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WCLY (1550 AM; "The Buzz") is a radio station located in
Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...
. It is owned by
Capitol Broadcasting Company The Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. (CBC) is an American media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol owns three television stations and nine radio stations in the Raleigh–Durham and Wilmington areas of North Carolina and the Du ...
along with sister radio stations
WRAL-FM WRAL (101.5 FM, "Mix 101.5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, and serving the Research Triangle. It is owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company and broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching t ...
,
WCMC-FM WCMC-FM (99.9 MHz) is a sports radio station based in Raleigh, North Carolina and licensed to nearby Holly Springs. Its studios are located in north Raleigh along with WRAL-FM, an adult contemporary music station, two sports talk stations WD ...
and
WDNC WDNC (620 AM) is a sports radio station licensed to Durham, North Carolina but based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Owned and operated by Capitol Broadcasting Company as part of a cluster with NBC affiliate WRAL-TV, Fox affiliate WRAZ, and siste ...
, and television stations
WRAL-TV WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...
and
WRAZ-TV WRAZ (channel 50), branded on-air as Fox 50, is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is locally owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company along ...
. Its studios are located in Raleigh, and the transmitter tower is just south of downtown Raleigh. Established in 1962 as WNOH, WCLY broadcasts a
sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
format, simulcasting sister stations 620 WDNC and 99.9 WCMC-HD2.


History

WCLY began broadcasting in August 1962 as WNOH as a country station founded by N.O. Harris, owner of Harris Wholesale, a local beer distributor. WNOH's original antenna was close to where present-day Interstate 40 crosses Lake Wheeler Road, and its studios were located in the Jack Wardlaw Building on Hillsborough Street. WNOH switched to Top 40 as WYNA in 1966, only to return to country under former WKIX owner Hugh Holder. As country music began taking root on the FM dial, WYNA became Top 40 again as WRZR "The Rock of Raleigh" in 1982. The Top 40 format did not last long, and the station became WSES in 1983 and switched to black gospel. Construction of I-40 through southern Raleigh forced the station to move their antenna to Maywood Avenue, where it shared a tower with WLLE (now WQDR). By 1987, the current WCLY calls were adopted. In the late 1990s, both WCLY and the former WLLE (which was WDTF at the time) were bought by
Curtis Media Group Curtis Media Group is a broadcast media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. The company owns and operates several North Carolina radio stations and television networks. Broadcast Stations Curtis Media Group owns and operates the fol ...
. It was announced on August 10, 2009 that Curtis Media would sell WCLY and
WDNC WDNC (620 AM) is a sports radio station licensed to Durham, North Carolina but based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Owned and operated by Capitol Broadcasting Company as part of a cluster with NBC affiliate WRAL-TV, Fox affiliate WRAZ, and siste ...
to
Capitol Broadcasting Company The Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. (CBC) is an American media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol owns three television stations and nine radio stations in the Raleigh–Durham and Wilmington areas of North Carolina and the Du ...
in exchange for the
North Carolina News Network The North Carolina News Network (sometimes called NCNN) is a news and information service established in 1942. It provides programming to approximately 75 radio stations, primarily in the state of North Carolina, and can also be heard by Internet st ...
. WCLY later switched to
Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
from
ESPN Deportes Radio ESPN Deportes Radio was an American Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming included call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, Ameri ...
in October. On April 16, 2011, a tornado felled the Maywood Avenue tower shared by WCLY and what was then known as WFNL (now WQDR). While WFNL would leave this site for sister station WPTF's transmitter site, WCLY eventually returned to the air from a new tower at this same site. During its construction, WCLY returned to the air via a temporary long wire antenna. On February 29, 2016, WCLY relaunched as an English-language sports station, "1550 the Ticket". The station featured a mix of sports programming from
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
,
CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...
, and
Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...
, which also aired on
WCMC-FM WCMC-FM (99.9 MHz) is a sports radio station based in Raleigh, North Carolina and licensed to nearby Holly Springs. Its studios are located in north Raleigh along with WRAL-FM, an adult contemporary music station, two sports talk stations WD ...
99.9-HD3. ESPN Deportes continued to air on 99.9-HD4. On February 1, 2017, WCLY signed on an FM translator at 95.7 FM and changed its moniker to "95.7 the Ticket". The translator on 95.7 FM broadcasts with an
effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...
of 250 watts with a directional signal (towards the north) from the
WDCG WDCG (105.1 FM) is a commercial Top 40 (CHR) station licensed to Durham, North Carolina and serving the Raleigh-Durham radio market. Its studios are located on Smoketree Court in Raleigh's Highwoods Office Park and owned by iHeartMedia, along ...
tower. In addition, WCLY also broadcasts
Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...
football,
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
, and
North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...
soccer. On May 1, 2018, WCLY changed its format to adult album alternative, branded as "That Station". The "Ticket" sports format moved to WDNC. Musical styles ranged from
roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
,
Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
, bluegrass,
rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
,
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
. Artists included
Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell h ...
,
Nathaniel Rateliff Nathaniel David Rateliff (born October 7, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter based in Denver, Colorado, whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues. Rateliff has performed with a backing band called the ...
,
Avett Brothers The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, piano, hi-hat) along with Bob C ...
,
The Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy ( lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...
and
Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left ...
. Capitol Broadcasting ran a contest in which listeners were invited to submit ideas for a permanent name, but the vast majority of the nominations were to keep the name "That Station". On July 31, 2022, WCLY flipped back to sports, branded as "The Buzz", simulcasting sister stations 620
WDNC WDNC (620 AM) is a sports radio station licensed to Durham, North Carolina but based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Owned and operated by Capitol Broadcasting Company as part of a cluster with NBC affiliate WRAL-TV, Fox affiliate WRAZ, and siste ...
and 99.9 WCMC-HD2. The adult album alternative format continues on translator 95.7 W239CK and 101.5 WRAL-HD2.


References


External links


That Station Facebook

FCC History Cards for WCLY
{{Sports Radio Stations in North Carolina CLY Radio stations established in 1962 1962 establishments in North Carolina Sports radio stations in the United States