WNKT

WNKT (107.5 FM) is a sports radio station licensed to Eastover, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 40 kW. The station goes by the name 107-5 The Game. Its studios are located in downtown Columbia, SC and the transmitter is west of St. Matthews, South Carolina.

History

107.5 signed on January 5, 1971 as WDWQ in St. George, a Charleston suburb. It was the FM sister to WQIZ. The FM station was sold in 1977 to a Washington, DC-based group that moved the studios to North Charleston and flipped the station to top 40 as "Q107" under the WKQB call sign. The "Q107" moniker was briefly dropped in 1984 for "Power 107" but Q107 was reclaimed one year later. Q107 eventually topped rival CHR WSSX as the #1 CHR in the market on several occasions in the later half in the 1980s under a Dance-leaning CHR format.

Q107 gained fame in September 1989 as it broadcast continuously during Hurricane Hugo's landfall in the Charleston area. The transmitter was located further inland than most Charleston stations, allowing Q107 to stay on the air long after the other stations lost power. The broadcast ended when the station lost power at the transmitter site. Although there was a generator at the studios, there was no generator at the St. George tower site. The staff never left the studios; in fact the station personnel, their families and pets camped out in the radio station awaiting the return of power. The station returned to the air after the storm passed and broadcast vital information to area residents for weeks afterward.

Q107 entered the 1990s under serious hardship. The station shut down in early 1991 and simulcasted for a brief time with WSUY in order to stay on the air. WKQB was eventually sold in 1991 to a new owner, which took the station to classic-leaning country music under the call-letters of WBUB as "Bubba 107.5" in the Spring of 1991.

In 1997, the station was sold to Citadel Broadcasting as the station dropped the "Bubba 107.5" handle for "Cat Country 107.5" under the WNKT call letters.

On July 5, 2007, WNKT was issued a construction permit to move the station to Eastover, a Columbia suburb.

On November 10, 2007, WNKT dropped its country format for a continuous loop of the song "The Dance" by Garth Brooks, interspaced with liners redirecting listeners to sister country station WIWF. After two days, the station's over the air signal in Charleston was turned off in preparation for the move to Columbia. WNKT's online stream, however, remained intact, and continued to play Garth Brooks' "The Dance."

On November 12, 2007 at 1:07 p.m., WNKT signed back on from Columbia as "107-5 The Game" adopting a sports talk format. The move included a power reduction from 100,000 watts to 40,000. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. As part of the deal, WNKT became the flagship station of the South Carolina Gamecocks.

In 2013, WNKT switched from Fox Sports Radio to CBS Sports Radio.

References

External links

WNKT's official website
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NKT
Cumulus Media radio stations
Radio stations established in 1971
CBS Sports Radio stations