As the ball dropped on 2008, Inner Banks Media split its CHR “The Hot FM” simulcast in Eastern North Carolina in favor of two new formats.
94.1 WWHA Oriental, covering the New Bern, Morehead City, and Jacksonville areas became Oldies “Kool 94.1” with Imus in the Morning and “East Carolina’s Greatest Hits”. The “Kool” brand and WKOO calls had a long run at 98.7 in Jacksonville, NC before becoming Variety Hits “Will-FM” in 2005.
Meanwhile 94.3 WWNK Farmville/Greenville became “Talk-FM 94.3“, adopting the format and programming of crosstown 1070 WNCT. Henry Hinton, who LMA’d WNCT from Beasley Broadcasting, is one of the principles of Inner Banks Media and hosts mornings on “Talk-FM”. Other hosts in the lineup include Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, and Michael Savage.
The “Hot-FM” CHR format debuted in 1990 on 96.3 WRHT and 103.7 WCBZ before moving to the 94.1 and 94.3 combo last April, when Inner Banks took over the stations. The 96.3/103.7 combo became “Thunder Country“.
