WKZV (102.1

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 non-commercial

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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 A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Tybee Island, Georgia Tybee Island ( ) is a city and a barrier island in Chatham County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) east of Savannah. The name is used for both the city and the island, but geographically the two are not identical: only part of the island's terri ...

. The station is owned by the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...

, and serves the

Savannah metropolitan area The Savannah metropolitan area, officially named the Savannah metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is centered on the city of Savannah a ...

. Its

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 located west of the city in unincorporated Chatham County.

History

On October 20, 1971, WZAT

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

. It was a completely

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

CHR CHR or chr may refer to: Organisations * Canadians for Health Research, a national not-for-profit organisation * Centre for Human Rights, an organisation promoting human rights in Africa * Christ Church Secondary School, a government-aided school ...

station except for the locally popular "Breakfast With Burl" program, which was live. Airstaff was gradually added the rest of the day. Between a strong AM station,

AM 1400 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1400 kHz. 1400 kHz is defined as a Class C (local) frequency in the coterminous United States and such stations on this frequency are limited to 1,000 watts. U.S. stations outside ...

WSGA, and a slightly lighter top 40 station, FM 95.5 WSGF, a real format war ensued. By 1986, 95SGF had become AOR/ CR outlet WIXV, and in 1982, AM 1400 moved out of the format as younger listeners preferred FM radio. In the 1980s to early-1990s, "Z102" was the dominant (and often only) Top 40 station in Savannah. Stations like 99.7 WHTK, Kiss 98.7, Wave 97, and Blu 92 all tried and (mostly) failed in taking on the popular Z102. In August 1993, the station was sold and flipped to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

as "WZAT (or later, Z102) - Savannah's Rock and Roll Radio." Phoenix Media Partners sold the station to Cumulus in 1997. Upon the sale to Cumulus, the station repositioned as Top 40. The station has since been Top 40 and Top 40/Hot AC hybrid twice since then. It flipped to Hot AC on March 11, 2008. The next day, the station revealed its new name and positioner, which was "Mix 102-1 - The Best Mix of Music." On October 1, 2010 WZAT began stunting with sports highlights in preparation of a new format. On October 4, 2010, 102.1 became a

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

station carrying

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

. On January 2, 2013, 102.1 switched to

CBS Sports Radio Infinity Sports Network is an American sports radio network. It debuted as CBS Sports Radio with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. Infinity Sports Network is programmed by Audacy, Inc ...

, since Cumulus owns an interest in the network. On August 15, 2014, WZAT flipped to 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 branded as ''Nash Icon 102.1''. As part of the company's

Nash FM Nash is a media brand owned by Cumulus Media. It covers country music-related properties owned by Cumulus, including radio stations, digital properties and publications ('' Nash Country Daily''), Nash TV (a video on-demand service operated in pa ...

brand, the Nash Icon format is designed to be a slightly older country sound, with an emphasis on music by veteran country acts alongside newer hit songs. WZAT was, along with co-owned

W255CJ WWWQ (99.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia, United States, carrying a contemporary hit radio format known as "Q99.7". Owned by Cumulus Media, WWWQ serves the Atlanta metropolitan area as the regional affiliate fo ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, one of the first two stations to adopt the format. On March 24, 2017, after stunting with songs with the word "sound" in their names, WZAT returned to Hot AC as "102.1 The Sound". Positioning itself between

WAEV WAEV (97.3 FM, "97.3 Kiss FM") is a commercial radio station in Savannah, Georgia. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a Top 40 - CHR format. It carries two nationally syndicated programs on weekdays: ''The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show'' in ...

and

WYKZ WYKZ (98.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Beaufort, South Carolina, serving Hilton Head and the Savannah metropolitan area. It airs an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and Decemb ...

, the move brings the frequency close to its longtime heritage as Z102. The syndicated "Bert Show" was added for morning & "The Adam Bomb Show" for afternoons

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

. On February 13, 2019, Cumulus Media announced it would sell six stations, including WZAT, to the Educational Media Foundation for $103.5 million. Following the consummation of the sale on May 31, 2019, the station flipped to their

K-Love K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music. As of June 2019, the network's progr ...

network. With the change, WZAT changed its call letters to WKZV on June 5, 2019.

Former logo

References

External links

* {{coord, 32.058, N, 81.338, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title KZV (FM) Radio stations established in 1971 1971 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Educational Media Foundation radio stations K-Love radio stations KZV