First Post/94.3 History

This is my first post on the new Knoxville radio history blog. I was going to do this in a website but I decided to make this a blog where it includes the history of Knoxville radio stations.

The first post now begins with the history of 94.3:

94.3 History

In February 1967, 94.3 signed on the air as WATO-FM, an underground rock station. Most students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville would use their antennas to get the radio station. The station later changed call letters to WUUU and the format was changed to easy listening. Easy listening was also heard on WEZK-FM 97.5 (now WJXB-FM; “B-97.5”) at the time. The station also broadcasted Atlanta Braves baseball in the mid 1970s. Their slogan was “The Station For You”. In 1980, 94.3 changed calls from WUUU to WETQ with a country music format known as "Q-94FM".

In 1985, WETQ changed calls to WKNF-FM with an oldies format as “Magic 94”. In 1994, WKNF-FM became “K-94” with a classic country format. This was short-lived as WKNF-FM kept the “K-94” name but dropped the classic country format for a format that featured CHR, pop, and alternative music.

The station became “94-Z” with WNFZ as their new call letters. The station has aired a modern rock format since the mid 1990s with nicknames such as “Planet Radio 94dot3”, “94.3 Extreme Radio”, and currently, “94-3 The X”.

The information about the history of 94.3 comes from KJ Allen’s RadioWas website and SuperQ, a Radio-Info member.