WIVK-FM (107.7

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 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' ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The station is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

and broadcasts a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

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 ...

known as "WIVK The Frog Station." The studios and offices are on Old Kingston Pike in the Sequoyah Hills section of West Knoxville. On weekends, it carries the nationally syndicated ''

American Country Countdown ''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 40 country songs of the previous week, from No. 40 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay ch ...

with

Kix Brooks Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Co ...

,'' along with

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

Volunteers football games in the fall. WIVK is a Class C FM station with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 91,000

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, using HD Radio technology. 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 atop Greentop Knob on

Chilhowee Mountain Chilhowee Mountain is the name of two non-contiguous low ridges in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The northern section is at the outer edge of the Great Smoky Mountains, stretching between the Little Tennessee River and Chilhowee Dam to the west, a ...

near

Pigeon Forge Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Pa ...

. The signal can be received around East Tennessee and parts of

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virg ...

Western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United ...

, Southeastern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, Northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and Northwest

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

History

WIVK-FM signed on the air on . It was a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

of the country format on co-owned WIVK

850 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 850 kHz: 850 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. KOA and KICY share Class A status of 850 kHz. In Argentina * La Gauchita in Morón, Buenos Aires In Mexico * ...

. Because the AM station is a

daytimer 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-co ...

, its format could continue on 107.7 FM after sunset. For several decades, the two stations aired a morning show hosted by Claude "The Cat" Tomlinson. He also served as the program director and promotions director. The simulcast briefly ended when the AM station switched to a full service,

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format, becoming WHIG. Many listeners were not happy, so the adult contemporary format on WHIG was short-lived. The WIVK simulcast on 107.7 FM and 850 AM returned. On September 1, 1988, WIVK 850 AM signal was donated to the

and became a news/talk station as WUTK. WIVK moved its AM simulcast to another station at 990 kHz on the same day and the simulcast continued. For most of the 1980s and 1990s, WIVK-AM-FM were owned by Dick Broadcasting, with James A. Dick as the chairman. The stations were acquired by

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. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

in the early 2000s. In 2011, Citadel was merged into Cumulus Media. The AM 990/FM 107.7 simulcast lasted almost nine years. In 1997, AM 990 switched to a talk format as "NewsTalk 990

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 o ...

" and later "NewsTalk 99". Today AM 990 is "The Sports Animal" which covers University of Tennessee athletics as well as national pro and college sports. WIVK-FM is consistently one of the Knoxville

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

's top stations, usually ranked #1 or #2 in the Nielsen ratings.StationRatings.com "Knoxville" Retrieved 10/19/22
/ref> It has received numerous Country Music Association,

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

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. ne ...

, NAB Marconi and RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards.

References

External links

WIVK website
* {{Authority control Country radio stations in the United States IVK-FM Cumulus Media radio stations 1965 establishments in Tennessee Radio stations established in 1965

History

References

Further reading

External links