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Best small market stations in East TN

I agree WCRK is on top of the list, but I'll add to that list:
WYSH with the exception with what they are doing with WGAP, It should be separate not simulcasting with WYSH.
WLIK Newport;
WNPC Newport; even though they are owned by one of the larger groups in ET.
and the Sevier county FM's aren't to bad.
WLIL in Lenoir City; It could be better with a longer live morning show other than the trading post.
 
knoxbob said:
I agree WCRK is on top of the list, but I'll add to that list:
WYSH with the exception with what they are doing with WGAP, It should be separate not simulcasting with WYSH.
WLIK Newport;
WNPC Newport; even though they are owned by one of the larger groups in ET.
and the Sevier county FM's aren't to bad.
WLIL in Lenoir City; It could be better with a longer live morning show other than the trading post.
Click to expand...
Forgot about WLIK.
 
Here in Athens, TN we are fortunate. We have wonderful examples of good full service, small market radio done right. WJSQ-FM 101.7 and WLAR 1450 AM in Athens have superb local news, weather, traffic reports, and diverse music. They also feature live music with Music On The Menu at local restaurants. Randy Sliger & crew really do superb work. WYXI-AM 1390 also do diverse music, lots of family programs, old time radio, full service news and weather and much more. Bob Ketchersid and Mark Lefler are also textbook examples of small town broadcasters at their best. And they and WJSQ/WLAR/WYGO are also audiophile quality sonics. We need more like them.
 
As far as service to the community goes, I would have to put in a mention for WBNT in Onieda. They are one of the VERY FEW stations in a small market that are still live an and local in all of their day parts. I spent a couple of years up there in the late 80's. Their programming could stand a bit of lifting and updating however. I have not seen anyone there in a while but Hillard was beginning to cut back his work time the last I knew and an operations manager was taking care of things quite a bit. They are doing quite well with channel 4 on the cable system too.
Don't know if anyone there reads this forum but if so, hello to Hillard and Paul. Perhaps I may get back up that way from Oak Ridge and drop in at some point.
 
RadioGaGa75 said:
Hands down WGAP pre-1999.
Click to expand...

That would be the Plumley era. I'm sure the old man is retired, but does anyone know whether the son is still in broadcasting?
 
If we're talking best local and of a different era, then here's a vote for WSEV/Sevierville in the Skip Trotter days (60's and 70's). 15 minute newscasts twice weekdays, broadcast of county commission meetings live (pure public service), carrying every possible high school game, Lady Vols flagship in the early Pat Head days. Record shows by phone line from Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Helped give Dolly a start in the pre-Cas days.
 
Cueburned said:
RadioGaGa75 said:
Hands down WGAP pre-1999.
Click to expand...

That would be the Plumley era. I'm sure the old man is retired, but does anyone know whether the son is still in broadcasting?
Click to expand...

The last I heard Norman (the son) was working for Charter Cable. That was at least 4 years ago. I don't know if he's still there. I had a chance to shadow with brother Glenn Morton at their studios in the old Blount County Chamber of Commerce building back in 1995. This was before WGAP FM 95.7 got sold to South Central. Man that place was immaculate! The main studio was surrounded by pentagonal shaped glass windows that touched all the way to floor. I first met Carl Wells there too. He was pushing 80 at the time and stayed with WGAP until 2003. WGAP was his whole life. Sadly, he passed away a few days after Christmas in 2005. We buried him on New Year's Eve that year. He pretty much became a recluse after WGAP as we knew it died.

Nonetheless, the whole place was quite a sight to see! Of course you all probably remember fire of 1998 that destroyed everything inside the building. That pretty much spelled the beginning of the end. To Mike Beverly's credit, he tried to maintain the hetiage of the station which was back on just 1400 AM by 1999. He departed in 2002. His departure was the final nail in the coffin at the "World's Greatest Aluminum Plant" as many people affectionaely said the station's call letters stood for. I spoke with Steve Corbett one day several years ago. He owned the station before Harry Plumley. He said actually the call letters were totally arbitrary. WGAP was what the FCC assigned to the license when George Dempster put it on in 1947.
 
Hundredthousandwatts said:
AM and FM. Which are your current favorites and why? A positive topic for a change!

I'll start with WCRK Morristown. One of the most involved sounding AMs around.
Click to expand...

WCRK is certainly a great community station. I would also vote for the stations in Greeneville, TN. Same family has owned the stations for decades and now own all stations in the market but last time I heard, they were still doing good community radio and the AM on 1340, WGRV was still very successful.

Greeneville is also a very attractive and nice town in that part of the world. The radio stations reflect it well.
 
Thanks radio30, I had forgot about WBNT I was up that way about 5 or 6 years ago and tuned them in and was amazed that they were "Live" on a Saturday afternoon. The music was all over the place but it was a joy to listen to them. It brought back memories from yesteryear of working on Saturdays and Sundays in Newport and other small places. Adding another station to the list would be WRGS in Rogersville, I'm not sure how much live programming they have but they are doing a fine job of serving their community and have recently added an FM translator to rebroadcast the AM signal.
 
1340 WGRV/1450 WSMG WIKQ 103.1 FM Greeneville. Good coverage for Greene County/w news and high school sports. 1450 WSMG has a decent oldies format with just 1kw. Radio Greeneville, a family business owned by the Metcalfs. The patriarch Paul O Metcalf years ago started the Rescue Squad in Greeneville.
 
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