| City of license | WENK: Union City, Tennessee WTPR: Paris, Tennessee WTPR-FM: McKinnon, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Northwest Tennessee |
| Branding | WENK-WTPR |
| Slogan | The Greatest Hits of All Time |
| Frequency | WENK: 1240 kHz WTPR: 710 kHz WTPR-FM: 101.7 MHz |
| First air date | WENK: October 26, 1946 WTPR: 1947 WTPR-FM: March 14, 1988 (as WTWL) |
| Format | Oldies |
| Power | WENK: 1,000 watts unlinited WTPR: 750 watts day |
| ERP | WTPR-FM: 1,800 watts |
| HAAT | WTPR-FM: 185 meters |
| Class | WENK: C WTPR: D WTPR-FM: A |
| Facility ID | WENK: 71504 WTPR: 71503 WTPR-FM: 12496 |
| Callsign meaning | WENK: unknown WTPR: West Tennessee Paris Radio |
| Owner | WENK of Union City, Inc. |
| Website | wenkwtpr.com |
WENK is an AM radio station based in northwest Tennessee. In its first incarnation, WENK-AM 1240 went on the air with 250 watts day and night from the upstairs of a furniture store on October 26, 1946. WTPR-AM 710 went on the air with 250 watts daytime from the second floor of a building on the square in downtown Paris in 1947. Both were owned by the Dixie Network of Jackson. Both had a Variety format in those days.
WENK featured the talents of people like Hank Huggins and Lou Wrather during the early days. WTPR was home to future Nashville star Ralph Emery and future WPSD-TV newsman Dan Steele.
WENK caught the Rock and Roll bug in 1956 and pretty much remained a popular music or Top 40 station until WWKF took that format in 1982. John Dixon Williams, a future WPSD-TV newsman and general manager was an early star. WTPR continued to play a variety of music over the years.
WENK increased its power to 1000 Watts in the early 1960s and WTPR was able to increase its power to 1000 watts daytime as well. During this period personalities like J.R. Moore and Ed Taylor were heard on WENK, along with Jolly George and John True. WTPR featured Bill McCutcheon. The late Gary Powley who worked at WTPR in the 1990s and until his death in 2005 actually got his start at WENK in 1968.
Present day President and General Manager Terry Hailey followed Gary Powley at WENK in 1968 and has been with the station ever since. Cindy Snyder was one of the driving forces behind WTPR in the 80’s and 90’s. Joe Van Dyke was long time general manager at WTPR for the Dixie Network.
WENK purchased WTPR in 1989. WTPR then adopted WENK’s Oldies format which continues today. WTWL, Dover/McKinnon, was added in 1994 with call letters changed to WTPR-FM. The station was at 101.5, but changed to 101.7 in June 2005. WENK, WTPR and WTPR-FM are now a three way simulcast of ‘The Greatest Hits of All Time’ and are on AM1240, AM710 and FM101.7. The stations can be heard in southeast Missouri, northeast Arkansas…and all across northwest Tennessee and southwest Kentucky from Reelfoot Lake to Kentucky Lake to Clarksville. Their sister stations WWKF and WAKQ (KF99/KQ105) play Contemporary Hit music or Top 40, the format they took from WENK in 1982.
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