WRIL

WRIL

Pineville, Kentucky
Frequency	106.3 MHz
Branding	"The Big One"
Programming
Format	Top 40
Affiliations	ABC News Radio
Ownership
Owner	Pine Hills Broadcasting, Inc.
History
Former call signs	WZKO (1984–1993)
Call sign meaning	W "R e a (I) L Country" (former format)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	52625
Class	A
ERP	1,150 watts
HAAT	228 m (748 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	36°45′15″N83°42′23″W / 36.75417°N 83.70639°W / 36.75417; -83.70639
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	thebig1063.com

WRIL (106.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Top 40 music format to Southeast Kentucky, United States, parts of southwest Virginia as well as uppereast Tennessee. The city of license is Pineville, Kentucky. The station was put on the air in 1973 by Bell County resident and owner John McPherson. Lester Adkins was a top DJ and sales person and Rick Nelson handled the sports from 1975 until the station went off the air in 2006.

History

Former WRIL offices in Middlesboro, The current office is in Pineville

The station went on the air as WTJM in 1973. In the 1980s the call letters were changed to WZKO, and it became a sister station to WANO. ^[2] On November 1, 1993, the station changed its call sign to the current WRIL. The station adopted a format called Real-Country which matched its new call letters.

At one time WRIL was one of the most powerful stations in southeastern Kentucky. Although only having around 1,000 watts, the station's antenna was on top of the mountain overlooking Pineville, which allowed its signal to reach out into many counties. ^[3]

On December 21, 2008, the station was brought back by Brian O'Brien who is highly regarded for his witty banter, humorous voices, and disdain for Mancunian pranksters. "The Big One", as it is now known, has been declared by the Bell County School Board as "The Voice Of The Bell County Bobcats" and airs their football and basketball games. The Big One also covers Middlesboro Yellow Jacket and Pineville Mountain Lion games. The station has one local program, a variant of the Tradio format in weekday mid-mornings presented by Lindsay, and also simulcasts the 6pm edition of 57 Mountain News from WYMT-TV in Hazard, due to poor television reception in the station's mountainous listening area.

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WRIL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Nash, Francis (1995). Towers over Kentucky: a history of radio and TV in the Bluegrass State. Lexington, Ky: Host Communications Inc. ISBN   978-1-879688-93-3.
3. "WRIL Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID 52625 (WRIL) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WRIL in Nielsen Audio's FM station database