WPWT

Last updated
WPWT
WPWT 96.3ThePossum logo.png
City Colonial Heights, Tennessee
Broadcast area Tri-Cities, VA/TN
Branding96.3 The Possum
Slogan Your Tri-Cities' Home For Timeless Country
Frequency 870 kHz
Translator(s) 96.3 MHz - (W242CQ, Colonial Heights)
100.7 MHz - (W264BY, Kingsport)
First air date1984
Format Classic country
Power 10,000 watts daytime only
Class D
Facility ID 42652
Call sign meaning WPoWer Talk (former format)
OwnerKenneth Clyde Hill
Sister stations WABN, WHCB, WHGG
Webcast Listen Live
Website 963thepossum.com

WPWT (870 AM) is a classic country music formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Colonial Heights, Tennessee, serving the Tri-Cities, VA/TN area. WPWT is owned and operated by Kenneth Clyde Hill.

Contents

History

This station signed on the air in 1984. Prior to its sign-on, it had been assigned the call letters WIKV by the FCC. Since these calls were deemed by constructing supervisor Dave Murray (husband of Martha Murray, the original licensee) to be too close to the calls of a prominent FM in the market, WIKQ, the calls were changed, to WPRQ. All this transpired before the station ever officially hit the air.

The original power was 5,000 watts. This was increased later to 10,000 watts. The signal, which shares the clear channel of 870 kHz with Class-A 50,000-watt WWL in New Orleans, was licensed as daytime-only, which it remains today.

The original format was contemporary Christian hit music. Other formats have followed, including news/talk and religious talk. In the late 1980s/early 1990s, the station was dark (silent) for a time, but was sold and returned to the air. Its current owner, Kenneth Clyde Hill, owns other stations as well.

The transmitter was originally a single tower near Warrior's Path State Park in Colonial Heights, Tennessee, which is south of Kingsport, Tennessee. It remains there today.

The original studio was in a residence, in Colonial Heights, Tennessee, which was owned by Dave and Martha Murray.

In November 2017, WPWT rebranded as "96.3 The Possum" (simulcasting on FM translators W242CQ 96.3 Colonial Heights and W264BY 100.7 Kingsport). [1]

Management

Dr. Kenneth C. Hill is the owner of WPWT and sister stations WHCB and WHGG.

WPWT TopGun870-100.7 logo.png

Related Research Articles

WXJX is an American radio station serving the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. The station is owned by Laurel Highland Total Communications, Inc., through licensee LHTC Media, Inc., also licensee of WCNS radio in Latrobe.

WUFT-FM

WUFT-FM is an NPR member radio station owned by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, broadcasting news and public media programming from NPR along with other distributors including PRI, APM, PRX and WNYC Studios.

WCJK Radio station in Murfreesboro–Nashville, Tennessee

WCJK is an FM radio station broadcasting to the Nashville, Tennessee market on a frequency of 96.3 MHz. WCJK-FM is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with a power of 39,000 watts to serve the community of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The station's studios are located in south central Nashville near the Tennessee State Fairgrounds arena and the transmitter site is in north Nashville.

WFLF (AM) news/talk radio station in Pine Hills, Florida, United States

WFLF is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Pine Hills, Florida and serving Greater Orlando. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs a Talk Radio format. The programming is simulcast on FM translator stations W226BT 93.1 MHz and W231CT 94.1 MHz in Orlando. The studios and offices are in the iHeart Orlando complex in Maitland. The transmitter is off Tower Pine Drive in Winter Garden. The station broadcasts using a directional antenna at all times, with the signal extending to the east to avoid interfering with Class A stations in Canada and Mexico. The power is 50,000 watts by day and 46,000 watts at night. WFLF is Central Florida's Primary Entry Point station in the Emergency Alert System.

WYCZ is a 1,000-watt class B AM radio station licensed to serve the community of White Bluff, Tennessee on a frequency of 1030 kHz. The station reduces power to 250 watts during nighttime operations. Its programming is simulcast on the FM band on the translator station 96.7 W244EK.

