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WRJD (1410 AM) is a
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
based in
Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
, which currently broadcasts a
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
format. It was a heritage radio station that went by WSRC for over half a century.


History

The station signed on the air as WSRC on October 15, 1954, a day most locals remember as the day
Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South ...
roared through Central and Eastern North Carolina, causing a great deal of damage and destruction. Despite that initial setback, WSRC managed to continue broadcasting as the first radio station in the
Raleigh-Durham The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to th ...
market to serve the
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
community. An FM station signed on at 107.1 in 1965, but was later sold to
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in 1968 as WDBS-FM (now
WFXC WFXC (107.1 FM) and WFXK (104.3 FM) are a pair of simulcasting urban adult contemporary stations in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina market. WFXC is the main station, licensed to Durham, while WFXK is a full-power satellite licensed to Bun ...
). Throughout much of its lifetime, WSRC has played a mix of
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
,
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
, and R&B music. Along the way, the station has attracted a wealth of talented personalities, including Norfley Whitted, Jimmy "Dr. Jive" Byrd, Durham native
Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American gospel singer whose career has spanned seven decades. She has won 11 Grammys in addition to Dove Awards and Stellar Awards; Caesar is kno ...
, and former
WTVD WTVD (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Durham, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting the ABC network to the Research Triangle area. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, it maintains pr ...
news reporter Ervin Hester. WSRC segued to a mostly gospel and inspirational format in the mid-1980s. On March 16, 2006,
Davidson Media Group The Davidson Media Group (DMG) is a Charlotte-based broadcaster specializing in multi-cultural, community focused formats. The company runs stations in a number of markets in 10 states and also specializes in selling large blocks of time on some of ...
(who also owns another Durham station,
WTIK WTIK (1310 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Durham, North Carolina, United States, the station serves the Triangle area. The station is currently owned by Stuart Epperson, through licensee Truth Broadca ...
assumed ownership of WSRC and changed its call letters to WRJD. "Rejoice 1410" operated under a Local Marketing Agreement with Greensboro-based event promotions firm Unwind Productions. Prior to the station changing hands from previous owner
Willis Broadcasting Willis may refer to: Places United States * Willis, Florida, an unincorporated community * Willis, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Willis, Kansas, a city * Willis, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Willis, Nebraska, an unincorporat ...
(who had been going through serious financial difficulties over the past few years), local gospel group The Cooper Four performed its final live Sunday afternoon broadcast on March 12. The group had been with WSRC since its early beginnings. The Cooper Four would come back to the rechristened WRJD "Rejoice 1410 AM" where they were still heard Sunday mornings at 8:15. On February 1, 2011, WRJD began simulcasting on co-owned WOLI 910 AM, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as "Rejoice Radio". While the simulcast lasted only a few months, WRJD would continue to identify both stations at the top of each hour for the remainder of its time as "Rejoice". During this time, Rejoice 1410 was nominated for 2011 Medium Market Station of the Year by the
Stellar Awards A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the Gospel music, gospel music industry.Sagma< ...
. However, Davidson Media ended its LMA with Unwind Productions on December 26 that year and WRJD went off the air. The station resumed broadcasting a week later as Poder 1410, airing a Spanish Christian format. On July 13, 2015, both WRJD and WTIK were sold to TBLC Media as part of a twelve-station deal with Davidson Media, which included stations in Charlotte, Greensboro, Richmond, Spartanburg, and Kansas City. The sale, at a price of $3.5 million, was consummated on November 5, 2015. Effective May 6, 2021, TBLC Media sold WRJD and WTIK to Stuart Epperson's Truth Broadcasting Corporation for $200,000.


Sports broadcasting

On July 11, 2007, WRJD announced a partnership with
North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...
in Durham to broadcast all eleven games of the 2007 football season, its first in the NCAA
Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was kn ...
(formerly Division I-AA). This arrangement abruptly ended just ahead of the 2011 football season kick-off. On January 23, 2008, WRJD became the new flagship station for
Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...
radio broadcasts, replacing WDNC who had been carrying Bulls games continuously since 1981. However, that arrangement would not last long, as the Bulls reached an agreement to broadcast games on 99.9 the Fan (owned by Bulls owner
Capitol Broadcasting 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 D ...
) beginning with the 2009 season.; press release from Durham Bulls, April 1, 2009 WRJD also aired
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
football in 2010, and
Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
football in 2008 and 2009, and was an affiliate of the
Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a ...
at the time of the station's demise. In 2017, WRJD began airing Spanish-language sports programming.


WRJD in popular culture

Durham native
Ernie Barnes Ernest Eugene Barnes Jr. (July 15, 1938 – April 27, 2009) was an American artist, well known for his unique style of elongated characters and movement. He was also a professional football player, actor and author. Early life Childhood E ...
incorporated the former WSRC calls into his best-known painting ''Sugar Shack'', which was featured in the credits of the TV sitcom
Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...
as well as the cover of
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
's 1976 album '' I Want You.'' Oddly enough, WSRC was erroneously listed as "620 on your dail (sic)', which is the frequency for fellow Durham radio station
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 ...
.


References


External links

* {{coord, 36, 01, 44, N, 78, 51, 00, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
RJD The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has tradit ...
1954 establishments in North Carolina Radio stations established in 1954
RJD The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has tradit ...
RJD The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has tradit ...