WITA (1490 AM, "Inspiration 1490") is a Christian

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

located in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. It broadcasts a Christian format with some conservative talk shows and news from the

USA Radio Network USA Radio Network is an American mass media company, specializing in long-form spoken word (talk radio) and radio newscasts, produced and distributed with a generally conservative focus. USA Radio Network produces and distributes 24-hour news, n ...

. In the late 1960s into the mid-1970s, WITA was known as WROL, "Real Rock And Roll Radio". It was the only station in Knoxville airing an AOR format, playing album cuts from artists such as the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead. The station boasted Knoxville's first female DJ to gain popularity with the University Of Tennessee student population, Leslie Shelor (''Leslie Shelor Swann after marriage''; also known as "''Peggy Swann''" to good friends). During this period it was known as "W-149" as a play on its frequency of 1490 kHz. The daytime 1-kW signal originated in Fountain City in north Knoxville, but the nighttime 250-W signal originated at a separate transmitter site which was much closer to campus. In the mid-1970s the station switched format to top 40 as WKVQ (15Q), but found it difficult to compete with more powerful signals like

WNOX WNOX (93.1 FM, "Awesome 93.1") is a commercial radio station licensed to the suburb of Karns, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. The station is owned by SummitMedia and airs a classic hits format. WNOX's studios and off ...

and WOKI-FM. By the late 1970s the religious format had begun. 2018 Gubernatorial Libertarian candidate Vinnie Vineyard, better known as Funkmaster V from

Wrestling With Ghosts ''Wrestling With Ghosts'' is an American television series about the paranormal that premiered as a web-series on June 30, 2017. Since then, the show's concept won the Destination America nationwide search for a new creative paranormal team. The s ...

, hosted an hour long rock/ comedy program entitled "Cousin Vinnie's Rock N Roll Show" on the station during 1995–1996.

External links

ITA ITA News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1961 {{Tennessee-radio-station-stub