WFDD has its roots in a station operated by Wake Forest College students in Wake Forest from a rooming house beginning in the fall of 1946. The station was so popular students began asking for an official station. With the help of student fundraising, WAKE was fully licensed by 1948. After the discovery that the WAKE letters were already in use, the station changed its letters to WFDD, which stood for "Wake Forest Demon Deacons." Since the schools' sports teams were an important part of the station's programming, this seemed appropriate. Other programs included "Deaconlight Serenade," a student music program which included the part of the name of a Glenn Miller hit. This program remained on the air as "Deaconlight" until 1981. The WAKE letters returned in the 1980s on a student-run AM station, which later became available on the Internet. After Wake Forest College moved to Winston-Salem, WFDD returned to the air with a 10-watt signal in 1961. The signal increased to 36,000 watts in 1967, the year the Corporation for Public Broadcasting began. WFDD became one of only 10 stations to received federal funding from the new organization. On May 3, 1971, WFDD became a charter member of National Public Radio, the first affiliate of the network in the state. Dr. Julian Burroughs, who had helped put the station on the air, added his knowledge to that of other station officials around the country to determine what NPR would become. On May 5, 1989, WFDD lost its tower along Business 40 in Winston-Salem when severe storms struck the area. The station returned to the air with reduced power, but did not fully cover the market until a new tower was completed north of Lexington, which would be shared with WWGL. For two years in the 1990s, WFDD aired Wake Forest football and basketball games, but many listeners complained. For many years, WFDD's format was a mix of NPR programming and classical music. In 2005, WFDD began airing more talk programming from NPR, with no classical music during the day on most weekdays. With less classical music, donations dropped. The station added a 24-hour classical music station on its HD radio subcarrier. In 2009, WFDD began Radio Camp, a week-long experience for middle schoolers, where students learn the basics of conducting interviews, how to operate professional sound editing software, and create their own stories to be broadcast. The camp is held at the WFDD studio on Wake Forest University's campus.
