WPLZ
| City of license | Ooltewah, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Chattanooga, Tennessee |
| Branding | Cat Country 95.3 |
| Frequency | 95.3 MHz |
| Format | Country |
| ERP | 1,050 watts |
| HAAT | 239.2 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 66956 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°8′54.00″N 85°1′22.00″W / 35.14833°N 85.02278°W |
| Callsign meaning | PLZ = PuLse News (previous format) |
| Owner | Brewer Broadcasting (J. L. Brewer Broadcasting of Cleveland, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WALV, WJTT, WMPZ |
| Website | http://www.catcountry953.com/ (coming soon) |
WPLZ (95.3 FM) is a country music formatted radio station licensed to Ooltewah, Tennessee, USA, and serves the Chattanooga area. The station is currently owned by J. L. Brewer Broadcasting of Cleveland, LLC.[1]
WPLZ has their home studio at the Chattanooga offices of Brewer Broadcasting at 1305 Carter Street,[2] along with sister stations Power 94, Groove 93 and ESPN 105.1.
Prior to the format switch to country on January 2, 2012, the station had presented a news/talk format that featured a mix of local and syndicated hosts. Station owner Jim Brewer cited economics and inability to compete with Clear Channel and Cumulus deep corporate pockets as the reason for the switch to country[3] in a December 17, 2011 article published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
[edit] History
The station carried the Jack FM format until May 1, 2009, when it switched to News/Talk using the name "Pulse News". The station was launched as a companion to the Brewer Media owned alternative weekly newspaper "The Chattanooga Pulse" and featured longtime radio hosts Dale Deason in the morning and Gary Poole (who was also the News Editor for the Chattanooga Pulse) in afternoons in its inaugural lineup. Former WRCB-TV reporter Louis Lee served as News Director for the entire run of the station.
A year after launching, WPLZ separated itself from the Chattanooga Pulse editorially and changed it's slogan to "News Talk 95.3 WPLZ". Among the many hosts who worked on air at the station were Jay "The Jammer" Scott, Bobby Byrd, Max Hackett, Zack Cooper, Ed Ramsey, Logan Carmichael, and Stuart James. Among the main syndicated shows carried included Glenn Beck, Clark Howard, Dennis Miller, Jason Lewis, and Phil Hendrie. The station had news affiliations with both Fox News Radio and the Associated Press.
The news department won two Edward R. Murrow awards for it's longform coverage of gang issues, and received several honorable mentions for news reporting from the Associated Press. Among the reporters and anchors who worked at the station were Jeremy Lawrence, Misty Brandon, Lysa Greer, Chris Peddie, and Mike Chambers.
In March of 2011, Gary Poole was appointed Program Director and revamped the lineup with himself and Louis Lee in morning drive, former WGOW-FM host Robert T. Nash in early afternoons and WRCB-TV's David Karnes in afternoon drive. While the station started to show some modest ratings growth, ownership felt it wasn't growing fast enough to justify the expense,[3] and decided to let the entire staff go effective December 23, 2011. Gary Poole nearly immediately joined David Karnes at WRCB-TV.[4]
On January 2, 2012 WPLZ changed their format to country,[5] branded as "Cat Country 95.3".
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WPLZ
- Radio-Locator information on WPLZ
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WPLZ
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