On Groundhog Day 1948, people living around Mount Airy, North Carolina tuned their radios to 740 on the AM dial. After months of anticipation and excitement, they heard the first radio station their area could call its own. WPAQ was the brainchild of Ralph Epperson, a college graduate in his twenties who had been fascinated by radio since his teens. With help from his father Harry, a farmer from nearby Ararat, Virginia, Epperson built the brick-and-timber headquarters which, nearly eighty years later, remains the home of WPAQ.

After the success of WPAQ, Epperson created a Classic Country Powerhouse with Classic Country 98.1 FM WBRF. With 100,000 watts and a transmitter facility over 3,000 feet above sea level, 98.1 reaches hundreds of thousands of people weekly in Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Tennessee. At 98.1, you won’t hear the same songs played over and over, because we play over 5,000 selections spanning more than seventy years of the best in Country music. A rarity in today’s radio world, 98.1 still has LIVE DJ’s! Unlike other stations, we think radio is best when it’s filled great music selected and played by real people. Tune in weekly to hear “Cousin” Andy Wright, J. Scott, Buford Kegley, Tim Frye, and more, LIVE! It’s the 98.1 difference! In addition to our live DJ’s and great music, 98.1 is the home for NASCAR and the flagship station of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons!

Classic Country 93.1 FM WKBA is our station in Roanoke, VA which simulcasts Classic Country 98.1 WBRF and adds approximately 250,000 listeners directly in the Roanoke/Vinton area. The two stations combined have a total radio broadcast listenership of over 2.2 million people.

Our sister station 96.5 The Cat WCGX, is located in the same facility as 98.1 and has the same mission: to provide quality programming with a local feel. The Cat plays Classic Hits with a mix of sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and expertly selected New Music. The Cat plays the hits that bring back all those great memories from yesterday. The Cat is also the home for VA Tech Hokie Sports, Galax Maroon Tide Football, and The Blue Ridge Bobcats in Wytheville. At 96.5 The Cat, We Rock The Blue Ridge!

Contact us with the information below:

Classic Country 98.1 FM
P.O. Box 838
Galax, Virginia 24333

Sales/Information Department: 276-591-2005

Business Office Phone: 276-236-9273

Request/Studio Line: 276-238-0981

Fax: 276-236-7198