WNKT

Infobox Radio station
name = WNKT


city = Eastover, South Carolina
area = Columbia and The Midlands
branding = "107-5 The Game"
slogan =
airdate = January 5th, 1971
frequency = 107.5 FM
format = Sports Talk
power =
erp = 40,000 watts
haat = 167 meters (548 feet)
class = C2
facility_id = 38900
coordinates = 33° 45' 46" N, 80° 49' 23" W
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
owner = Citadel Broadcasting
licensee =
sister_stations = WTCB, WOMG, WLXC, WISW
webcast =
website = [http://www.1075thegame.com/ 1075thegame.com]
affiliations =

WNKT, also known as "107-5 The Game", is a Sports Talk radio station located in Columbia, South Carolina. The station is licensed by the FCC to the community of Eastover and broadcasts on 107.5 MHz FM with a effective radiated power of 40 kW.

History

107.5 signed on January 5, 1971 as WDWQ, the sister to AM WQIZ in St. George, South Carolina. The FM station was sold in 1977 to a Washington, DC-based group that moved the studios to North Charleston and flipped the station to Top 40 as "Q107" under the WKQB call-sign. The "Q107" moniker was briefly dropped in 1984 for "Power 107" but Q107 was reclaimed one year later. Q107 eventually topped rival CHR WSSX as the #1 CHR in the market on several occasions in the later half in the 1980s under a Dance-leaning CHR format.

Q107 gained fame in September 1989 as it broadcasted continuously during Hurricane Hugo's landfall in the Charleston area. The broadcast ended when the eye wall of the storm made landfall and station personal was evacuated. The station returned to the air after the storm passed and broadcasted vital information to area residents for weeks afterwards.

Unfortunately, Q107 entered the 1990s under serious hardship. The station shut down in early 1991 and simulcasted for a brief time with WSUY in order to stay on the air. WKQB was eventually sold in 1991 to a new owner, which took the station to classic-leaning country music under the call-letters of WBUB as "Bubba 107.5" in the Spring of 1991.

In 1997, the station was sold to Citadel Broadcasting as the station dropped the "Bubba 107.5" handle for "Cat Country 107.5" under the WNKT call letters.

On July 5, 2007, WNKT was issued a construction permit to move the station to the Columbia radio market by relicensing it to the community of Eastover, South Carolina, leaving the Charleston radio market altogether.

On November 10, 2007, WNKT dropped its Country format for a continuous loop of the song "The Dance" by Garth Brooks, interspaced with liners redirecting listeners to sister Country station WIWF. After two days, the station's over the air signal in Charleston was turned off in preparation for the move to Columbia. WNKT's online stream, however, remained intact, and continued to play Garth Brooks' "The Dance."

On November 12, 2007 at 1:07 p.m., WNKT signed back on from Columbia as "107-5 The Game" adopting a Sports Talk format.

External links

* [http://www.1075thegame.com/ WNKT's official website]
*FMQ|WNKT
*FML|WNKT