On a recent and growingly infrequent foray into the community, I discovered that I-pod, phone, and…read moreCD's remained in the garage following a late winter clean out. Although the urge to reverse course was great, I decided that since the anticipated miles were short, and hating to admit (even to myself) that I could not venture from home without an ample supply of tunes or my electronic tether, I bravely continued onward. Still, the sweet song of the Turbo-D grew monotonic after a few miles, and my hand found the radio controls. A quick punch of the "search/scan" button yielded the usual reasons for the popularity of sat-radio, Pandora, I-pods, downloads, etc. That is, until the dial settled on (ahem!) 88.1! "Whatz THIS! Hendrix? Who plays Hendrix these days?" This cut was followed by set of some of the tastiest blues guitar that I've ever heard on the airwaves. Then a set of old and new 'Americana' filled Rattler's cab as I pulled into my first stop. I hated to leave the cab! 88.1 aka WUTC is the UTC public radio affiliate, and it's a GEM! The playlists are extensive, expansive, and exceptional! From the Staple Singers to Robert E. Keen and far beyond, the folks behind the board bring us an aural cornucopia of musical delights and moods. The signal strength is decently strong (considering our terrain), and the staff is first-rate, with strong production values on the mic, following through into locally produced segments. The news segs are gleaned from PRI, NPR, as well as other sources. Despite outsourcing several news and entertainment segments each day, WUTC avoids the 'canned' sound/feeling that is a trademark of many college affiliated radio stations. WUTC maintains a very well thought out and executed web-page, offering playlists, streaming, and background info, as well as the usual factoids. Chattanooga has a radio station that is easily a benchmark, for commercial & non-commercial offerings. While I do "double-check" for my phone these days, leaving 'my' music on the kitchen counter is no longer a big-deal. I can always find 'my music' at 88.1!

This preserved historic radio station building is still functioning as a broadcasting radio station…read moretoday! They are developing a Top 40 Radio Museum on the premises to celebrate and memorialize the people that helped make Top 40 Radio of the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

Would LOVE to listen to Rick and Bubba every morning, but this radio station is a joke. The…read morereception on the AM dial is better than their FM side. And EVERY MORNING there is more dead air than program playing. The news announcer is not local and cannot pronounce any or our community names or attractions correctly which sometimes makes me think I'm on the wrong station. I can watch Rick and Bubba on YouTube so I know they are broadcasting-too bad WFLI can't seem to get them on the air consistently.