WVLZ (850 AM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station licensed to

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The Great Indian Warpath (which was used to build the route U.S. Route 411, US-411) was long ...

, and serving the

Knoxville metropolitan area The Knoxville metropolitan area, commonly known as Greater Knoxville, is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) centered on Knoxville, Tennessee, the third largest city in Tennessee and the largest city in East Tennessee. It is the third larges ...

. It is owned by Loud Media. By day, WVLZ is powered at 1,000 watts non-directional. Because

850 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 850 kHz: 850 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. KOA and KICY share Class A status of 850 kHz. In Argentina * La Gauchita in Morón, Buenos Aires In Mexico * ...

is a United States

clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...

frequency, WVLZ is a

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

station, and must leave the air from sunset to sunrise to avoid interference with the

skywave In radio communication, skywave or skip refers to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back toward Earth from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere. Since it is not limited by the curvatur ...

signal of the Class A station on

KOA KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. WVLZ programming is also heard around the clock on

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

W229DO at 93.7

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 ...

in Maryville.

History

WKVL, WIVK and WUTK (1953–2013)

The station

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 ...

the air on March 23, 1953, as WKVL, which stood for its

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 ...

, Knoxville. Over time, it was allowed to boost its power to the maximum for commercial AM stations, 50,000 watts. Because it shared its frequency with KOA in Denver, a Class A station, WKVL could not broadcast after sunset. In the 1970s, it played

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 ...

as WIVK, simulcasting co-owned WIVK-FM. In the mid-1980s, 850 AM was

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

WHIG but later returned to the WIVK simulcast. For a time, it had a

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

news and information format as WUTK, owned by the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. It was a member station of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. On July 2, 2010, the classic country music returned to 850 AM. The station targeted country hits from the 1950s through the 1980s. The local lineup included Bob Lewellyn, Eddie Beacon, Tee Blackman and newcomer Tim Byrd.

Blount Media’s ownership (2013–2022)

In May 2013, Blount Broadcasting Corporation, owner of WKVL and WLOD, entered into a time brokerage agreement. The deal was made with Oak Ridge FM. The station's Talk format moved from

WNOX WNOX (93.1 FM, "Classic Rock 93.1") is a commercial radio station licensed to the suburb of Karns, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. The station is owned by SummitMedia and airs a classic rock format. WNOX's studios ...

, which the company had recently sold. WKVL for a time simulcast with WLOD. On March 31, 2014, WKVL changed formats to classic country. On December 15, 2014, WKVL went silent. On December 14, 2015, WKVL returned to the air with classic country. On June 1, 2018, WKVL changed formats from classic country to

sports radio 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 ...

, branded as "Rocky Top Sports". Effective December 11, 2018, WKVL was given permission to moved its

from Knoxville to Maryville. That was combined with a reduction in power from 50,000 watts to 1,000 watts.

Loud Media (2022–present)

On April 15, 2022, the Blount Broadcasting Corporation announced it had come to an agreement to sell WKVL, its

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WGAP, and two

s to Loud Media. The sale, at a price of $175,000, was consummated on August 17, 2022. On August 21, 2022, at midnight, WKVL changed formats from sports to variety hits, branded as "Random Music Radio". The first song on “Random Music Radio” was “Mr. Jones” by Counting Crows. On November 24, 2022, WKVL flipped to a simulcast of sister station WPLA 104.9 FM, airing its classic hits music. On September 20, 2023, WKVL dropped its simulcast with WPLA and began stunting and applied for a new WSMM call sign; the call sign was changed on September 22. It later returned to variety hits with "Random Music Radio" branding. In December, the station began simulcasting on new translator W229DO (93.7 FM), and also began stunting with

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

as "Santa 93.7". On October 21, 2024, WSMM ended Christmas music stunting and launched an active rock format, branded as "93.7 WVLZ", under new WVLZ call letters. The active rock format and WVLZ call sign moved from 106.1 FM.WVLZ on the Move
Radioinsight - October 21, 2024

References

External links

* * VLZ Radio stations established in 1953 1953 establishments in Tennessee VLZ Maryville, Tennessee Active rock radio stations in the United States {{Tennessee-radio-station-stub