Hello, reporting in from Ohio. There is a possibility of my relocating to the Knoxville/East Tennessee area in the near future. The purpose won't be finding a job in radio (like there are any!) but I was curious if the folks on the board could tell me a little about who is good, who is not in Knoxville and surrounding markets. Anyone live at all on weekends? It's been a few years since I've been down that way..last time I was there was an oldies simulcast that I'm sure is long gone. I know WNOX is a powerhouse on 100.3 (and was the former WOKI..I once had an aircheck of their CHR days but alas gone with the wind). Thanks all.
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What's the 411 on East Tennessee radio?
- Thread starter gr8oldies
- Start date
There are three main corporate cluster in Knoxville and a couple of other small group owners and locals. The big three are owned by Citadel, South Central and Journal. Citadel has WIVK, the long time market leader which is country and may well be the only station that is truly manned 24/7. They also have WNOX news talk 100.3 (the old WOKI) which does a live morning show as well as live in the afternoon but also carries Rush and various other national talk shows. They also have a rimshot FM that changes format every two years. Right how it's running True Oldies Channel and they have Sports Animal which simulcasts on AM 990 and two rimshot FM's. Journal owns Star 102 (CHR), Hot 104 (urban/hip hop), an automated country FM that's trying to compete with IVK and a small AM that's recently flipped from standards to classic country. The other group South Central owns B 97.5 which is the market leading AC, also WIMZ which is AOR, an active rocker 94 The X, and a pair of rimshot FM's simulcasting Jack FM. Typically speaking WIVK, B 97 and Star 102 jockey about for the top 3 ratings leaders but IVK is always considerably ahead of the pack. I'm pretty sure all three clusters do have some live shifts on the weekends but that seems to becoming a thing of the past. I'm not sure anyone is live overnight.
As far as other stations there's a 2 FM/2 AM cluster that's mostly religion although one of their AMs runs some of Salem's secular programs. WUOT is the big NPR affiliate at UT and there's also a student-run rock station too. There's also a spattering of local stations on both bands doing religion, more sports talk and country oldies. As far as who's good there really isn't anything too out of the ordinary going on here... unfortunately. The morning guy on news talk 100 is good but there's too many commercials and I just can't deal with that anymore. Good luck with your relocating.
As far as other stations there's a 2 FM/2 AM cluster that's mostly religion although one of their AMs runs some of Salem's secular programs. WUOT is the big NPR affiliate at UT and there's also a student-run rock station too. There's also a spattering of local stations on both bands doing religion, more sports talk and country oldies. As far as who's good there really isn't anything too out of the ordinary going on here... unfortunately. The morning guy on news talk 100 is good but there's too many commercials and I just can't deal with that anymore. Good luck with your relocating.
B 97.5 is actually the ONLY AC in the market (or at least with a DECENT signal) and WIMZ is actually more Classic Rock than AOR (Album Oriented Rock).cheapman said:
And isn't Mike Hammonds' son doing overnights on WIVK? He just won an award from CMA or some other Country Music group for best radio newcomers or overnight DJ.
And if you like Americana, there is WDVX, imho, the BEST station in Knoxville right now, as far as Music goes.
Agree or not, B97-5 is better than TFM' in the Tri-Cities. I'm waiting for another "new" Taylor Swift song to be played 18 times a day. The new Keith Urban "Till Summer Comes Around" is great and I've yet to hear it on there. Oh, I forgot The All-timers is kicking in at HV. Never mind. They're not that bright......Here's an idea guys. If you gonna play Alicia Keyes or that "cat stuck in a fanbelt" Leona Lewis, why not Pussycat Dolls
"Stick Wit U". Or, how about a little edgy with Firehouse "Love of a Lifetime". I don't think you'll make Granny mad if you play it while she's napping. Soft Rock is over HV. Read a few pages down. Maybe I can kick the coffee to keep me awake if you pick it up a little. Your "fresh new sound of 98.5" smells. Wonder is Steve Mann can still read at his age. If you Knoxville guys can't get WTFM, your not missing anything!!!!
"Stick Wit U". Or, how about a little edgy with Firehouse "Love of a Lifetime". I don't think you'll make Granny mad if you play it while she's napping. Soft Rock is over HV. Read a few pages down. Maybe I can kick the coffee to keep me awake if you pick it up a little. Your "fresh new sound of 98.5" smells. Wonder is Steve Mann can still read at his age. If you Knoxville guys can't get WTFM, your not missing anything!!!!
Sorry, my terminology was off a little. WIMZ is definitely classic rock, NOT AOR. And I'm not exactly sure how to classify 94 The X. I'm in my 50's and that whole genre eludes me! But I am truly amiss for neglecting to mention WDVX which is by itself a true one-of-a-kind. It's a non-commercial that employs at least two if not more translators to cover the market best it can. A very eclectic station thought of most as a bluegrass format, but really there are blocks of blues, jazz and various other things you would never hear on a commercial station. Always something unexpected here. And very community oriented as well.
T
tennessee steel
Guest
I'm from Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) and have been in Knoxville almost 6 years. One of the first things I noticed about Knoxville radio is how few FM stations come in loud and clear; many seem to be rimshots. Seems strange, even though I came from a larger market the topography is far worse than it is here....and I live pretty close to the center of the market in north Knox county. Here's an example of some stations I can think of:
93.1: I recall that it usually came in OK, not great, but haven't listened since flip to country
94.3: Rock / alternative rock, static usually present
95.3: Think it's clear, but it's religious
95.7 & 106.7: Both "Jack" stations are rimshots
96.3: Static
97.5: B 97.5 is the one station that seems to overwhelm other frequencies, especially on cheap radios
98.7: True Oldies, some static usually present
99.1 & 99.3: Sports, static always present
100.3: WNOX, talk - Ostensibly a flame-thrower of a signal but I always seem to get some static, especially where I live
102.1: CHR, OK but not a great signal
103.5: WIMZ, classic rock: good signal
104.5 CHR/Urban, don't really listen but I seem to recall it's not a great signal
105.3: Lousy signal always
107.7: WIVK, the country / full service station, seems to have a good signal based on what I hear when the wife is listening
93.1: I recall that it usually came in OK, not great, but haven't listened since flip to country
94.3: Rock / alternative rock, static usually present
95.3: Think it's clear, but it's religious
95.7 & 106.7: Both "Jack" stations are rimshots
96.3: Static
97.5: B 97.5 is the one station that seems to overwhelm other frequencies, especially on cheap radios
98.7: True Oldies, some static usually present
99.1 & 99.3: Sports, static always present
100.3: WNOX, talk - Ostensibly a flame-thrower of a signal but I always seem to get some static, especially where I live
102.1: CHR, OK but not a great signal
103.5: WIMZ, classic rock: good signal
104.5 CHR/Urban, don't really listen but I seem to recall it's not a great signal
105.3: Lousy signal always
107.7: WIVK, the country / full service station, seems to have a good signal based on what I hear when the wife is listening
The reason B 97.5 has the best signal in town is it's the only station with a 100K transmitter actually inside the city limits. It's at the main tower farm on Sharp's Ridge with most of the TV stations. The other full power stations are 103.5 which uses a tall tower about 15 miles out of town, 107.7 which is on top of a mountain about 20 miles out and 100.3 (licensed to Oak Ridge) also about 20 miles out on a mountain in a different direction. All of them have great signals but most suffer from some form of multipath interference when getting in and around the city and also when driving in and around the mountains. 104.5 is at the tower farm but it's not a full power station so it does better in Knoxville than some of the others. 102.1 is on the same mountain with 107.7 but it's also not 100K. Most of the others are indeed rimshots and those get varying results based on the local topography which is pretty unique. A couple of them (Jack FM and Sports Animal) deliberately simulcast on two or more different signals just in an attempt to cover the whole market and it's questionable how well that works. If I'm not mistaken only 97.5, 103.5, 104.5 and 107.7 are the only commercial stations with true Knoxville licenses. 102.1 is licensed to Sevierville. 93.1 is licensed to Karns. 94.5 to Oak Ridge. 105.3 to Loudon (though they claim to be a Farragut staion.) 98.7 True Oldies to Oliver Springs. 96.3 Praise to Seymour. And I don't mean to forget WUOT, the NPR station at UT. They have a good strong signal off the channel 8 tower on Sharp's Ridge. Hope that helps.
S
SchlitzBeer
Guest
No on the K-Love absence, they are on a rimshot 94.1, a signal based out of Morristown, which can be heard on the east side of the greater Knoxville area
What great responses! Seems to be a pretty thorough run-down on Knoxville, but what about the small towns in East Tennessee? Some of us are more interested in the smalls than the traffic in K-town (except on football Saturdays, of course).
I guess the only names I can remember are Horne and Holston Valley. Isn't it a family operation in Greeneville? What's up in the Smokys these days? Who's got the reputation for being a good place to work? Anyplace else you know about?
Any information would be helpful as it's been several years since I was very familiar with such things.
Thanks in advance.
I guess the only names I can remember are Horne and Holston Valley. Isn't it a family operation in Greeneville? What's up in the Smokys these days? Who's got the reputation for being a good place to work? Anyplace else you know about?
Any information would be helpful as it's been several years since I was very familiar with such things.
Thanks in advance.
You will find your intelligence insulted at every step of the way but a bunch of incompetent know-nothings if you look for work in the Tri-Cities, and come away convinced the stupidest people in America live and work there.
My advice to you is to stay where you are at. I've lived countless places up and down the east coast and the Tri-Cities are BY FAR my least favorite locale.
Then again, if I had one year to live I would move to the Tri-Cities. It would feel like an eternity.
My advice to you is to stay where you are at. I've lived countless places up and down the east coast and the Tri-Cities are BY FAR my least favorite locale.
Then again, if I had one year to live I would move to the Tri-Cities. It would feel like an eternity.
E
Elkhosen
Guest
Wow, Pratte. Bitter about the tri-cities much?
Perhaps, but I stand by every word.
Excellent analysis by cheapman...but not totally perfect. When you say:
you either mis-spoke or have a typo or two. You probably meant to say "the only commercial FM stations..." as there are many commercial AMs licensed to Knoxville.
Secondly, and equally unimportant, WNFZ is on 94.3, not 94.5. Here is the third and most important element of the situation: WNFZ is now licensed to the booming metropolis of Powell, instead of Oak Ridge! Pirkle obviously wanted to increase the signal toward downtown and the growing areas to the north, but could not give Oak Ridge city-grade coverage if he moved the transmitter out of Farragut. So, he changed the city of license from Oak Ridge to Powell and got the improved signal he wanted.
Edited immediately to change city of license typo..heh heh heh
you either mis-spoke or have a typo or two. You probably meant to say "the only commercial FM stations..." as there are many commercial AMs licensed to Knoxville.
Secondly, and equally unimportant, WNFZ is on 94.3, not 94.5. Here is the third and most important element of the situation: WNFZ is now licensed to the booming metropolis of Powell, instead of Oak Ridge! Pirkle obviously wanted to increase the signal toward downtown and the growing areas to the north, but could not give Oak Ridge city-grade coverage if he moved the transmitter out of Farragut. So, he changed the city of license from Oak Ridge to Powell and got the improved signal he wanted.
Edited immediately to change city of license typo..heh heh heh
Ah yes, I stand corrected. When I wrote that I was trying to sum up the whole market in one short paragraph and clearly I didn't take the time to be precise or check all my facts. I was indeed referring only to FM stations. And I didn't realize 94.3 was relicensed to Powell. I believe AM 1040 is licensed to Powell also.
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