WKCE (1180 kHz) is a commercial AM

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 radi ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of 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 Division and the state' ...

. and airs an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. The station is branded as '' 1180 WKCE''. Many of the station's previous local sports talk shows were about

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

. WKCE operates at 10,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s by day, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna (electronics), antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (mathematics), axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle ...

. But because

AM 1180 AM or Am may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A minor, a minor scale in music * ''A.M.'' (Chris Young album) * ''A.M.'' (Wilco album) * ''AM'' (Abraham Mateo album) * ''AM'' (Arctic Monkeys album) * AM (musician), American musician ...

is a

clear-channel A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-cou ...

frequency, reserved for Class A

WHAM Wham! was a British pop music duo. Wham may also refer to: Places * Wham, North Yorkshire, England, a hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales, United Kingdom * Wham, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States Stations * WHAM (AM), a talk radio ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

, WKCE must reduce power to 2,600 watts during

critical hours Critical hours for radio stations is the time from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. During this time, certain American radio stations may be operating with reduced power as a result of Se ...

and sign-off at night. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is located off Strawberry Plains Pike in Knoxville.

History

A construction permit to build a radio station on AM 1180 was first issued in December 1986. On June 1, 1988, WHJM first signed on. It was owned by Morgan Broadcasting Company, and was an affiliate of the former

Satellite Music Network Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats. History Affiliate stations, mostly in small and medium markets, co ...

's "Pure Gold" service, playing

from the 1960s and 70s. Studios and offices were located at 802 S. Central Avenue in downtown Knoxville. By 1990, the station had changed formats from oldies to adult standards, using SMN's '' Stardust'' music service. In 1993, WHJM changed its format to Christian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and Southern Gospel music. Later, the station was programmed as a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

outlet. Morgan Broadcasting Co., of which Harry Morgan was president, sold WHJM and WKCE to Kirkland Wireless Broadcasters, Inc. for $400,000, in a deal reported February 24, 2002. Upon acquisition, the station's call letters were changed to WVLZ. From January 2009 until August 29, 2014, WVLZ 1180 was known as "Tennessee Sports Radio." The station's programming included show hosts such as former University of Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge and former UT wide receiver Jayson Swain. On August 29, 2014, WVLZ changed branding and reverted to its earlier format as "Oldies 1180," but returned to sports as "Sports Radio 1180 The VLZ" on Monday, January 5, 2015. Kirkland Wireless Broadcasters sold WVLZ to John Pirkle's Oak Ridge FM, Inc. effective July 11, 2018 for $30,000. The station changed its call sign to WKCE on September 19, 2018 and changed their format to oldies. Effective December 31, 2018, Oak Ridge FM, Inc sold the station to Mid-Century Radio LLC.Record of FCC Filing
FCC.gov - November 19, 2018

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References

External links

{{Daytime-only radio stations in Tennessee KCE (AM) KCE Radio stations established in 1988 1988 establishments in Tennessee