| City of license | Pegram, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nashville-Clarksville |
| Branding | 102.5 The Game |
| Frequency | 102.5 (MHz) |
| Translator(s) | 102.1 W271AB (Nashville) |
| First air date | September 10, 1984 |
| Format | Sports Talk |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 297 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 43630 |
| Callsign meaning | PaRTy (previous format) |
| Owner | Cromwell Group |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1025thegame.com |
WPRT-FM (102.5 The Game) is a sports talk FM radio station broadcasting at 102.5 MHz. It is licensed to the city of Pegram, Tennessee, but serves the Nashville and Clarksville/Hopkinsville markets. The station also broadcasts over an FM translator, W271AB 102.1 FM, which covers western Nashville.
WPRT-FM is currently owned by The Cromwell Group. It is jointly operated and marketed with 102.9 WBUZ "The Buzz", with which it shares management and a sales staff.
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The station began its life as WDKN-FM in Dickson, Tennessee, to which it was originally licensed and where it simulcast that small-town station's community-oriented format. When the station began to involve the Nashville market, its transmitter was moved to Bellsburg, Tennessee, on the Dickson County-Cheatham County line and hence closer to Nashville. Later, the call letters were changed to WQZQ. For several years prior to 1996, the station broadcast a satellite-based classic rock format under the moniker Q102. From 1996 to 2005, the station broadcast a Top 40 format called 102.5 The Party.
In 2005, when the station was relaunched as Venus 102.5 FM. it had to make a special request to obtain the WVNS-FM call letters. Per FCC regulations, they were required permission from WVNS-TV in Bluefield/Beckley, West Virginia, which they received. The "Venus" moniker lasted less than a year before changing to "V102.5". On weekdays, V102.5 ran a live, local hot adult contemporary format. However, on weekends, the station ran Jones Radio Network's Hot AC satellite format.
On Tuesday, August 26, 2008, WVNS began stunting with teaser formats devoting to just one recording artist, starting with "102.5 Frank-FM. All Frank, all the time" playing nothing but songs featuring Frank Sinatra. Then on August 27, it went from an all-Sinatra format to an all-Led Zeppelin format, featuring music from the legendary British Rock group. This was followed on an all-Garth Brooks format on August 28, then finally on August 29, the format was changed to television theme songs, which lasted until 12 Noon (CDT). The last song played was the appropriately-titled "Welcome Back" by John Sebastian.
At noon on August 29, 2008, the station brought back the rhythmic-leaning hit music format to the Nashville airwaves, launching with Nelly's "Party People". Kidd Kraddick's syndicated program Kidd Kraddick In The Morning was featured in AM drive until, only to be dropped from the lineup in March 2010. The station changed its call letters to WPRT to match the "Party" handle.
In 2009, WPRT began to add more rhythmic pop titles to its playlist, and by June shifted directions to Rhythmic Top 40, thus resulting in Mediabase and Nielsen BDS moving the station to their respective Rhythmic reporting panels the following July, even though they still play non-Rhythmic flavored pop artists like Taylor Swift, a trend that other rhythmics on the panel (like KLUC-FM/Las Vegas and WJFX/Ft. Wayne) are also doing due to a changing taste among listeners. Because of its Rhythmic direction, WPRT now takes on Urban Contemporary rival WUBT and both Mainstream Top 40 rivals WRVW and WNFN.
Originally WPRT was the call sign for the now defunct 105.5 FM in Prestonsburg, KY and was the "sister" station to WPRT AM 960 in Prestonsburg, KY. Today while WPRT AM still exists, its former "sister" station moved to 105.3 FM and now uses the call sign WXKZ and is owned by Gearheart Communications in Harold, KY, and broadcasts an oldies format.
On May 24, 2011 WPRT-FM changed their format to hot AC, still branded as "The Party".
On August 15, 2011 it was confirmed that WPRT would switch to a sports format. Adopting the new moniker "102.5 The Game", the format change took effect on Monday, August 29, 2011. The station took over flagship status for the Nashville Predators after a one-year stint on sister-station 102.9 The Buzz.[1] Upon its format change, the station announced it would take over local affiliation with ESPN Radio from WGFX-FM[2]: the affiliation change occurred on schedule.
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