WEWO-FM signed on alongside Laurinburg's WEWO 1080 (later 1460) in the late 1940s. The stations were purchased by Don Curtis in 1968, and a separate format of paid religious programming was established for the FM with new call letters WSTS. The power was also increased to 100,000 watts to serve Fayetteville. The new format and power increase made WSTS one of the nation's most profitable small market FM stations in the 1970s. The now-defunct Durham Life Broadcasting (an arm of a Raleigh-based insurance company that once bore the same name) later acquired WEWO and WSTS. On July 4th, 1990, Durham Life switched the format to a Hot AC-leaning CHR as WMFX, "Mix 96.5". (The WSTS call letters and Southern gospel programming moved to nearby Fairmont, NC, on 100.9 FM) When Durham Life sold its broadcasting arm in 1991, Curtis once again purchased the station, along with Durham Life's other radio properties. On April 1st, 1993, Mix was nixed, and a continuous loop of The Kingsmen's "Louis, Louis" under the new handle "Louis 96.5" heralded an eventual format flip to oldies as WAZZ, "Oldies 96.5". Curtis sold the station to Beasley Broadcasting in the mid-1990s. Beasley also bought Fayetteville station WFLB, 1490 AM, which was the city's Top 40 outlet in the '60s and '70s. Those call letters were also shared with Fayetteville's first TV station, WFLB-TV, channel 18. Like many early UHF stations, WFLB-TV lived and died in the '50s decade. This heritage prompted Beasley to legally re-christen "Oldies 96.5" with the WFLB call letters (The WAZZ call sign moved over to AM 1490.) On December 30th, 2005, WFLB dropped their oldies format in favor of classic hits as "96-5 The Drive".
