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Tennessee Radio History

600kogo said:
Scott, KFRO 1370 in Longview, Texas did not move at all and it was licensed in 1935.
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Actually, KFRO moved twice...

They indeed launched on 1370. That was a so-called "local" channel, on which they were limited to 100 watts daytime only. If they'd stayed on 1370 as a local station, in 1941 they would have been shifted to 1400 along with the other local stations on 1370.

But they didn't stay on 1370. Sometime before 1940, they shifted to 1340, a "regional" channel. On 1340 they could increase power to 1,000 watts and add nighttime operation. (I'm assuming directional but it doesn't say)

Then, a year later, the big 1941 shift happened -- and KFRO got shifted back to 1370 where they started. (the seven other stations operating on 1340 also got moved to 1370)
 
Brian Scott said:
I know its been owned by several people, but does anybody have much info about WOPI in Bristol? Tennessee Ernie Ford worked there in the 40's.
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It is now owned by Holston Valley Broadcasting. I think it signed on in the late 20's or very early 30's.
 
about what point does WMC-fm overtake WWTN going west on I-40.....I bet it's a real mess for miles. I know here in Southern Ky, 99.7 is a mess just north of Bowling Green. WDJX out of Louisville makes a real mess of WTN from about Bowling Green to Elizabethtown, And DJX is only 24kw at 716ft last time I checked.
 
jwhite6069 said:
about what point does WMC-fm overtake WWTN going west on I-40.....I bet it's a real mess for miles. I know here in Southern Ky, 99.7 is a mess just north of Bowling Green. WDJX out of Louisville makes a real mess of WTN from about Bowling Green to Elizabethtown, And DJX is only 24kw at 716ft last time I checked.
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My sister once claimed to be able to pick up FM-100 all the way to Dickson before losing it. I was never able to do that, but I was able to pick up 92.3 (Jackson) to Dickson before it broke up.
 
firepoint525 said:
jwhite6069 said:
about what point does WMC-fm overtake WWTN going west on I-40.....I bet it's a real mess for miles. I know here in Southern Ky, 99.7 is a mess just north of Bowling Green. WDJX out of Louisville makes a real mess of WTN from about Bowling Green to Elizabethtown, And DJX is only 24kw at 716ft last time I checked.
Click to expand...
My sister once claimed to be able to pick up FM-100 all the way to Dickson before losing it. I was never able to do that, but I was able to pick up 92.3 (Jackson) to Dickson before it broke up.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be at all surprised if FM-100 delivered a decent car-radio signal into Dickson in the days before WTN.

Remember that WTN's current signal is relatively new. When I moved to Nashville in 1990, 99.7 was a relatively low-powered signal out of Manchester. With an outdoor directional antenna it was trivially easy to hear FM-100 up here in northern Cheatham County. (indeed, it was difficult to null Memphis & hear Manchester..) I have a vague recollection that Manchester was off the air entirely for a period before WTN launched.

It's quite common to hear 92.3 Jackson up here on the car radio. On the home set with the outdoor antenna it's *always* there. (unless I swing the antenna north & get St. Louis instead)
 
w9wi said:
firepoint525 said:
jwhite6069 said:
about what point does WMC-fm overtake WWTN going west on I-40.....I bet it's a real mess for miles. I know here in Southern Ky, 99.7 is a mess just north of Bowling Green. WDJX out of Louisville makes a real mess of WTN from about Bowling Green to Elizabethtown, And DJX is only 24kw at 716ft last time I checked.
Click to expand...
My sister once claimed to be able to pick up FM-100 all the way to Dickson before losing it. I was never able to do that, but I was able to pick up 92.3 (Jackson) to Dickson before it broke up.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be at all surprised if FM-100 delivered a decent car-radio signal into Dickson in the days before WTN.
Remember that WTN's current signal is relatively new. When I moved to Nashville in 1990, 99.7 was a relatively low-powered signal out of Manchester. With an outdoor directional antenna it was trivially easy to hear FM-100 up here in northern Cheatham County. (indeed, it was difficult to null Memphis & hear Manchester..) I have a vague recollection that Manchester was off the air entirely for a period before WTN launched.
It's quite common to hear 92.3 Jackson up here on the car radio. On the home set with the outdoor antenna it's *always* there. (unless I swing the antenna north & get St. Louis instead)
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I would guess that it was sometime in the '90s when my sister picked up FM-100 all the way to Dickson, since it was sometime in the '90s when she moved here.

I remember an FM-100 dj saying that he was able to get them on his car radio all the way to Cape Girardeau when visiting his parents in St. Louis!
 
I don't know how it is now that WTN has moved closer to Nashville, but when they were in Manchester and the conditions were right they could blow out FM100 in the Jackson and Dyersburg areas, especially in the Summer.

I've also been able to get FM100 up to the Cape area on trips to St. Louis as well, although I haven't tried it in recent years.
 
w9wi said:
I have a vague recollection that Manchester was off the air entirely for a period before WTN launched.
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When 99.7 was still WMSR in Manchester...they signed off at 10pm...until 7am the next morning. At one time in the 80's...I had
an attic-mounted FM antenna aimed SE from Mt Juliet: when WSMR killed their carrier each night, it was not unusual for POWER 99 in
Atlanta to pop right in. Even aiming at Memphis....never heard WMC-FM...but heard them at Center Hill Lake! Back to WSMR...
I remember they had one announcer...Vernon Bogle IIRC...that seemed to work very long hours. They had a beautiful music format...
and let's say Vernon had a unique vocal style while back announcing "Percy Faith and the Orchestra"
 
WMC-FM has always been an interesting case. They have grandfathered super-power (300,000 watts), but a sub-1000 foot antenna mounting. So despite a strong signal, their potential footprint is limited by the a smaller line-of sight situation.
 
From my place on high ground in southern Hardin county, it is 108 miles to Rockvale where the WWTN transmitter is located west of Murfreesboro. It's 95 miles to WMC. The path to Rockvale is a mess where the path to Memphis is not bad at all. On my inside radio's, on average I get WWTN 75% of the time and WMC 25% but mostly mixed with WWTN. Now there is several hundred feet difference in the transmission HAAT's. WMC 277 meters and WWTN is at 395 meters. Now up until up until 1999, WWTN was operating with reduced power a lot of the time due to line, antenna or transmitter issues. All that was replaced at that time. There were many complaints and even a friendly verification visit from the Louisville Ky station because of alleged problems all the way up to E'town Ky from WWTN. On the other hand, there were complaints from WWTN listeners in Clarksville Tn b/c of WMC showing up frequently there.... All-in-all, Its a mixed bag... Ah the vagaries of radio frequency propagation....
 
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