WMRV (1450 AM, "106.5 The River") is a radio station licensed to Spring Lake, North Carolina, serving the Fayetteville area. The station is currently licensed to Jeffrey Andrulonis' Colonial Media and Entertainment.
History
Norman Suttles, a former manager of WFNC, signed on WFBS on May 23, 1963, as the fifth radio station in Cumberland County, North Carolina. The format was Top 40, and announcers included some of the best in the country because the U.S. Army drafted them and sent them to Fort Bragg. Because it had the clearest signal of any station on the base, and because it sounded as professional as a large-market station, WFBS became a major success.
From 1963 to the mid-1970s, the station was owned by Radio Smiles, a group owner of several AM radio stations in North Carolina, including stations in Kinston (WISP), Graham WSML, Raleigh (WRNC) and others.
The station’s original studios and offices were located on the second floor of the Professional Building in downtown Spring Lake. The tower/transmitter site was a former cow pasture on NC Highway 210, one mile north of Spring Lake. .
Between 1966 and 1969, a fire originating in a dentist’s office in the Professional Building destroyed the station’s studios and offices. The station built the new WFBS Broadcast House studio and office building at the transmitter site and moved into it prior to 1969.
On February 8, 1969, a fire started underneath the control room of the Broadcast House studio building. The fire spread very quickly, fueled by the plastic insulation of cables installed on the underside of the floor, as well as gasoline and a gasoline powered lawnmower stored nearby. The burning plastic rapidly filled the building with dense smoke.
Station personnel tried to save what they could, but the toxic smoke forced them to leave the building with almost nothing. The fire spread from the basement through the studios to the attic. It heavily damaging the back half of the building, collapsed parts of the floor and ceiling, and destroyed the control room, news studio, racks of equipment, and both production rooms. The offices were undamaged by fire, but received substantial smoke damage.
The station resumed broadcasting from a temporary studio in the transmitter building. The station offices were moved to a residential style mobile home temporarily located near the studio building while the building was repaired. Conditions were cramped. The bathtub of the mobile home was used as a makeshift filing cabinet.
In the mid-1970s the station was purchased by Jerry Oakley, its long-time general manager.
In 1979, the station was sold to William Britt, a North Carolina attorney.
In 1980, the station changed to a "soft soul" music format and was very successful for a short time For a period of time between 1980 and 1987, the station was programmed with the Z Rock hardcore metal rock music format, and operated with call letters WRZK.
On June 27, 1988, the station was transferred to Evangel Christian School, Inc. Evangel Christian School changed the call letters to WCIE to match their FM station in Lakeland, Florida, WCIE-FM (91.1). The letters stood for "Where Christ is Everything."
In September 1989 Evangel stopped providing WCIE with programming by satellite, so the station had to increase its original programming from five hours a week to all the time. WCIE was also non-commercial and did not even charge pastors for airing their messages; an annual "Share-a-Thon" provided the station with its funding.
For a period of time prior to October 1991, the station "went dark" and did not transmit.
On January 18, 1996, the station was sold to W & V Broadcasting.
For nine months prior to February 14, 1999, W & V Broadcasting, owned by William and Vera Hollingsworth, worked to return WCIE to the air. According to general manager Tammie Hollingsworth, WCIE had been off the air two years when it came back as a black gospel station airing the same programming as co-owned WMFA. The station made its return despite a break-in that resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars of equipment.
Late in 1998, WCIE went off the air again because the Highway 210 site was sold to a new owner who did not want the station's tower there. This required the transmitter/tower site to be moved about ¼ mile north to a new location.