WFIR radio celebrates its 100th birthday

Roanoke, Virginia – Since the late 1980s, listeners have flocked to WFIR for news and talk radio, but the station’s founding date is actually June 20, 1924.

“And our top local story, it was 100 years ago today, that commercial radio came to Roanoke, when the station that became WFIR first went on the air,” morning news host and Program Director Joey Self told the station’s audience Thursday morning.

Self, News Director Ian Price, and other staff members at WFIR are carrying on a rich legacy of community involvement and local voices when they step behind the mic.

“Big shoulders to stand on, but I’m glad we’re allowed to carry the torch,” Price said in an interview.

When the Richardson Wayland Electrical Corporation opened the station in 1924, it went by the call letters WDBJ. Local bands frequently provided entertainment for the listeners. WDBJ was acquired by the Roanoke Times’ parent business after a few years. However, the 1969 station sale would result in the new call letters.

“You think about how radio is one of the oldest mediums, but at the same time the changes that have happened in 100 years, I don’t think anybody could have predicted,” Price said.

Wheeler Media, which owns seven radio stations in the Roanoke Valley, currently owns WFIR.

“I love doing it. The folks I work with love doing it,” Self told WDBJ7. “And I hope we can continue to do it for a hundred more years.”