Tri-State Radio flipped Oldies 1070 WFLI Lookout Mountain/100.3 W262DQ Hickson TN and 96.1 W241AF Rossville GA/Chattanooga TN to Conservative Talk/Sports on Monday, June 5.
Retaining its “The Big One” positioning, the station will feature a simulcast of WTVC-TV’s morning newscast “Good Morning Chattanooga” from 4:30 to 7am, The Rick & Bubba Show will follow from 7am to 10am, Del Walmsley from 10am-2pm, then Premiere Networks’ Clay Travis & Buck Sexton from 12-3pm and Sean Hannity from 3-6pm. Bill O’Reilly’s commentary will follow at 6pm. Outkick.com’s “Hot Mic” hosted by Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow on delay from 8-11pm followed by the Alabama based “Press Box Radio Show” hosted by Chris Stewart, J.D. Byars and Mike Grace from 11pm-1am. WFLI will also carry University of Tennessee-Chattanooga sports.
The legendary 50,000 watt AM signal has launched it’s new News Talk and Sports format featuring a mix of local and regional programing along with the biggest names in conservative talk. WFLI is now The Talk of Chattanooga and features the earliest local morning show to hit the air in the Scenic City.
Through a partnership with NewsChannel 9, ABC affiliate WTVC, WFLI will simulcast Good Morning Chattanooga starting at 4:30 each weekday morning. The show provides up to the minute news, traffic and weather until 7am to assist with the morning commute. The Rick and Bubba Show returns to WFLI from 7am-10am with their light hearted mix of news, sports and pop culture. The show hosted by Alabama natives Rick Burgess and Bill “Bubba” Bussey offers a family friendly morning show that will feature local news and traffic updates multiple times each hour.
Real estate expert Del Walmsley brings his Lifestyles Unlimited program to WFLI from 10am to 12pm. WFLI also features the top two NewsTalk programs in the country. Sean Hannity airs weekday afternoons at 3pm. Hannity started his career in Athens Alabama and later worked for WGST in Atlanta before finding stardom on New York radio and later with Fox News.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show airs weekdays at noon. Clay Travis is a Nashville native and former sports talk host who authored the book “On Rocky Top” about the firing of Phillip Fulmer and the eventual hiring of Lane Kiffen as the University of Tennessee’s football coach. Travis and Sexton work with the same research team that helped propel Rush Limbaugh during his career.
It’s NewsTalk all day and Sports Talk all night with Hot Mic from Outkick 360 starting at 7pm on Weeknight. Hot Mic is one of the fastest growing sports talk shows in the country. Originating from Nashville and hosted by Chad Withrow and Jonathan Hutton, Hot Mic from Outkick 360 breaks down the latest sports headlines every night. The Press Box takes over from 10pm to midnight. The Alabama based show puts the focus on the southeast with nightly discussions on the Southeastern Conference and the Atlanta Braves.
“We felt like there was a void for more regional and local news talk and sports, that was the motivation behind putting this lineup together”, says WFLI President and Co-Owner Evan Stone. “The ability to add the two biggest shows in conservative talk in Hannity and Clay and Buck was a no-brainer,“ says Stone.
“It’s hard to find a bigger name in news talk than Sean Hannity and Clay Travis with his connection to the state of Tennessee…aligns us very well for success. Throughout the day we’ll feature local and regional newscasts and sportscasts every hour.”
Nights and weekends on WFLI will be filled with live sports coverage. The station will continue to be the radio home for the Chattanooga Mocs. The Learfield produced broadcasts including football, men's and women’s basketball along with a Monday night coach’s show called “Chat with the Mocs”. WFLI will also broadcast local high school football on Friday nights again this year, partnering with The Boyd Buchanan School to air Bucs football live. “Our commitment to local sports is unmatched,” Says Evan Stone. “We will continue to make use of underused local talents like Randy Smith, Chris Barnett and Chris Goforth to deliver live local sports content. The move to a talk format allows us to super serve the local sports fans. We’ve got some great things planned for this fall.”
The station is also Chattanooga’s home for NASCAR, University of Tennessee Baseball, the NCAA Basketball tournament and the National Football League including Super Bowl LVIII in January 2024.
WFLI first signed on the air in 1961. It’s 50,000 watt AM signal covers more than 60-counties across four states. The signal reaches from Maryville, TN to Marietta,GA and from Monteagle, TN to Murphy, NC.
The station features two FM translators that cover metro Chattanooga on 96.1 and 100.3.
