Fox Radio 910: Christian Radio Switches To Conservative Talk Format

Ben Peyton has long been acquainted with Christian broadcasting.  His father, Harry Peyton, a minister, began airing religious programs in 1937 and later switched to the management side of broadcasting.  In 1991, the younger Peyton, a former pastor himself, bought an off-air radio station in Roanoke and aired contemporary Christian programming, before changing to a Southern Gospel format.  As time passed, Southern Gospel music “just dried up,” in Peyton’s words, primarily due to lack of interest on the part of audiences and advertisers.

“So we began to consider alternatives,” said Peyton — one being Christian talk. A friend in Lynchburg who has what Peyton describes as “a hybrid talk station … really encouraged me to give serious consideration to do what we’re doing today.”

Beginning on April 1, 2009, the former WWWR (3WR) — now known as WFJX (or Fox Radio 910AM.) — located in southeast Roanoke, began airing a line-up of conservative talk, news, and sports.  After some tinkering along the way, the station’s current weekday line-up features such conservative radio heavyweights as Laura Ingraham, Jay Sekulow, Dennis Miller, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, Fred Thompson, and Jim Bohannon. Dan Patrick hosts a sports talk show weekdays from 7 – 9 p.m.  The station carries high school sports as well.

Morning and weekends feature Christian programs, as well as talk programs.  Laura Ingraham was a significant catch for WFJX, which at one time carried “The Dave Ramsey Show” before losing it to WFIR.  “We were talking one day,” explains Peyton’s son Blair, WFJX’s operations manager, “and we were like, ‘You know, why don’t we see if we can maybe get Laura Ingraham on?’ … Because they only run her on WFIR [for one hour], and we have the time available here to run her show live for three hours.  And when that came through, we were like, ‘Well, maybe we should go ahead and . . . see if we can get some [other] big names on the station.”

In addition to a line-up of nationally recognized conservative talkers, WFJX features its own locally-based talk show host, Marcus Wagner, who presents his outspoken, opinionated conservative take on current events live, weekdays, from 6 to 7 p.m.  Wagner and WFJX initially hooked up when he called to say how much he enjoyed the station.

“He and I,” Ben Peyton recalls, “got together and had coffee one time, and he proceeded to tell me that he had done this sort of thing up in Radford. We talked to him more about a sales representative [position] than an announcer.”  Wagner, however, wanted to host “because that’s his passion,” Peyton continues.  “Basically, the decision for him to come on board had more to do with . . . what we felt his ability was to bring in income and to meet clients and sales . . . the announcing was just something he wanted to do and we agreed that this could work.”

The response to Wagner’s show took Blair Peyton by surprise.  “It’s been very favorable. Being . . . a local show, and not being so well known in the area, I didn’t expect as positive a response as we’ve gotten. So it’s been great.”

Not everything on WFJX is serious—as is the case with “The Blair & Christie Show,” airing weekends (Saturday at 11 a.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.).  Hosted by Blair Peyton and WFJX public affairs director Christie Quackenbush, the show eschews weighty topics in favor of a lighthearted tone, and arose out of the need to fill the station’s weekend schedule.  Longtime friends and TV aficionados, Blair and Quackenbush go on the air and talk about television and their personal events.

Peyton doesn’t see the station as overly competing with Roanoke’s other, more established conservative talk radio station, WFIR.  The latter, he says, has “really big names, and we’re just . . . contributing to the market, bringing some other options.”

Referring to Wheeler Broadcasting, (Owners of WFIR, K92 and Q99) Ben Peyton explains, “They are probably the largest, most successful group of radio stations in the market place with some excellent signals.  We’re just trying to produce an excellent quality program that gives the people a choice.  We’ve got a little different, unique approach and kind of sense that our sound is a little more youthful sounding in news-talk—if that’s possible—than WFIR . . . As long as our station performs for advertisers . . . selling their products, bring people in the door—that’s all that matters.”