Murfreesboro, NC, gained its own radio station in 1965 when Don Burnett founded the Murfreesboro Broadcasting Company, and WWDR went on the air. Don owned and managed the station until his death in the 1970s. The AM station played top forty pop music, and the FM played “beautiful music”, a.k.a. “elevator music”. In the late 1970s, the AM moved to a country music format, and the FM to “Adult Contemporary” or “light rock”. After Don’s death, his widow Linda married Frank Timberlake. Frank managed and ran the station until they sold it to Sam and Nancy Lee Cooper in 1982. Sam and Nancy Lee renamed the call letters WBCG.
The first strange story dates back to 1980. Several of the people who worked at the station were trying to fix some equipment in the AM broadcasting room, and they were having trouble getting it to work. One of them cursed out loud and said, “That *#&$& #*#&$ Don Burnett.” At that point, an audio speaker that was attached to the wall flew off the wall and landed across the room.
Earl Telliga, who had worked across Eastern NC radio since the 1950s, became GM of the station in 2004. Earl became a fixture and beloved character in Murfreesboro. During Earl’s time at the station, the call letters were changed to WDLZ. After Earl passed away on December 3, 2016, Jay Jenkins, who had worked at the station in the mid-1980s, came back and took over management of the station. Jay says that occasionally he has experienced switches on the broadcast board being flipped in the wrong direction and having an uneasy feeling like he is not alone in the station. Jay says that it is probably Earl back for a quick visit to the station. The station is now called 98.3 “The Earl” in his memory.
Written By: – Al Parker, Murfreesboro Historical Association
