City Lakesite, Tennessee Branding 105.1 ESPN Chattanooga First air date 1976 | Broadcast area Chattanooga, Tennessee Frequency 105.1 MHz Format Sports | |
WALV-FM (105.1 FM) is known as "105.1 ESPN Chattanooga" and is a radio station serving Chattanooga, Tennessee. The station is an affiliate of ESPN Radio.
History
Before WALV moved to 104.9, the station was at 95.3, and called Alive 95. Alive 95 signed on in August 1983. Brewer Broadcasting Company acquired the station in 1998, making Alive 95's sound more uptempo and competitive-sounding. Morning drive was handled by Mike Lee and Ed Ramsey from 1998 until late 2006. Before becoming Alive 105, 104.9 was AC Lite Rock 104.9 WDNT-FM, a call sign that the station shared its AM located at 1280. Before Becoming Lite Rock 104.9 the station played a mix of Oldies from the 1950s, '60s, '70s, and early '80s, under the moniker Oldies 104.9. Before the station started playing oldies in October 2000, the station played country music under the call sign WDNT-FM and was actually based in Dayton. The WDNT Oldies station was programmed by the late Max Hackett, a longtime talk show host in the market.
In December 2007, WALV-FM's main broadcast studio was moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee with sister stations WJTT-FM and WMPZ-FM. Sister station WHJK-FM was also moved into the Chattanooga building at this time. The new studio location is 1305 Carter Street in Downtown Chattanooga.
On June 15, 2009, WALV dropped its Hot AC format and "Alive" name for ESPN Radio as "105.1 The Zone".