WIVK-FM

WIVK-FM is an FM radio station broadcasting at 107.7 MHz near Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts in HD radio.

WIVK-FM
CityKnoxville, Tennessee
Broadcast areaEast Tennessee
Branding107.7 WIVK
SloganToday's Best Country
Frequency107.7 MHz (HD Radio)
First air dateDecember 16, 1965
FormatCountry
Full-service
ERP91,000 watts
HAAT626 meters
ClassC
Facility ID16890
Transmitter coordinates35°48′41.00″N 83°40′10.00″W
Call sign meaningformer sister station of WIVK/850 (We're the Independent Voice of Knoxville)
AffiliationsUniversity of Tennessee
OwnerCumulus Media
(Radio License Holding CBC, LLC)
Sister stationsWNML, WNML-FM, WOKI
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.wivk.com

WIVK is a Federal Communications Commission-Licensed Class C FM radio station serving the valleys and mountains of East Tennessee. WIVK provides country music, news, and University of Tennessee sports from its Sequoyah Hills studios in west Knoxville.

WIVK operates a 91,000-watt transmitter located at Greentop Knob on Chilhowee Mountain near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The signal can be received in East Tennessee and parts of southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina, southeastern Kentucky, northern Georgia, and northwest South Carolina.

WIVK is deeply rooted in regional heritage. Commonly known as "WIVK {weh-vik} The Frog Station," WIVK has received numerous Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Associated Press, NAB Marconi and RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards and is the number-one rated station by Arbitron in the Knoxville Media Market.[1]

History

WIVK-FM signed on the air on December 16, 1965 as a simulcast of WIVK/850's country music format. For several years the station aired a morning show hosted by Claude "The Cat" Tomlinson.

WIVK-FM lost the simulcast when the AM station switched to an adult contemporary format, becoming WHIG. Many of the people were not happy, so the adult contemporary format on WHIG was short-lived. The WIVK simulcast on 107.7 returned.

On September 1, 1988, WIVK 850's signal was donated to the University of Tennessee and became a news/talk station as WUTK. WIVK moved to 990 on the same day and the simulcast continued.

The AM 990/FM 107.7 simulcast lasted almost 9 years when AM 990 went to a news/talk format as "NewsTalk 990 WNOX" and later "NewsTalk 99". Today AM 990 is the Sports Animal which covers University of Tennessee athletics as well as sports across the nation. WIVK-FM 107.7 continues the country music format since they signed on back in 1965.

WIVK has been the number one station in Arbitron's radio ratings for the Knoxville market in every single survey since the market was first surveyed in 1970, with the exception of the April/May 1971 survey period, in which WNOX/990, at the time a Top 40 station, was number one.

References
  1. http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DetailsPage.aspx?MID=131&RY=2008&RQ=4&MP=0&OTHER=2&MN=Knoxville&MS=TN&MR=71&12P=669900&UP=1/26/2009%2012:00:00%20AM&SU=CM&BPER=5.7&HPER=1.6&OPER=&NSD=5/4/2009%2012:00:00%20AM&CE=0, Retrieved on 2009/02/14

Further reading
  • Ed Hooper (2008), Knoxville's WIVK, Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-6703-5, ISBN 978-0-7385-6703-7
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