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960 AM WRFC
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H. Randolph Holder, originally news director at WRFC, went on to found crosstown competitors WGAU AM and WNGC FM.
WRFC remote broadcast | 1960s
Miss America visits WRFC UGA Football booth | 1952
WRFC to publish history of UGA football | 1960
1953 Red and Black ad featuring Ed Thilenaus, Bulldog play-by-play man, and later WAGA TV/Atlanta sports director.
Print ads courtesy Chris Jones
WRFC Top 40 | May 1969
Sports ad | 1971
1971 Playlist
WRFC-Ron Parker (1971)
Sales offer for 1972 G-Day game sponsorship
(Above) Steve Davis and (right) Kelly McCoy at WRFC. Both later also had success in Atlanta radio
Ad copy template
(It's an ashtray.)
Back entrance on South Milledge
WRFC News booth
WRFC Audio
WRFC Newsroom
Mark Wilson in WRFC production room
WRFC backyard koi pond and bench
UPI Georgia stories | circa 1977
WRFC Airstaff (1972)- Courtesy of Steve Davis
WRFC History (Edited from Wikipedia)
On May 1, 1948, WRFC first signed on the air. It was originally owned by L. H. Christian, with the call sign chosen for his father, Robert Franklin Christian. The station began as a 1,000-watt daytimer, required to go off the air at night. The studios were at 2791⁄2 North Lumpkin Street, in Athens.
WRFC later operated for many years at 5,000 watts non-directional daytime and 500 watts directional nighttime using a three-tower array northeast of Athens, with studios in an impressive mansion in downtown Athens. It featured 4 full-service formats throughout its history, such as Top 40, middle of the road, and adult contemporary formats of popular music, news, and sports.
In 1952, owner L.H. Christian attempted to have either channel 8 or channel 11 allocated to Athens in order to launch WRFC TV. But channel 8 would become the University of Georgia's non-commercial station. What would become channel 11 Atlanta was still operating on channel 8.
In its 1953 "6th Report and Order" ruling impacting television channels around the country, the FCC sided with broadcasters in the region who opposed Christian's proposal. WRFC TV was not to happen. (Click the image below to read the FCC's ruling.)
On February 20, 1971, NORAD broadcast a normal required weekly test of the Emergency Broadcast System. However, AT&T reported that the U.S. Air Force used the wrong tape by accident, initiating an Emergency Action Notification, normally issued by the president. It prompted all north Georgia radio stations by order of the FCC to operate under emergency procedures and feed the broadcast from primary station 750 WSB in Atlanta through their transmitters. Everett Langford was at the microphone at WRFC and had no idea what had happened. He listened to WSB but heard no emergency announcements. He was attempting to call the owner, L.H. Christian, when he heard the corrected message from the Air Force. Listeners could hear in his voice that he was very relieved it was only a mistake.
In 1981, WRFC dropped its Top 40 format and went into a short-lived MOR format. This didn't last long. WRFC dropped MOR and went into adult contemporary in 1982. When 1993 rolled along, the station began adding talk programs and sports programming from ESPN, although their adult contemporary format remains in place until the station dropped adult contemporary a year later in 1994.
In January 2008, WRFC was sold (along with sister stations WGMG, WPUP, WNGC, and WGAU) to Cox Radio in Atlanta. Southern Broadcasting of Athens and associated owners continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox.