WNOX
Encyclopedia
WNOX is a radio station
in the Knoxville, Tennessee
area. It broadcasts a news
-talk
format.
WNOX operates a 100,000-watt transmitter, located on Cross Mountain
(elevation 3534 ft.) north of Briceville, Tennessee
. Its signal can be received throughout East Tennessee
as well as significant parts of southeastern Kentucky
, and in small portions of Virginia
, North Carolina
, West Virginia
and Georgia.
WNOX were also the call letters of a co-owned AM station from the 1930s to 1988, and again from 1997 to 2005.
. Within the span of its first 19 years, the station's call letters changed to WNOX, and the station frequency changed many times, eventually settling at AM 990 in March 1941.
After its purchase by Scripps-Howard, the station moved to the Andrew Johnson Hotel
on Gay Street
, with its main offices located on the hotel's 17th floor. The station's growing studio audiences began causing elevator traffic issues for the Andrew Johnson, however, and the hotel asked the station to move. WNOX relocated to a small tabernacle building at the north end of Gay Street, where it remained for several years.
In the 1950s and 1960s, WNOX was home to the popular lunchtime program The Midday Merry-go-Round and weekend program The Tennessee Barndance, which were both influential in the early days of country music. Legendary station manager Lowell Blanchard
hosted the programs for many years in downtown Knoxville, and lunch crowds packed the station's downtown auditorium to see the daily programs. Seeking a bigger performance area, WNOX moved its studios to Whittle Springs Road in north Knoxville. The Whittle Springs facility included a large auditorium for live performances, but after the move from downtown, the live musical performances were never the same. Once the crowds diminished, the live performances were called off.
The owners of WNOX also had other, much bigger plans for their new facility on Whittle Springs Road. In 1955, Scripps-Howard Broadcasting was one of the applicants for the Channel 10 frequency, awarded to Knoxville after the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) reorganized its U.S. TV table of channel allocations in 1952. So sure of getting the Channel 10 license, the company poured thousands of dollars into the Whittle Springs building to make it a top-notch radio-TV studio combination. After the FCC awarded the TV license to Jay Birdwell, local owner of WBIR AM and FM in 1956, Scripps-Howard was saddled with a huge studio to ultimately be used just for radio, amid a dwindling live listening audience. Still, the station remained there for many years, less than two miles from its transmitter site.
The 1960s brought a new era for WNOX. The station became a popular Top 40 station, and remained that way until the late 1970s, when the station switched to AC. In the early 1980s, the station was bought again and flipped to country, and WNOX was never the same.
WNOX's legendary call letters were changed to WTNZ in 1988. However, within a few months Dick Broadcasting (WIVK) purchased WTNZ-AM 990. Dick donated AM 850, its old daytime-only frequency, to the University of Tennessee
, and the 990 frequency, which could air nighttime programming, quickly became WIVK-AM and began airing the programming of WIVK-FM. Within a few years, WIVK-AM began experimenting with news/talk programming, eventually phasing into a news/talk format 24/7.
) in 2005. 990 AM and 99.1 FM became WNML
, airing sports talk.
Citadel Broadcasting
ended its lease agreement with Oak Ridge FM, Inc. for the 100.3 WNOX frequency two years early and announced that it would be broadcasting the programming of WNOX on both 100.3 WNOX and WOKI 98.7 from July 9, 2010 until August 1, 2010. On July 7, 2010 Oak Ridge FM announced plans for WNOX to stay news/talk, but with different hosts. Ed Brantley, the former general manager of the Knoxville Citadel radio group and a longtime WIVK-FM DJ, was hired as general manager of 100.3 FM, and John Pirkle of Oak Ridge FM said he would be an on-air personality.
On July 19, 2010 WNOX moved its former programming to 98.7 WOKI, with 100.3 FM airing nothing but reminders that former WNOX listeners should turn to 98.7. On August 1, 2010 the station's owner, Oak Ridge FM, Inc. regained programming control of the station and resumed broadcasting a news-talk format.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in the Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
area. It broadcasts a news
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
-talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format.
WNOX operates a 100,000-watt transmitter, located on Cross Mountain
Lake City Air Force Station
Lake City Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west-southwest of Lake City, Tennessee...
(elevation 3534 ft.) north of Briceville, Tennessee
Briceville, Tennessee
Briceville is an unincorporated community in Anderson County, Tennessee. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is named for railroad tycoon and one-term Democratic U.S. Senator Calvin S...
. Its signal can be received throughout East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
as well as significant parts of southeastern Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, and in small portions of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and Georgia.
WNOX were also the call letters of a co-owned AM station from the 1930s to 1988, and again from 1997 to 2005.
AM station
For years, the WNOX call letters belonged to the frequency AM 990. In November 1921, WNOX signed on the air as WNAV, the first radio station in Tennessee and one of the ten oldest in the country, and was licensed to broadcast at 833 kHz. In 1923, the station's initial owner, the First Baptist Church of Knoxville, sold it to the People's Telephone & Telegraph Company. Sterchi Brothers Furniture briefly owned the station before it was again sold to Scripps-Howard in 1935. The early WNAV studios were located in the St. James Hotel, which once stood near the head of Market SquareMarket Square, Knoxville
Market Square is a pedestrian mall located in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Established in 1854 as a market place for regional farmers, the square has developed over the decades into a multipurpose venue that accommodates events ranging from concerts to political rallies, and has long provided a...
. Within the span of its first 19 years, the station's call letters changed to WNOX, and the station frequency changed many times, eventually settling at AM 990 in March 1941.
After its purchase by Scripps-Howard, the station moved to the Andrew Johnson Hotel
Andrew Johnson Building
The Andrew Johnson Building is a high-rise office building in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Completed in 1930, the structure was Knoxville's tallest building for nearly a half-century. The building was originally home to the Andrew Johnson Hotel, and is now used for office space by Knox...
on Gay Street
Gay Street (Knoxville)
Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural...
, with its main offices located on the hotel's 17th floor. The station's growing studio audiences began causing elevator traffic issues for the Andrew Johnson, however, and the hotel asked the station to move. WNOX relocated to a small tabernacle building at the north end of Gay Street, where it remained for several years.
In the 1950s and 1960s, WNOX was home to the popular lunchtime program The Midday Merry-go-Round and weekend program The Tennessee Barndance, which were both influential in the early days of country music. Legendary station manager Lowell Blanchard
Lowell Blanchard
Lowell Blanchard was an American radio presenter and performer. Blanchard, a native of Chicago, Illinois, was a station manager and popular show host for WNOX-AM Radio in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was inducted into the in 1977. He is said to have given country performers Henry D. Haynes and...
hosted the programs for many years in downtown Knoxville, and lunch crowds packed the station's downtown auditorium to see the daily programs. Seeking a bigger performance area, WNOX moved its studios to Whittle Springs Road in north Knoxville. The Whittle Springs facility included a large auditorium for live performances, but after the move from downtown, the live musical performances were never the same. Once the crowds diminished, the live performances were called off.
The owners of WNOX also had other, much bigger plans for their new facility on Whittle Springs Road. In 1955, Scripps-Howard Broadcasting was one of the applicants for the Channel 10 frequency, awarded to Knoxville after the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) reorganized its U.S. TV table of channel allocations in 1952. So sure of getting the Channel 10 license, the company poured thousands of dollars into the Whittle Springs building to make it a top-notch radio-TV studio combination. After the FCC awarded the TV license to Jay Birdwell, local owner of WBIR AM and FM in 1956, Scripps-Howard was saddled with a huge studio to ultimately be used just for radio, amid a dwindling live listening audience. Still, the station remained there for many years, less than two miles from its transmitter site.
The 1960s brought a new era for WNOX. The station became a popular Top 40 station, and remained that way until the late 1970s, when the station switched to AC. In the early 1980s, the station was bought again and flipped to country, and WNOX was never the same.
WNOX's legendary call letters were changed to WTNZ in 1988. However, within a few months Dick Broadcasting (WIVK) purchased WTNZ-AM 990. Dick donated AM 850, its old daytime-only frequency, to the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
, and the 990 frequency, which could air nighttime programming, quickly became WIVK-AM and began airing the programming of WIVK-FM. Within a few years, WIVK-AM began experimenting with news/talk programming, eventually phasing into a news/talk format 24/7.
FM station
Dick Broadcasting then acquired WNOX-FM 99.1 FM in Loudon, which became a simulcast signal for the news/talk programming WIVK-AM 990. Shortly thereafter, the AM 990 call letters were changed back to WNOX-AM, an appropriate move, since 99.1 FM coincidentally held the WNOX-FM call letters and AM 990 was known as WNOX-AM for many prior decades. The news/talk format resided on 99.1 FM and 990 AM, jointly called "NewsTalk99 WNOX" until the move to 100.3 FM (formerly WOKIWOKI
WOKI is a United States FM radio station serving the Knoxville, Tennessee area with an News/Talk format. It is an ABC Radio O&O station through Cumulus Media.WOKI operates at 8,000 watts at 98.7 MHz with a tower twenty miles northwest of Knoxville, TN...
) in 2005. 990 AM and 99.1 FM became WNML
WNML
WNML, WNML-FM, and WNRX are sports radio stations serving the Knoxville, Tennessee area. They broadcast on AM 990 and 2 FM frequencies, 99.1 & 99.3 . The stations are under ownership of Cumulus Media...
, airing sports talk.
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country...
ended its lease agreement with Oak Ridge FM, Inc. for the 100.3 WNOX frequency two years early and announced that it would be broadcasting the programming of WNOX on both 100.3 WNOX and WOKI 98.7 from July 9, 2010 until August 1, 2010. On July 7, 2010 Oak Ridge FM announced plans for WNOX to stay news/talk, but with different hosts. Ed Brantley, the former general manager of the Knoxville Citadel radio group and a longtime WIVK-FM DJ, was hired as general manager of 100.3 FM, and John Pirkle of Oak Ridge FM said he would be an on-air personality.
On July 19, 2010 WNOX moved its former programming to 98.7 WOKI, with 100.3 FM airing nothing but reminders that former WNOX listeners should turn to 98.7. On August 1, 2010 the station's owner, Oak Ridge FM, Inc. regained programming control of the station and resumed broadcasting a news-talk format.
Programming
- Ed & Bob with Ed Brantley & Bob Thomas, 6a-10a
- Neal BoortzNeal BoortzNeal A. Boortz, Jr. is an American Libertarian radio host, author, and political commentator. His nationally syndicated talk show, The Neal Boortz Show, airs throughout the United States on Dial Global . It is ranked seventh in overall listeners, with 4.25+ million per week...
, 10a-12p - The Dave Ramsey ShowThe Dave Ramsey Show (radio program)The Dave Ramsey Show is a three-hour, self-syndicated radio program and podcast that airs Monday through Friday from 2-5 EST. It is primarily broadcast from Brentwood, Tennessee, though often during the summer it is broadcast via remote from Ramsey's lake house...
, 12p-3p - The Drive with Terry FairTerry FairTerrance Delon Fair is a former National Football League cornerback for the St. Louis Rams. He was drafted in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He has been out of the league since the 2002 NFL season, with a brief comeback attempt with the Rams.Fair is the current co-host...
& Russell W. Smith, 3p-6p - Savage Nation, 6p-9p
- Neal BoortzNeal BoortzNeal A. Boortz, Jr. is an American Libertarian radio host, author, and political commentator. His nationally syndicated talk show, The Neal Boortz Show, airs throughout the United States on Dial Global . It is ranked seventh in overall listeners, with 4.25+ million per week...
, Information Overload Hour 9p-10p - The Laura Ingraham ShowThe Laura Ingraham ShowThe Laura Ingraham Show is a three-hour American radio show hosted by conservative commentator Laura Ingraham on Talk Radio Network. , the show is broadcast live on Channel 2, from 9 a.m...
, 10p-1a - Coast to Coast AMCoast to Coast AMCoast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
, 1a-5a
Further reading
- Ed HooperEd HooperWilliam Edward Hooper is an author, news broadcaster and columnist from Knoxville, Tennessee. He is most widely known for his work in military affairs reporting and his coverage of historic preservation and U.S. veterans issues....
(2009), Knoxville's WNOX. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738566535, ISBN 978-0738566535