The voice of public radio's political coverage in North Carolina is going commercial.

Laura Leslie, who has covered state politics and government at WUNC for more than six years, is joining WRAL as a multimedia reporter. Her last day at WUNC is today, and she'll start at WRAL on Friday.

In her new role, Leslie will continue coverage of the legislature and state politics. Leslie said she'll focus mostly on expanding WRAL's online coverage, including webcasts and podcasts, as the General Assembly prepares to return to Raleigh.

"I'll be telling the same stories, but I'll have new ways to tell them," she said. "The news business is changing and legislative coverage needs to change with it. I see it as an immense opportunity."

Recruiting Leslie signals that WRAL, owned by Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting, is seeking to beef up its legislative coverage as Republicans control the General Assembly for the first time since 1898.

Reminder: "Dining Out with Greg Cox" resumes tomorrow on NewsRadio WPTF after a two-week hiatus for the holidays.   

Tune in to 680AM at 11 a.m., and join me for an hour of the latest dish on the local dining scene. It's a call-in show, so here's your chance to quiz me or share a tip of your own.

You can also catch the show online at wptf.com. 

REMINDER: Tune in to WPTF radio (that’s 680 on the AM dial) this morning at 11 a.m. for the debut of my weekly call-in talk show, “Dining Out with Greg Cox.” I'll dish up the latest on the local restaurant scene, and I’ll field questions from listeners. You can also catch the show online at www.wptf.com.

Got a question or tip about a restaurant? A bone to pick with me about my latest review?

Tune in to WPTF radio (that’s 680 on the AM dial) this Saturday, December 4 at 11 a.m. for the debut of my weekly call-in talk show, “Dining Out with Greg Cox.” I'll dish up the latest on the local restaurant scene, and I’ll field questions from listeners. You can also catch the show online at www.wptf.com.

I look forward to chewing the fat with you.

Christmas has arrived for Triangle radio listeners.

Officials with WRAL-FM (Mix 101.5) this morning converted the station's broadcast to all-holiday music. They had planned to wait until Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, for the annual switch but decided to do it a few days early.

The station has been streaming holiday music at its website and on its HD sister channel for several weeks. The volume of listeners on those outlets and an "enormous number of emails and calls from listeners asking that we start sooner" prompted the earlier switch,  program director Barry Fox wrote in an e-mail.

The Christmas carols are coming.

Every year, at least one radio station in the Triangle converts to playing all holiday tunes -- 24/7 of Rudolph, Feliz Navidad and White Christmas.

This year, WRAL-FM plans to make the switch on Nov. 26. That's the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday and treasured by eager retailers as the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

That's later than last year, and WRAL (101.5) might do it sooner if a rival radio station jumps in, said program director Barry Fox. In the meantime, WRAL started streaming Christmas music from its website this week.

Love it or loathe it, Triangle radio listeners are getting twice as much Christmas music this year.

Two local stations this week switched to all-Christmas format, WRAL-FM 101.5 and WRDU-FM 106.1. Last year, WRAL was the only one.

As always, the quest for higher ratings drives the decision, especially with advertisers slashing spending. This is WRAL's third annual switch and last year ratings rose 38 percent among its target demographic, women aged 25 to 54, said program director Barry Fox.

"We lose a few listeners, but we gain many more," Fox said. "We were receiving a lot of calls and e-mails [this year], asking when we were going to start. Then when we made the switch, we got some complaints."

One of the first radio stations to broadcast Rush Limbaugh's talk show, WPTF AM-680, will be losing the conservative media icon after 21 years on the air.

Limbaugh's trademark in-your-face talk show will be moving to a competitor, WRDU FM-106.1, a country music station owned by media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. Starting January 1, WRDU will switch to an all-talk format and feature a 9-hour non-stop marathon of conservative talk by Glenn Beck, Shawn Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Curtis Media, the Raleigh-based company that owns WPTF, will fill the three hours vacated by Limbaugh with political talk that's more centrist and moderate, said president and chief operating officer Phil Zachary. Still, losing Limbaugh is a big deal, he said.

"We were there from the beginning, which makes this more painful," Zachary said. "We were there before Rush was arguably Rush."

Capitol Broadcasting Company and Curtis Media Group announced several changes in the Triangle's radio lineup on Monday which will affect the local sports-talk lineups.

Capitol purchased 620 The Bull and Curtis bought 850 The Buzz, the Triangle's two AM sports-talk format stations, from McClatchey Broadcasting.

A quick reminder: I'm heading out the door to Greensboro to spin records on "The Movie Show" once again. You can listen to the show over at the WUAG Web site. Hope you tune in!

UPDATE: Here's the first hour. Joe says the second hour will be on his site eventually.