Frequency | 96.1 MHz |
---|---|
Branding | 96.1/107.1 WLNT |
Programming | |
Format | Country music |
Ownership | |
Owner | Community Radio of Loudon County, Inc. |
History | |
First air date | August 2002 |
Technical information [1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 133392 |
ERP | 25 watts |
HAAT | 60 m (200 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°44′11″N84°21′21″W / 35.73639°N 84.35583°W |
Repeater(s) | 107.1 WLNU-LP (Lenoir City) [note 1] |
Links | |
Public license information | LMS |
Website | wlntfm redskinradio |
WLNT-LP (96.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting from Loudon, Tennessee. It airs a format of modern and traditional country music. Licensed to Community Radio of Loudon County Inc., it serves Loudon County, Tennessee (including the cities of Loudon, Philadelphia and Lenoir City). The station is also audible in Roane, Monroe, Knox and Blount Counties. The station first began broadcasting in August 2002 and was originally owned by the Corporation For Radio Education, Inc.
WLNT was founded by Richard "Chip" Lynn, a lifelong resident of Loudon County. Lynn began his radio career at WLOD (AM) 1140 kHz in Loudon in the spring of 1985. From 1987 to 1995, he worked for the father-son team of James C. and Randall W. Sliger (and family) in Athens, Tennessee. Primarily on-air at WJSQ and WLAR, Lynn also helped with the construction of Sliger-owned station WYGO (99.5 FM), the purchase and reformatting of WCLE (AM) 1570 in Cleveland and the construction of its Calhoun, Tennessee counterpart WCLE-FM 104.1.
From 1995 to 2003, Lynn worked in management at the network-operations department for Scripps-Howard Broadcasting at its Knoxville-based Home & Garden Television Network. He assisted the network when its programming temporarily originated from Atlanta, also creating backup facilities in Nashville. Lynn also assisted in moving and integrating the Food Network from New York to Knoxville, and with construction of the DIY and Fine Living Networks.
While WLNT was operating, Lynn became frustrated with the corporate world; he left Scripps in July 2003 to pursue a career in local radio, devoting nearly 20 hours per day to the station.[ citation needed ] Lynn was aided in WLNT's construction, operation and upgrades by Jim McGhee, another Loudon County resident who had recently retired as engineer and program director at WBIR-TV (channel 10) in Knoxville. McGhee retired from WLNT and the broadcast industry in 2005. The call letters WLNT had previously been used by WLOD (1140 AM) in Loudon, which had signed on 1982 used the call letters WLNT until it was sold in 1985 by original owners Jim McGhee and Howard Oberholtzer. As of 2011, in retirement McGhee continued to support WLNT's projects. McGhee split his time between Tennessee and Florida until his death in April 2013. The J. W. McGhee Foundation for Broadcast Arts owns WLNU-LP (107.1 FM), which broadcasts some programming from WLNT, in addition to its own offerings.
In fall 2003, WLNT began broadcasting Loudon Redskins football games with Kent Everett, Eric Mitchell and David "Top" Dukes. That year, two other stations (WDEH and WLIL) also carried Redskins games. In 2004, WLNT continued broadcasting Redskins football; WLIL no longer covered the games, since its sportscaster Russell Mayes left for a career in education. Mayes is (as of 2011) media instructor at Fulton High School in Knoxville, and operates WKCS FM (91.1) for the Knox County Schools. In 2005, WLNT was the only station to broadcast the Redskins and began using the slogan "There's only one place to hear the Redskins". The station also began covering Loudon Redskins basketball and baseball in 2003. Currently Mike Thompson & Scott Hope handle sportscasting duties for both LHS Football and Baseball.
WLNT has had the same call letters and format since its inception in August 2002, first broadcasting from a transmitter on Prospect Church Road. In December 2002, the station petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to relocate its transmitter about 3,500 feet (1,100 m) east-northeast to a site on Matlock Ridge in Loudon. This move increased WLNT's coverage, since the Matlock Ridge site is line-of-sight to a large part of the area's population.
In July 2008 a microburst struck WLNT's transmitter site, destroying the transmitter building and all equipment inside except for the transmitter, FM antenna and studio-transmitter-link. The station temporarily operated from a portable building until a new structure could be built. Because WLNT had a redundant equipment on hand the downtime was less than 12 hours. Don Burrgraff, former transmitter and studio engineer at WBIR-TV (channel 10) in Knoxville, helps WLNT with transmitter and RF issues. Burgraff is also Technical Director and board member for the Cumberland Communities Communications Corporation and its non-commercial station WDVX in Clinton and is a contract engineer for several radio stations and translators in eastern Tennessee. The station later moved its antenna to a leased space.
WLNT's web presence is one of several stations hosted at REDSKINRADIO.com. Syndicated programming on the station includes The John and Heidi Show weekday mornings, The Country Oldies Show with Steve Warren, WLNT broadcasts sports from Loudon High School including football, basketball and baseball. Mike Thompson & Scott Hope broadcast football & baseball. Wiley Brakebill & Chip Lynn produce basketball programming for the station. WLNT broadcasts national newscasts from ABC Audio. Religious programs from local churches are broadcast Sundays. Middays and afternoons are hosted by Terry Dean and Chris Russell respectively from Salamanca, New York and the studios of WGWE.
In May 2010, at Loudon High School's graduation ceremony, Chip Lynn was awarded the 2009-2010 Alumnus of the Year Award for his continuing support of Loudon High School and the Redskins.
