WZNF (95.3 FM, "95-3 Gorilla") 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 Lumberton, Mississippi and serving the

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

– Gulfport area. The station airs a top 40 (CHR)

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, ...

and is owned by Lisa Stiglets and Elizabeth McQueen, through licensee JLE, Incorporated. WZNF is a Top 40 station. WZNF has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, the highest permitted for non- grandfathered FM stations. WZNF's upgraded tower and high power can reach east to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, west to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and north to

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...

. 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 ...

tower is shared with

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 ...

"Kicker 108"

WZKX WZKX (107.9 FM, "Kicker 108") is a commercial radio station licensed to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and serving the Gulfport–Biloxi-Pascagoula radio market. Due to its 100,000 watt power, the station is also heard and ranks all throughout th ...

, located off City Bridge Road in

McHenry, Mississippi McHenry, is an unincorporated community in southern Stone County, Mississippi. It is situated approximately south of Wiggins and north of Saucier. The community is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area. History The town of McHenr ...

. As of December 2024, WZNF Downgraded it’s signal from 100,000 watts to 40,000 watts.

History

WLUN

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for a new FM radio station was issued by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) for 95.3 MHz in Lumberton, Mississippi, in 1983. In those days, the 95.3 spot on the dial was reserved for Class A regional stations, with a maximum power of 3,000 watts. In 1986, the station first

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 ...

as WLUN.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1989 page B-167
/ref> It was owned by the Stone-Lamar Broadcasting Services Corporation. WLUN's power of 3,000 watts was only a fraction of its current output. It had a limited coverage area, and was not audible in Gulfport or Biloxi.

Live 95/Power 95-3

On September 1, 1997, the station got FCC permission to greatly boost its power and

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT) to expand its coverage area to the Gulf Coast. The station increased its output to 100,000 watts and started broadcasting from a new

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, covering most of Southern Mississippi, including the Gulf Coast and parts of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. It became

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

-leaning

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 ...

outlet WLNF – "Live 95.3". The station achieved moderate success with the format and featured ''The Big Show'' with Scott Sands, Darren Kies and Virginia McGrane in mornings. On March 19, 1999, WLNF dropped the AC format for a Top 40 (CHR) sound as "Power 95-3". The station was meant to pay homage to the old Power 108

, and featured Crash Davis in mornings and market vet Patty Steele as Program Director and midday host. Later, the station added the syndicated '' Bob and Sheri Show'' for morning

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 ...

Z95.3

With heated competition against WXYK (105.9 The Monkey), Power 95-3 had trouble catching on with Gulf Coast listeners. On March 15, 2002, the station changed formats to

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

as ''Z95.3''. The

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 ...

switched to WZNF. The station immediately saw success with the format and was consistently #1 in morning ratings with the syndicated ''Walton & Johnson'' program. Other personalities on the station included Patty Steele in middays, Scott Bond doing afternoons and market vet Dr. Bob McCall on nights. The station saw a ratings decline after Walton & Johnson were replaced with ''

John Boy and Billy John Isley (born August 15, 1956) and Billy James (born August 31, 1957), known as John Boy & Billy, are American radio personality, radio hosts based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their comedic morning program ''The John Boy & Billy Big Show'' b ...

'', syndicated from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

95-3 Gorilla

On April 1, 2014, after struggling in the ratings for a few years, Z95.3 changed formats back to CHR/Top 40 as ''95-3 Gorilla'', once again going up against WXYK 105.9 (then 107.1) The Monkey. 95.3 Gorilla launched with 10,000 songs commercial-free. The staff included Bo "Wildman" Walker in mornings, Kendall Taylor afternoons and Dakota Mendenhall at night.

References

External links

* {{coord, 30.752, N, 89.057, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title ZNF Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Mississippi