WLVZ is a radio station on 107.1 FM in

Collins, Mississippi Collins is a city in Covington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,586 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Covington County. History From Williamsburg Depot to Collins Collins was originally incorporated as William ...

, US serving the

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...

, area. The station serves as the Hattiesburg-area transmitter for the K-Love Christian radio network.

History

On January 10, 1977, Covington County Broadcasters, Inc., filed for a new FM radio station on 101.7 MHz in Collins. The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

granted the construction permit on February 13, 1978. The station went on air that August 15 and immediately adopted a format including country music during the day and adult contemporary in the afternoon and at night. Covington County Broadcasters was owned by Ottis Wolverton and operated by the Blakeney brothers. By 1984, however, WKNZ had gone all-country. Wolverton acquired WBKH in Hattiesburg in 1988. Both stations were sold the next year to Southern Air Communications, owned by Bruce Easterling, in a $648,000 transaction; the new owners flipped WKNZ to oldies. Financial problems grounded Southern Air in 1993. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

sued Southern Air that year for unpaid wire service bills in 1990. By that time, however, WKNZ's ownership was already in the process of changing, as Wolverton repurchased the FM outlet. Southern Air owed Covington County Broadcasters, the former licensee, $423,000. As part of a reassignment of FM allotments in several Mississippi communities approved in 1991, WKNZ had been relocated to 107.1 MHz; the frequency change came into effect on August 26, 1994, by which time WKNZ was again a country music outlet. After being purchased by Thomas F. McDaniels under the name Sunbelt Broadcasting Corporation, WKNZ switched to classic rock "Zoo 107" on December 29, 1994. The station became a partner of the

Hattiesburg Zoo The Hattiesburg Zoo (sometimes also called the Kamper Park Zoo) is a small zoo located within Kamper Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. The zoo is operated by the Hattiesburg Convention Commission. As of 2019, the Commission's ex ...

, which was its new namesake; it sponsored the zoo's name-a-zebra contest in 1996. Radio Broadcasters, controlled by Ken Rainey and owners of

WMXI WMXI (98.1 FM, "News Radio 98.1") is a news/talk formatted radio station licensed to Ellisville, Mississippi, serving the Laurel-Hattiesburg Arbitron market. History WMXI started as an alternative rock formatted radio station as "98X". Sometim ...

, acquired WKNZ and WXHB in 2000 for $690,000. The station's format remained unchanged until the station was sold in 2005 to the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

and converted into a K-Love transmitter. The station immediately dropped its programming, including sports programming, on April 1, 2005.

References

{{K-LOVE Radio stations established in 1978 1978 establishments in Mississippi K-Love radio stations Educational Media Foundation radio stations LVZ