WLIL

WLIL
City	Lenoir City, Tennessee
Broadcast area	Knoxville, Tennessee
Frequency	730 kHz 102.7 FM
Branding	The Legendary AM 730' and 102.7'
Programming
Format	Country
Ownership
Owner	Fowlers Holdings Lllp
Sister stations	WIFA
History
First air date	May 27, 1950
Technical information
Facility ID	73211
Class	D
ERP	1,000 watts day; 214 watts night
Transmitter coordinates	35°46′12.00″N 84°16′47.00″W / 35.7700000°N 84.2797222°W
Links
Website	http://wlilcountry.com

WLIL "The Legendary AM 730" is a radio station broadcasting "East Tennessee's Country Classics." Licensed to Lenoir City, Tennessee, it serves the Knoxville, Tennessee area.

History[]

WLIL has been "serving east Tennessee since 1950." Arthur Wilkerson, who worked in construction, traveled a lot. One day, he was working in Louisville, Kentucky and could see inside a radio station from where he was working. Finding that interesting, he went to the station after work and sat in the audience of live broadcasts. Wilkerson pondered whether his home town of Lenoir City, Tennessee could support a radio station. In 1949, he applied for a license, and WLIL-AM went on the air at 730, a clear channel, on May 27, 1950, with 1000 watts during the day.

Although few people had FM radios, Wilkerson also applied for an FM station at 100.3. In 1956, WSM in Nashville, Tennessee closed its FM station, and Wilkerson did the same, believing that if such a big station couldn't succeed, he had no chance.

Knoxville got its first FM station in 1966, and Wilkerson realized he may have made a mistake. WLIL-FM signed on at 93.5 in 1967.

In addition to his radio station, Wilkerson owned a lumber mill and built custom homes. He served as president of the . He was also a pilot and he ran a restaurant.

After Wilkerson died in 1998, BP Broadcasters purchased the station.^[1]

In 2006, Progressive Media, owner of WIFA, purchased WLIL from BP Broadcasters LLC.^[2] BP kept the FM station, which had simulcast the AM through its entire history. Dwight Wilkerson, son of Arthur, kept WLIK in Newport, Tennessee.

Fowlers Holdings Lllp now owns WLIL. Don Fowler owns furniture stores in Tennessee and Georgia.^[1]

References[]

^ ^a ^b http://wlilcountry.com, Retrieved on 2009-05-14.
^ "Deals," Broadcasting and Cable, August 14, 2006.

External links[]

WLIL official website
WLIL in the FCC AM station database
WLIL on Radio-Locator
WLIL in Nielsen Audio's AM station database

This Tennessee radio station–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[wlil-1] ttp://wlilcountry.com, Retrieved on 2009-05-14.

[2] "Deals," Broadcasting and Cable, August 14, 2006.

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v t Country radio stations in the state of Tennessee
Stations	KYTN – Union City WAKM – Franklin WANT – Lebanon WBEJ – Elizabethton WBRY – Woodbury WCOR – Lebanon WCYQ – Oak Ridge WDEB-FM – Jamestown WDKN – Dickson WDKW – Maryville WDXE – Lawrenceburg WECO-FM – Wartburg WEIO – Huntingdon WEPG – South Pittsburg WEYE – Surgoinsville WFWL – Camden WGAP – Maryville WGKX – Memphis WGOC – Kingsport WGSQ – Cookeville WHMT - Tullahoma WHNY - Paris WHNY-FM – Henry WIKQ – Tusculum WIVK-FM – Knoxville WJDT – Rogersville WJJM-FM – Lewisburg WJLE – Smithville WJLE-FM – Smithville WJSQ – Athens WKBQ – Covington WKDF – Nashville WKJQ-FM – Parsons WKOS – Kingsport WKWX – Savannah WKXD-FM – Monterey WLAR – Athens WLCT – Lafayette WLFP – Germantown/Memphis WLIL – Lenoir City WLIV – Livingston WLLX – Lawrenceburg WLNQ – White Pine WLNT-LP – Loudon WLOD – Loudon WLXA - Loretto WMCP – Columbia WMCT – Mountain City WMOD – Bolivar WMSR-FM - Collinwood WMTN – Morristown WMYL – Halls Crossroads WNKX-FM – Centerville WNOX – Karns WNPC – Newport WNTC - Ashland City WOGT - East Ridge/Chattanooga WOGY – Jackson WOOP-LP – Cleveland WOPC - Linden WORM-FM – Savannah WOWF – Crossville WPWT - Colonial Heights WQLA - La Follette WRGS – Rogersville WSBI – Static WSDQ – Dunlap WSIX-FM – Nashville WSLV - Ardmore WSM – Nashville WSM-FM – Nashville WTNK – Hartsville WTNV – Tiptonville WTRB – Ripley WUCH – Monterey WUCZ – Carthage WUSY – Cleveland WVFB – Celina WWGM - Selmer WWGY - Union City WWON - Waynesboro WWYN – Mckenzie WXOQ – Selmer WXRH - Rockwood WYCZ – White Bluff WYSH – Clinton WYTM-FM – Fayetteville WZLT – Lexington
Defunct	WAXO – Lewisburg
See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Tennessee