shows still comprise WPTF's nighttime and weekend schedule. WPTF's local coverage is supplemented by the CBS Radio Network, AP Radio, and the co-owned North Carolina News Network.
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