WAEZ contemporary hit radio station in Greeneville, Tennessee, United States

WAEZ is a Mainstream Top 40 radio station serving the Tri-Cities TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area with an ERP of 100,000 watts. It is licensed to Greeneville, Tennessee. The station started out as a Top 40 station until 2004, when the station went with a Hot AC format, but due to lower ratings, the station went back to the Top 40 format in early 2006. WAEZ is owned by Bristol Broadcasting Company, along with "twin stations" WVSR-FM in Charleston, West Virginia, and WDDJ-FM in Paducah, Kentucky. The station targets active young adult females ages 18 to 34, according to Bristol Broadcasting.

WQUT

WQUT is a radio station in Tri-Cities, Tennessee. The station format is classic rock and is branded as "Tri-Cities Classic Rock 101.5 WQUT." As of the Fall 2008 Arbitron ratings book, WQUT is the third highest rated station in the Tri-Cities market behind country music station WXBQ-FM and adult contemporary WTFM-FM. Since the early 1990s, WQUT and WTFM have fought for the number two spot in the market, with WXBQ rated the overall number one station since 1993.

WENK is an AM radio station based in northwest Tennessee. In its first incarnation, WENK-AM 1240 went on the air with 250 watts day and night from the upstairs of a furniture store on October 26, 1946. WTPR-AM 710 went on the air with 250 watts daytime from the second floor of a building on the square in downtown Paris in 1947. Both were owned by the Dixie Network of Jackson, Tennessee. and had at the time a variety format.

WCSK is a non-commercial, educational FM radio station in Kingsport, Tennessee, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to the Kingsport Board of Education.

WHGG is a Contemporary Christian formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Kingsport, Tennessee, serving the Tri-Cities, VA/TN area.

WGOC is an AM radio station broadcasting in Kingsport, Tennessee, under a Business Radio format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1320 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media.

WJCW

WJCW is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to Johnson City and serving the Tri-Cities, Tennessee radio market. It is owned by Cumulus Broadcasting and airs a talk radio format.

WUFL

WUFL is a non-commercial Christian AM radio station in Sterling Heights, Michigan, operating on 1030 kHz. The station broadcasts with 5,000 watts, daytime only, with coverage of the Detroit, Michigan metropolitan area. WUFL is a Class D station operating on the clear-channel frequency of 1030 AM; WBZ in Boston, Massachusetts is the dominant Class A station on this frequency.

WYSE is a radio station located in Canton, North Carolina, that simulcasts WISE's sports talk format from Asheville, North Carolina. Owned by Saga Communications, the station is licensed by the FCC to broadcast with 5000 Watts of power during the day and 30 Watts at night.

WKOS

WKOS, branded as "104.9 Nash Icon", is a radio station serving the Tri-Cities, Tennessee, area with country music. This station is under ownership of Cumulus Media.

WXSM

WXSM is a radio station serving the Tri-Cities, Tennessee vicinity with a sports format as a CBS Sports Radio affiliate. It broadcasts on AM frequency 640 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. WXSM also broadcasts Tennessee Titans NFL games, plus ETSU Buccaneer and Dobyns-Bennett High School games.

KYAL is a Sports radio formatted radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and licensed to serve Sapulpa, Oklahoma. The station is owned by Michael Perry Stephens. Its studios are located at the CityPlex Towers in South Tulsa.

WMSR (AM)

WMSR is an American broadcast 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.

WTNI sports radio station in Biloxi, Mississippi, United States

WTNI is a radio station licensed to Biloxi, Mississippi, which broadcasts a Classic Country format with 10,000 watts daytime and 1,000 watts at night. The station is one of only six broadcasting stations in the United States licensed for 1640 kHz.

WBEJ is a radio station licensed to Elizabethton, Tennessee, United States, the station serves the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol area. The station is currently owned by Cb Radio.

References

Coordinates: 36°27′40″N82°27′12″W / 36.46111°N 82.45333°W / 36.46111; -82.45333