 | |
| Broadcast area | East Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 103.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 103.5 WIMZ |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic rock |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks Premiere Networks United Stations Radio Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WJXB-FM,WDKW,WNFZ | |
| History | |
First air date | October 1949; 75 years ago (1949-10) (as WBIR-FM) |
Former call signs | WBIR-FM (1949–1980) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 61046 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 79,000watts |
| HAAT | 525 meters (1,722 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 36°8′6.00″N83°43′29.00″W / 36.1350000°N 83.7247222°W /36.1350000; -83.7247222 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live Listen Live on iHeart |
| Website | wimz.com |
WIMZ-FM (103.5MHz) is acommercialradio station inKnoxville, Tennessee, servingEast Tennessee. It is owned byMidwest Communications and broadcasts aclassic rockradio format. The studios and offices are on Sharps Ridge Memorial Park Drive in Knoxville.
Weekday mornings begin withThe John Boy and Billy Showsyndicated byPremiere Networks fromWRFXCharlotte. LocalDJs are heard the rest of the day. On weekends, WIMZ carriesThe House of Hair with Dee Snider andTime Warp with Bill St. James. The station is heard on theiHeartRadio website and app.
The WIMZtower is 534 meters (1,752 ft) tall. It is aguy-wired aerial mast, designed for broadcasting Channel 10WBIR-TV, originally theCBSNetwork affiliate for Knoxville (geographical coordinates:36°8′6″N83°43′29″W / 36.13500°N 83.72472°W /36.13500; -83.72472). The tower was completed during September 1963 and at the time was the tallest structure in the world.[2] It is currently owned bySouth Central Communications.
WIMZ has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 79,000watts, among the most powerful radio stations in East Tennessee. Its signal can be received in parts ofKentucky,Virginia,North Carolina,Georgia andSouth Carolina.
While the tower was on one of the tallest peaks in the area, WBIR-TV's signal was shielded by mountains from some communities west of Knoxville, includingFarragut,Oak Ridge, andLenoir City. To improve its signal in those towns, Channel 10 relocated toSharp's Ridge near downtown Knoxville during the 1970s, and the FM station remained on the original tower. To maintain coverage, WIMZ's antenna is located 525 meters (1,722 ft) inheight above average terrain (HAAT), about 9 meters (30 ft) below the top of the tower.
Before the tall WBIR-TV mast was built in 1963, the owner of the television station had planned the tower to be erected on nearbyHouse Mountain, the tallest point inKnox County, Tennessee. But WBIR's main competitorWATE-TV Channel 6 ended that idea by purchasing all the property on top of House Mountain, forcing the WBIR owners to build a taller tower on nearby Zachary Ridge at Blaine, Tennessee.
The station firstsigned on the air in October 1949; 75 years ago (1949-10). The originalcall sign wasWBIR-FM, mostlysimulcasting its AM counterpart, WBIR 1240 AM (nowWIFA).[3] The studios were on Gay Street in Knoxville. Television stationWBIR-TV Channel 10 was added in 1956. WBIR-AM-FM-TV were owned by a consortium headed by J. Lindsay Nunn and his son, Gilmore Nunn.
WBIR-AM-FM werenetwork affiliates ofABC, carrying its dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio." As network programming moved to television, WBIR-AM-FM switched to afull service,middle of the road format of popular adult music, news, talk and sports. In the late 1960s, WBIR-FM separated its programming from the AM station, airing anautomatedcountry music format.[4]
In 1979, the station flipped toalbum-oriented rock (AOR). The last song played on WBIR-FM's Country format was "Waltz Across Texas" byErnest Tubb. In the middle of the song, the turntable was switched off until the song spun to a stop. There was brief moment of silence and then a voice was broadcast that said, "WBIR FM, Rock 104.WeBelieveInRock." At that point,Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" began playing. Not long after, the call letters were changed to the currentWIMZ-FM, with the station calling itself "Rock 104."
At the start of 1983, WIMZ altered its format to add more currentnew wave andheavy metal music acts and reduce much of the 1960s and early 70s classic rock. It also stopped using the name Rock 104 and began identifying as "103.5 WIMZ", with a new logo modeled on that ofMTV.
During 1982, co-owned WHEL 1240 AM dropped itsadult standards sound and begansimulcasting WIMZ-FM's programming. It switched its call letters to WIMZ, while the FM side continued as WIMZ-FM. This simulcast on AM continued for much of the 1980s.[citation needed] The AM station later switched tosports talk and today isChristian talk and teaching stationWIFA.
During the 1980s and 1990s, WIMZ-FM had a popular morning program hosted by Phil Williams, Billy Kidd, and Colvin Idol (later replaced by David Henley).
On May 28, 2014,Midwest Communications announced that it would purchase nine of the ten stations owned by South Central Communications, including WIMZ-FM along withsister stationsWJXB-FM andWVRX. With this purchase, Midwest Communications expanded its portfolio of stations to Knoxville,Evansville andNashville.[5] The sale was finalized on September 2, 2014, at a price of $72 million.[6]
Currently,TheJohn Boy and Billy Show airs in morningdrive time. John Boy Isley was a popular local radio personality in Knoxville during the late 1970s onWRJZ620 AM. Their show is syndicated on dozens of stations around the South and Midwest. During recent years, WIMZ's format has changed from consisting the late 1960s through the 1980s rock rotation, focusing more on 1970s hard rock and 1980s hair metal mostly, as of 2020, the station has leaned in on playing a more mainstream rock approach of classic rock that plays more 1990's alternative, grunge and metal and a very small few early 2000's hard rock artists.[7] WIMZ's slogan remained "Classic rock that really rocks" for more than a decade. Presently the station calls itself "Knoxville's Classic Rock."
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| Preceded by | World's tallest structure 1,752 ft (534.01 m) 1963 | Succeeded by |