For the radio station in Rantoul, Illinois on 95.3 FM that held the call sign WZNF from 1988 to 2000, see
WJEK
.
Radio station in Lumberton, Mississippi
WZNF
(95.3
FM
, "95-3 Gorilla") is a
commercial
radio station
licensed
to
Lumberton, Mississippi
and serving the
Biloxi
?
Gulfport
area. The station airs a
top 40 (CHR)
radio format
and is owned by Lisa Stiglets and Elizabeth McQueen, through licensee JLE, Incorporated. WZNF is a Top 40 station
radio market
WZNF has an
effective radiated power
(ERP) of 100,000
watts
, the highest permitted for non-
grandfathered
FM stations. WZNF's upgraded 1,500-foot (460 m) tower and high power can reach east to
Mobile, Alabama
, west to
New Orleans
, and north to
Laurel, Mississippi
. The
transmitter
tower is shared with
sister station
"Kicker 108"
WZKX
, located off City Ridge Road in
McHenry, Mississippi
.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
WLUN
[
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]
A
construction permit
for a new FM radio station was issued by the
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) for 95.3 MHz in Lumberton, Mississippi, in 1983. In those days, the 95.3 spot on the dial was reserved for
Class A
regional stations, with a maximum power of 3,000 watts.
In 1986, the station first
signed on
as WLUN.
[3]
It was owned by the Stone-Lamar Broadcasting Services Corporation. WLUN's power of 3,000 watts was only a fraction of its current output. It had a limited coverage area, and was not audible in Gulfport or Biloxi.
Live 95/Power 95-3
[
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]
On September 1, 1997, the station got FCC permission to greatly boost its power and
height above average terrain
(HAAT) to expand its coverage area to the Gulf Coast. The station increased its output to 100,000 watts and started broadcasting from a new 1,400-foot (430 m)
tower
, covering most of Southern Mississippi, including the Gulf Coast and parts of
Alabama
and
Louisiana
. It became
modern
-leaning
adult contemporary
outlet WLNF ? "Live 95.3". The station achieved moderate success with the format and featured
The Big Show
with Scott Sands, Darren Kies and Virginia McGrane in mornings.
On March 19, 1999, WLNF dropped the AC format for a
Top 40 (CHR)
sound as "Power 95-3". The station was meant to pay homage to the old Power 108
WZKX
, and featured Crash Davis in mornings and market vet Patty Steele as Program Director and midday host. Later, the station added the
syndicated
Bob and Sheri Show
for morning
drive time
.
Z95.3
[
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]
With heated competition against
WXYK
(105.9 The Monkey), Power 95-3 had trouble catching on with Gulf Coast listeners. On March 15, 2002, the station changed formats to
Classic Rock
as
Z95.3
. The
call sign
switched to WZNF.
The station immediately saw success with the format and was consistently #1 in morning ratings with the syndicated
Walton & Johnson
program. Other personalities on the station included Patty Steele in middays, Scott Bond doing afternoons and market vet Dr. Bob McCall on nights. The station saw a ratings decline after Walton & Johnson were replaced with
John Boy and Billy
, syndicated from
Charlotte, North Carolina
.
95-3 Gorilla
[
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]
On April 1, 2014, after struggling in the ratings for a few years, Z95.3 changed formats back to CHR/Top 40 as
95-3 Gorilla
, once again going up against WXYK 105.9 The Monkey.
95.3 Gorilla launched with 10,000 songs commercial-free. The staff included Bo "Wildman" Walker in mornings, Kendall Taylor afternoons and Dakota Mendenhall at night.
References
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]
External links
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]
30°45′07″N
89°03′25″W
/
30.752°N 89.057°W
/
30.752; -89.057