Phil Zachary said that Rush Limbaugh's program would be leaving WPTF on December 31, 2009, after more than 20 years. The show moved to Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia's) FM talk radio station, 106.1 WRDU (now WTKK). The loss of long-time staples Limbaugh and Sean Hannity proved challenging for WPTF, and the station's ratings declined. In December 2009, Brian Freeman, program director of sister station WSJS in Winston-Salem, North Carolina took over the same duties at WPTF and became the host of North Carolina's Morning News. WPTF aired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series racing, starting with the 2011 Daytona 500. WPTF's format was split on March 13, 2012, when much of its talk programming moved to sister station WPTK, which was branded as TalkRadio 850 WPTF. WPTF shifted most of its daytime programming to all-news, retaining the NewsRadio 680 WPTF identity. The station continued to air The Dave Ramsey Show in the late morning hours until it was picked up by WTKK on June 15, 2013. In August 2015, WPTK dropped its talk show programs. Until July 16, 2021 WPTF hosted a local talk show on weekday evenings with Tom Kearney. On July 28, 2021, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Tar Heel Sports Network switched its Raleigh/Durham affiliate from WTKK to WPTF beginning with the 2021 football season. The agreement also included broadcasts of men's basketball, along with the coaches' shows for both sports, and the weekly Primetime In The ACC show. This deal also made WPTF the new flagship station for the network. Hurricane coverage WPTF has historically provided hurricane coverage to residents of the Carolinas. WPTF first provided reports of Hurricane Hazel and has covered most major storms ever since. Because of WPTF's directional nighttime signal, the station assisted the residents of Charleston, South Carolina after Hurricane Hugo hit the state in 1989. Most of coastal South Carolina, including the city of Charleston was without power, so local radio stations were knocked off the air. WPTF broadcast emergency information and even won several awards from the state of South Carolina for their assistance. In 1996, WPTF provided coverage of Hurricane Fran even though the station was without utility power for nearly a week. The station and transmitter site ran on generator power, allowing residents in the Triangle and beyond to call in for storm and damage information and find out where to get