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The 1480 frequency arrived in Charlotte in 1954 with the call letters WWOK. Initially a daytime operation with 1000 watts, the station added a directional antenna system and nighttime operation in the late 1950s. The station was Charlotte's Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate, and played Middle of the road music.

By 1961, WWOK played country music. In 1969, the station was purchased by Mission Broadcasting of San Antonio, Texas, an early ancestor of the current Clear Channel Communications. Around this same time, Mission also purchased a Miami, FL R&B station WAME-1260..."The Whammy in Miami". The company flipped the call letters on its two acquisitions, sending WWOK to Florida and bringing WAME to Charlotte.

As WAME, the station was responsible for one of the first radio controversies in Charlotte, when the station's billboards showed a woman in tight jeans (and little else) having the WAME logo branded on her posterior. Popular DJ's in the WAME's Country Music days included Ed Galloway,"Easy Edd" Robinson, "Large" Larry English, and Bob Brandon. The phrases "Whammy" and "Top Dog in Charlotte Country" were used extensively to promote the station in those days.

Jimmy Swaggart, though his subsidiary Sonlife Radio bought the station in December 1978, and brought some of the first Contemporary Christian Music to the airwaves of Charlotte Radio. In early 1980, Swaggart denounced Contemporary Christian Music through his publication The Evangelist, and WAME began gradually moving toward a mixture of conservative Christian music and teaching programs. Popular DJ's in WAME's Christian days were Danny Dyer, Teresa Gardner and Bob Harris.

In 1990, WAME was sold to a subsidiary of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, which changed the call letters to WCNT and began their own in-house syndicated talk network which included Harley David, Cliff Kincaid and Bob Kwessel. ^[1]Following the demise of the network shows, WCNT became a primarily local talk radio station. Gerry Vaillancourt started his talk show on WCNT^[2], and H. A. Thompson did a daily show on the station for several months.

Late in 1991, WCNT was mostly Sports Talk^{[citation needed]}, but Vaillancourt had to find a new home when the station signed off in November^[4]. Never able to make a profit with the station, the Christian Broadcasting Network took the station silent in mid-1992 and searched for a buyer.

Early in 1993, new owners Christ Covenant Church of Charlotte returned the station to the air as WCNV...Charlotte's news voice, and aired CNN's Headline News as its 24-hour format. As with its previous format, unprofitability and expenses forced the station silent by year's end.

In 1994, the owners of WHVN did a Local marketing agreement with Christ Covenant, and brought the station back in 1994 as WIST, with an adult standards format^[5], mostly from Satellite Music Networks (now part of ABC Radio Networks). Talk shows and some sports programming were eventually added to the AM station after WIST added an FM frequency in 1995. John Sullivan was the most notable of the local hosts. ^[6]Both the AM and FM stations began using the WNMX call letters in 1996.

In 1997, WNMX-AM, WAME-AM in Statesville, North Carolina, and WAVO-AM in Rock Hill, South Carolina formed the Total Radio network. WNMX-AM became WTLT, and WAME became WTLI.^[7]^[8]The stations aired local and syndicated talk shows as well as news. But the format did not work^[9], and WTLT returned to playing adult standards in the fall, starting with Christmas music during the holidays, while continuing to air syndicated hosts until their contracts ended. WTLT aired the Christian programming of WHVN early in 1998 before the current format was adopted later that year.

References

^ Tim Funk, "Radio Show Aims to Please - And Rankle", The Charlotte Observer, April 25, 1990.
^ Tim Funk, "Inside Business: WCNT Adds Business News to Format", The Charlotte Observer, April 25, 1991.
^ Tim Funk, "Listen Up: From 'Radio Free Bubba' to 'The Shadow,' Area Radio's Ready to Turn You On," The Charlotte Observer, July 12, 1991.
^ Tim Funk, "Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Radio Stations Are Bustling with Activity," The Charlotte Observer, December 14, 1991.
^ Tim Funk, "Wistful For Music of the '40s? New Radio Station Brings It Back", The Charlotte Observer, May 19, 1994.
^ Kay McFadden and Bob Meadows, "Sullivan Adds Voice to AM in the A.M.", The Charlotte Observer, August 16, 1996.
^ Kay McFadden, "Talk-Radio Station Signs on to Battle for WBT Listeners", The Charlotte Observer, July 8, 1997.
^ Jim Morrill, "The Unlikely Rebel Behind the Microphone," The Charlotte Observer, October 19, 1997.
^ Kay McFadden, "Format Change Will Be Blow to Charlotte Talk Radio," The Charlotte Observer, November 22, 1997.
^ "WGFY Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.

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