On July 11, 1948, the station signed on as WDBJ-FM.[6] It was owned by the Times World Corporation, publisher of The Roanoke Times-World, which in 1955 started Channel 7 WDBJ-TV. At first, WDBJ-FM simulcast its AM counterpart, AM 960 WDBJ (now WFIR).
In the early 1960s, WDBJ-FM was separately programmed with an automatedbeautiful music format, which lasted till the mid-1990s. The station concentrated on instrumental versions of popular songs, as well as Broadway and Hollywood showtunes.
WPVR
Logo used for WPVR from November 1, 1969 to the mid-1990s.
In 1969, Jim Gibbons Radio, Inc. bought the station. While the format remained beautiful music, on November 1, the call sign was changed to WPVR.[7] In the 1980s, the station began playing several vocal songs each hour, moving to an easy listening sound.
In the 1990s, many easy listening stations began decreasing the orchestrated instrumentals, and by 1992, WPVR had evolved into soft adult contemporary, branded as "Lite 95."[8] In 1995, WPVR became "Arrow 94.9" with a classic rock format.[9]
94.9 Star Country WSLC-FM
In 2000, Mel Wheeler, Inc. bought the station, along with 99.1 WSLQ-FM and 960 WFIR.[10] At noon on May 25, the call sign was switched to WSLC-FM. The format flipped to country music, branded as "The New 94.9 Star Country". The sister station of WSLC-FM, AM 610 WSLC, had played country music for over 50 years, so both the AM and FM carried the same call letters and country music imaging for two years. On March 13, 2002, AM 610 ended its run as a country station, becoming urban adult contemporary WVBE, "The Vibe."[11] In 2016 it flipped to sports radio as WPLY.
After April 1, 2004, WSLC-FM stopped calling itself "The New 94.9 Star Country," and began using the branding "94.9 Star Country; Your Big Giveaway Station".
The station's logo appeared during a segment in Borat where he mocked the US National Anthem in a county fair in Salem, VA.[12]
