Broadcast area Piedmont Triad Facility ID 73708 Former callsigns WPEG
WFCM
WPGD City of license Winston-Salem Owner Word of Life Broadcasting Branding 1550 kHz C-QUAM AM stereo | Class D Callsign meaning We Broadcast For Jesus Frequency 1550 kHz Format Christian radio Area Piedmont Triad | |
 | ||
Power 1,000 watts daytime only C-QUAM AM stereo Slogan Christian Teaching and Talk Radio | ||
WBFJ (1550 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Christian Talk and Teaching format. Licensed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, it serves the Piedmont Triad area and is currently owned by Word of Life Broadcasting, Inc.
History
The station began broadcasting in 1960 from a transmitter and studios on Northwest Blvd. in Winston-Salem with the call letters WPEG (based on the name of then-owner Nick Reisenweiver's wife, Peggy). The theme song was "Peg O' My Heart". The station broadcast a popular music and light classical format initially before becoming the area's first country music station in 1963. In October 1966, Suburban Radio Group of Belmont, North Carolina, bought WPEG and changed its call letters to WFCM. After its 1971 sale to Rev. Robert A. Mayer, Pastor D.W. Long of Thomasville, North Carolina, became manager and WFCM switched to Southern Gospel and preaching.
The station was previously owned by Forsyth Broadcasting and Quality Media.
In 1979, after its sale to Word of Life Broadcasting, Inc., the station changed its callsign to WBFJ, moved its studios to Trenwest Drive in Winston-Salem, and began playing a mix of Contemporary Christian music (CCM) and evangelical Christian and Charismatic teaching & talk. In the early 1990s, WBFJ moved its studios to the current location on North Trade Street in Winston-Salem and began broadcasting in AM stereo, while retaining the same format. In September 1994, sister station WBFJ-FM, 89.3 Winston-Salem, signed on the air with a mostly-music CCM format; the AM station expanded its Christian teaching-and-talk lineup, dropping most of its music blocks but retaining its stereo signal. WBFJ 1550 reverted to AM mono broadcasting in March 2010.
As of 2016, WBFJ aired Dave Ramsey's financial advice show.