The station airs a news/talk radio format simulcast on Chester, South Carolina-licensed WBT-FM (99.3) and the HD2 digital subchannel of co-owned WLNK.

At night, all three towers are used in a directional pattern that limits its signal toward the west, to avoid interfering with KFAB in Omaha, Nebraska, the other Class A station on the frequency.

WBT begins each weekday with Good Morning BT with Bo Thompson and Beth Troutman, a five-hour drive time news and talk program featuring hosts Bo Thompson and former WCNC-TV news anchor and former North Carolina Congressional candidate Beth Troutman, Jim Szoke on sports and Mark Garrison on newscasts at the top and bottom of each hour.

Weekends feature shows on money, health, real estate, technology, the outdoors, cars and home repair, some of which are paid brokered programming.

[6] Syndicated shows include Glenn Beck, Bill Cunningham, Ric Edelman, Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb and The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte.

Most amateurs at this time used spark transmitters that could only transmit the dots-and-dashes of Morse code, however, Laxton managed to acquire a scarce vacuum tube from General Electric, which made audio transmissions possible.

[14] These initial transmissions eventually were expanded into the playing of phonograph records, which resulted in enough interest from local amateurs, as well as technically advanced members of the general public, that a regular schedule of broadcasts was established.

It was also announced at this time that the company planned to installed a transmitter and rooftop antenna at the Realty building, to be used for "sending out concerts, big speeches and other entertainment to those who own home outfits within a radius of 200 miles [320 km] from Charlotte".

However, effective December 1, 1921, the Department of Commerce, the regulators of radio at this time, adopted a regulation that formally created a broadcasting station category, and stations were now required to hold a Limited Commercial license authorizing operation on wavelengths of 360 meters for "entertainment" broadcasts or 485 meters for "market and weather reports" (833 and 619 kHz).

[13] In October 1925, Fred Laxton sold the Southern Radio Corporation to the Carolina States Electric Company for approximately $50,000, while retaining control of WBT.

[24] Russ Hodges, later famous as the radio voice of the New York/San Francisco Giants, was sports editor of WBT for a time in the late 1930s, leaving in 1941 for Washington, D.C.[25][26] During the Golden Age of Radio, WBT carried the CBS schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts to listeners in the Carolinas and at night, around the Southern United States.

Smith, best known for writing the song that became the Deliverance theme "Dueling Banjos", went to work at WBT at age 20 at the invitation of station manager Charles Crutchfield.

[24][27] Crutchfield believed that Charlotte, not Nashville, could have ended up being the country music capital because of the station's early "Briarhoppers" and "Carolina Hayride" shows, which may have inspired The Grand Ole Opry.

During the previous November 11, 1928, frequency reassignments, two midwestern stations, WBBM in Chicago and KFAB in Omaha, Nebraska, had been placed on 780 kHz, which meant they had to synchronize their programming during nighttime hours.

"[37] Johnny Evans, Gil Stamper and Rich Pauley left the station and WBT dropped its CBS News affiliation.

[42] Larry James left his midnight to 6 A.M. shift at WBT for WYDE in Birmingham, Alabama in November 1978 after winning the Country Music Association Disc Jockey of the Year for medium markets.

[50][51] In 1995, Jefferson-Pilot bought WBZK-FM 99.3 in Chester, South Carolina to provide a simulcast signal that better served the western part of the market at night.

[54] Sales director Steve Sklenar said the games pre-empted John Hancock's show and, during the ACC Tournament, Rush Limbaugh.

According to Cullie Tarleton, who ran the station at that time, putting the Tar Heels on WBT was largely the idea of longtime coach Dean Smith, who wanted to tell recruits from the New York City area that their parents would be able to listen to the games.

In making the move, the station cited the stronger resources ABC's reporters provides to WBT's local programming compared to CBS and Fox News Radio.

Because Beasley already had the maximum number of stations in the Charlotte market with 5 FMs and 2 AMs, WBT-AM-FM and WLNK were spun off to a divestiture trust, eventually going to a permanent buyer.

[60] Upon the completion of the Greater/Beasley merger on November 1, Entercom began operating the stations via a time brokerage agreement, which lasted until the sale was consummated on January 6, 2017.

In the morning hours of September 22, 1989, the high winds from Hurricane Hugo severely damaged two of WBT's towers and nearly killed then-Chief Engineer, Bob White.

Its daytime coverage area is not nearly as large as those of other 50,000-watt stations due to the Carolinas' poor ground conductivity; some outer suburbs such as Statesville, Shelby, and Salisbury only get a grade B signal.

Despite its clear-channel status, WBT was long plagued by marginal nighttime coverage in some parts of the Charlotte area, especially the western portion, due to the need to adjust its signal at sundown to protect KFAB.

In 1995, then-owner Jefferson-Pilot bought WBZK in Chester, South Carolina, located 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Charlotte, to provide a better signal to the western part of the market at night.

Past hosts include "Hello Henry" Boggan, Ty Boyd, Grady Cole, John Hancock, Mike Collins, "Rockin'" Ray Gooding, Bob Lacey, Jason Lewis and H.A.

Nearly two months after Kaliner's departure, Tara Servatius' contract was not renewed; Doug Kellett and Wayne Powers filled the 3-6 pm slot on an interim basis while the station searched for a replacement.

On June 22, 2011, former WSOC-TV lead anchor Vince Coakley, who had done fill-in work at WBT before, was named Servatius' replacement in the 3-6 pm timeslot.

On January 14, 2013, Charlotte native Doc Washburn, most recently a morning host at WFLF-FM in Panama City Beach, Florida, debuted in the 9 pm-1 am slot, bringing local talk to the timeslot for the first time in nearly two years, replacing Lewis and the retired Boortz.