Only the second FM station in the state and the first to operate on the newly designated FM band (88-108 MHz vs. 42-50 MHz) when it signed on in 1947, WRAL-FM (which was originally licensed as WCOY) began life at 95.3 FM with an initial effective radiated power of 250,000 watts. The new station, the FM half of Capitol Broadcasting's WRAL, 1240 AM, operated out of studios at 130 Salisbury Street with its transmitter in eastern Raleigh on Davie Street Extension. In 1948, a young reporter named Jesse Helms was hired as the station's news director. The FM side, along with Rocky Mount's WCEC and Goldsboro's WGBR, were the original three stations of the Tobacco Network, which was based out of WCEC. Capitol bought this network, the precursor to today's North Carolina News Network which is still based at the WRAL-FM studios. WRAL-FM later moved to 101.5 FM, and AM 1240 was sold. WRAL-FM, now at 100,000 watts, broadcast easy listening and news along with extensive agricultural programming, becoming one of the only FM stations of its time with independent programming. In the early seventies, WRAL began it's adult contemporary format as "WRAL-Stereo 101". The station went by the handle "WRAL-FM 101",later modified to "WRAL-FM 101.5" throughout the 1980s. On December 10th, 1989, the 2,000-foot WRAL-TV tower near Garner, which also supported the WRAL-FM antenna, collapsed under the weight of uneven ice, which was melting following a winter storm. WRAL-FM was back on the air at much-reduced power very quickly thanks to a 100-foot crane and a borrowed antenna. The station later moved to the former WPTF-TV 1,300-foot tower in Apex until the new tower was completed in 1990. At that time, WRAL-FM resumed broadcasting from their former site, only much higher on the antenna. Due to the increased height, the station's power was bumped to 96,000 watts to keep it within the FCC parameters for a class "C" FM. The station adopted the handle "Mix 101.5" in 1990. The station has more or less stuck to that format, veering towards hot adult contemporary, but going more mainstream recently. In December of 2002, WRAL became the first FM station on the East Coast to begin In-Band, On-Channel (IBOC) Digital Broadcasting, or High Definition Radio. On June 27th,2005, WRAL split their digital signal into two programming services, becoming only the second station in the country to do so (after Chicago's WUSN). The first rebroadcasting the adult contemporary programming of "Mix 101.5" and a new, second service, "WRAL-HD2", airing an adult alternative format. Capitol Broadcasting still owns WRAL-FM, along with local CBS affiliate WRAL-TV and Fox affiliate WRAZ.