In March 2013 WLNT moved out of its downtown Loudon studio after purchasing a location with more space.
In November 2017, Randy Davis, former broadcast partner of Dewayne Arp on early Redskin Basketball broadcasts died.
Mike Stephens provides morning and afternoon local newscasts on the station.
On January 11, 2021 Ronnie Roberts, who had served as announcer for Loudon Basketball & Baseball in previous years and had served as guest announcer for many years, died after complications from heart surgery. WLNT & RedskinRadio.com broadcast the memorial services live. [2]
WATE-TV is a television station in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located in the Greystone mansion on North Broadway/SR 33/SR 71/US 441, and its transmitter is located on Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville.
WBIR-TV is a television station in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Bill Williams Avenue in Knoxville's Belle Morris section, and its transmitter is located on Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville.
WOKI is a commercial radio station licensed to Oliver Springs, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it broadcasts a news/talk format. The studios and offices are on Old Kingston Pike in the Sequoyah Hills section of West Knoxville.
WBXX-TV is a television station licensed to Crossville, Tennessee, United States, serving the Knoxville area as an affiliate of The CW and Telemundo. It is owned by Gray Television alongside dual CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate WVLT-TV. The two stations share studios on Papermill Drive on the west side of Knoxville; WBXX-TV's transmitter is located at Windrock, Buffalo Mountain outside Oliver Springs, Tennessee.
WJHL-TV is a television station licensed to Johnson City, Tennessee, United States, serving the Tri-Cities area as an affiliate of CBS and ABC. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on East Main Street in downtown Johnson City; its transmitter is located on Holston Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest.
WGFX is a commercial radio station licensed to Gallatin, Tennessee, and serving the Nashville metropolitan area. It is branded as 104.5 The Zone, broadcasting a sports radio format. It is owned by Cumulus Media, with studios in Nashville's Music Row district. Most of its daytime schedule has local hosts, with programming from Fox Sports Radio heard nights and weekends.
WUOT is a non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is owned by the University of Tennessee, and it airs a mix of news, classical music and jazz. It is a charter member of National Public Radio (NPR). The studios and offices are on Circle Park Drive in Knoxville.
Sharp's Ridge is a steep ridge in Knoxville, Tennessee, north of the city's downtown. A 111-acre (45 ha) area of the 7-mile (11 km) ridge is maintained as Sharp's Ridge Memorial Park, a city park dedicated to the honor of the area's war veterans. The ridge also is the site of a transmitting antenna farm that serves most of Knoxville's broadcasters. The highest ground point on the ridge is an abandoned fire tower located at 1,391 feet (424 m) above mean sea level. The ridge itself averages 200 to 300 feet above the surrounding valley floor, allowing panoramic views of the Great Smoky Mountains and adjacent ranges to the east and the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains to the west.
WCYQ is a commercial radio station licensed to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area and East Tennessee. The station is owned by SummitMedia and broadcasts a country music radio format, calling itself 100.3 The Wolf, its studios and offices are on Amherst Road in Knoxville.
WNML is a commercial AM radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it simulcasts a sports radio format with co-owned 99.1 WNML-FM Friendsville. The studios and offices are on Old Kingston Pike in the Sequoyah Hills section of West Knoxville.
WIMZ-FM is a commercial radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee, serving East Tennessee. It is owned by Midwest Communications and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. The studios and offices are on Sharps Ridge Memorial Park Drive in Knoxville.
WMSR is an American broadcast AM radio station licensed to serve the community of Manchester, Tennessee. The station's broadcast license is held by Coffee County Broadcasting, Inc. WMSR programming is also broadcast on 106.7 FM via broadcast translator W294CV and on 107.9 FM via W300BL.
WNML-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Friendsville, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. It simulcasts a sports radio format with sister station WNML 990 AM and is owned by Cumulus Media. The studios and offices are on Old Kingston Pike in the Sequoyah Hills section of West Knoxville.
WKZX-FM (93.5 FM is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Lenoir City, Tennessee, it serves the Knoxville, Tennessee, area.
WCLE-FM is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary music format. Licensed to Calhoun, Tennessee, the station is currently owned by Hartline, LLC and features programming from Fox News Radio, Vol Network, Titans Radio Network, and Motor Racing Network.
WIFA is a commercial radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee. It airs a mix of Christian Contemporary music and Christian talk and teaching shows. It is owned by Progressive Media, Inc.
WKCS is a student-operated high school radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee, broadcasting an oldies and classic hits radio format.
WLOD, a radio station broadcasting from Loudon, Tennessee, just southwest of Knoxville, was formerly owned by Blount Broadcasting Corporation. On October 14, 2021, at 15:30, it began operating under a local marketing agreement with Radio Loudon LLC. Radio Loudon LLC then became the licensee on March 22, 2022. At midnight, WLOD began airing Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel on April 1, 2022.
WETP-TV and WKOP-TV, together branded as East Tennessee PBS, are public television stations serving Knoxville and the Tri-Cities in East Tennessee, United States. The stations are owned by the East Tennessee Public Communications Corporation and broadcast from studios and offices on East Magnolia Avenue in downtown Knoxville. WETP-TV, licensed to Sneedville, Tennessee, is broadcast from a transmitter atop Short Mountain near Mooresburg, while WKOP-TV's transmitter is situated on Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville.
The Vol Network is the radio and television network of the University of Tennessee Volunteers women's and men's sports teams known as the Vols and Lady Vols. Established in 1949 and since 2019, it has been operated by Learfield IMG College.