WNFZ (94.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

licensed to Powell, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. WNFZ is owned by

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications, Inc. is a Wausau, Wisconsin–based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Il ...

. It airs an adult hits

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 broadcasting, ...

, subscribing to the nationally syndicated '' JACK-FM'' service. It uses the slogan "Playing What We Want!" The General Manager is Randy Ross. The

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices are on Sharps Ridge Memorial Park Drive in Knoxville. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is on the west side of Knoxville, off Sands Road.

History

Rock WATO-FM

In February 1967, the station signed on as WATO-FM. The station's

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

was originally

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

. At first, it

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

co-owned AM 1290 WATO (now off the air). By the late 1960s, WATO-FM began carrying a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

format.

Easy Listening, Oldies, Country and Alternative

94.3 later changed to an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

format as WUUU. The slogan was "The Station For You". It was off the air for a short time until January 18, 1982 when it switched its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

to WETQ. It carried a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format known as "Q-94FM". On March 25, 1985, the station changed to WKNF-FM and became "Magic 94," flipping to an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

sound. In April 1993, it became a classic country station as "K-94". In September 1993, the station shifted to CHR/Top 40 and changed the on-air position to "94Z". On July 1, 1994, WKNF-FM switched to WNFZ to reflect on-air branding of 94Z and became an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

station. Then in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, WNFZ refocused, becoming an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

outlet. Between 1994 and 2013 the station was branded variously "94Z", "The Planet", "94.3 Extreme Radio" and "94-3 The X."

Switch to Talk, Then Jack-FM

WNFZ simulcast former sister station 95.7 WVRX until October 31, 2013. At that point, The X alternative rock format moved to 95.7. At Midnight on November 1, WNFZ flipped to a Talk format, formerly broadcast on WNOX-FM. The ownership switched to Oak Ridge FM, Inc. under the branding, "KnoxTalkRadio 94.3 WNFZ". At noon on October 21, 2015, WNFZ returned to

as "94Z". On March 21, 2019, WNFZ was sold to

and changed its format from alternative rock to adult hits, branded as "94.3 Jack FM".WNFZ Sold to Midwest; Flips to Jack FM
Radio Insight - March 21, 2019 It began carrying the JACK-FM format, similar to co-owned

WCJK WCJK (96.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Murfreesboro, Tennessee and serving the Nashville metropolitan area. It airs an adult hits radio format and is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc. It subscribes to the nationally ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, one of that market's highest rated stations. The sale closed on June 4, 2019, at a price of $2 million.

References

External links

* {{Midwest Communications Jack FM stations NFZ Adult hits radio stations in the United States Midwest Communications radio stations