WMFD (AM)

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title: "WMFD (AM)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-north-carolina", "espn-radio-stations", "radio-stations-established-in-1935", "sports-in-wilmington,-north-carolina"] topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMFD_(AM)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	WMFD
city	Wilmington, North Carolina
country	US
area
branding	ESPN Wilmington
frequency
translator
repeater
airdate
format	Sports
power
class	B
facility_id	61701
coordinates
former_frequencies
affiliations	ESPN Radio
Charlotte Hornets
North Carolina Tar Heels
UNC Wilmington Seahawks
Sports USA Radio Network
Westwood One
owner	Capitol Broadcasting Company
sister_stations	WAZO, WILT, WKXB, WRMR
webcast	Listen live
website	espnwilmington.com
licensing_authority	FCC
::

WMFD (630 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company and broadcasts a sports format, primarily from ESPN Radio. The radio studios and offices are on North Kerr Avenue in Wilmington. The transmitter is off Sampson Street in Navassa, North Carolina.

Programming is simulcast on 250-watt FM translator W269DF at 101.7 MHz. WMFD is also heard on the HD Radio digital subchannel of co-owned WKXB-HD3.

History

WMFD signed on the air on September 15, 1935. It is Wilmington's oldest, though not its first, radio station. It has retained its original call sign throughout its history.

In 1954, the station launched WMFD-TV Channel 6, Wilmington's first TV station, now WECT.

In May 1996, Community Broadcasting sold radio stations WMFD, WUOY, and WBMS to a new company called Ocean Broadcasting. As a talk station, WMFD added Dr. Laura Schlessinger and The Fabulous Sports Babe, as well as CNN Headline News part of the time. In 1999, WMFD was airing Don Imus' morning show from New York City.

In 2000, WMFD changed to sports radio and added the minor-league baseball team Wilmington Waves.

In July 2004, NextMedia Group purchased WRQR, WAZO, and WMFD from Ocean Broadcasting, and WKXB and WSFM from Sea-Comm Inc.

In July 2008, Capitol Broadcasting announced its purchase of NextMedia's Wilmington stations. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/WMFD_ESPNWilmington_logo.jpg" caption="Former logo"] ::

Translator

In addition to the main station, WMFD is relayed by FM translator W269DF 101.7 to widen its broadcast area. This station rebroadcast WLTT prior to 2014.

References

[https://www.espnwilmington.com/station-information/ ESPNwilmington.com/station-information]
[https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=61701 "AM Query Results: First license date"] (FCC.gov).
Kristina Bartlett, "WUOY-FM, WMFD-AM AND WBMS-AM / Stations Sold to Ocean Broadcasting; New Company Purchases 3 Wilmington Radio Stations," ''Star-News'', May 17, 1996.
Toby Eddings, "Imus on a local station? Not yet," ''The Sun News'', Jan. 14, 1999.
Chuck Carree, "Waves Baseball; Sports Station to Carry All Games," ''Star-News'', November 16, 2000.
Bonnie Eksten, "Ocean Broadcasting, Sea-Comm Stations Sold to NextMedia - New Owner to Operate Locally," ''Star-News'', July 14, 2004.
(16 July 2008). "Capitol Broadcasting acquires seven radio stations in deals worth nearly $13M".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::