WALV-FM

WALV-FM (95.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to Ooltewah, Tennessee, and serving the Chattanooga metropolitan area. The station is owned by Radio Training Network based in Port Richey, Florida, and airs programming from RTN's "The Joy FM" Christian adult contemporary network. The station seeks donations on the air and on its website.

WALV-FM is a Class C3 FM station. Its effective radiated power (ERP) is 3,400 watts. The transmitter and tower are along Taft Highway (U.S. Route 127) in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. WALV-FM broadcasts using HD Radio technology. Its digital subchannels air formats ranging from worship music to Christian contemporary hit radio to Christian talk and teaching shows. Those subchannels feed several FM translators.

The station first signed on the air on February 27, 1980; 45 years ago (February 27, 1980). The original call sign was WQNE. It had a Christian radio format until 1984, when it became an adult contemporary music station as WALV, known as "Alive 95". WALV was Chattanooga's affiliate for Rick Dees Weekly Top 40. The adult contemporary format continued throughout the 1980s and the 1990s. By the early 2000s, WALV picked up the tempo to become a hot adult contemporary station.

The "Alive 95" name was used for 22 years in total. In 2006, it began carrying the syndicated Jack FM adult hits format. It used the slogan "Playing what we want." The call letters switched to WHJK.

On May 1, 2009, the station switched to a news-talk format using the name "Pulse News", with the Jack FM format relocating to WSAA 93.1 FM. The call letters on 95.3 changed to WPLZ. Pulse News was launched as a companion to the Brewer Media-owned alternative weekly newspaper The Chattanooga Pulse and featured longtime radio hosts Dale Deason in the morning and Zach Cooper in afternoons. Cooper served as the Publisher for the Chattanooga Pulse. Former WRCB-TV reporter Louis Lee served as News Director for the entire run of the station.

A year after launching, WPLZ separated itself from the Chattanooga Pulse editorially and changed its slogan to "News Talk 95.3 WPLZ". Among the hosts who worked on air at the station were Jay "The Jammer" Scott, Bobby Byrd, Max Hackett, Ed Ramsey, Logan Carmichael, Stuart James, and Gary Poole. Syndicated talk shows carried on WPLZ included Glenn Beck, Clark Howard, Dennis Miller, Jason Lewis, and Phil Hendrie. The station had news affiliations with both Fox News Radio and the Associated Press.

The news department won two Edward R. Murrow awards for its longform coverage of gang issues, and received several honorable mentions for news reporting from the Associated Press. Among the reporters and anchors who worked at the station were Jeremy Lawrence, Misty Brandon, Lysa Greer, Chris Peddie, and Mike Chambers.

In March 2011, Jim Brewer II, station owner, revamped the lineup with Gary Poole and Louis Lee in morning drive, former WGOW-FM host Robert T. Nash in early afternoons and WRCB-TV's David Karnes in afternoon drive. While the station started to show some modest ratings growth, Brewer felt that it wasn't growing fast enough to justify the expense, citing economics and inability to compete with Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) and Cumulus Broadcasting as the reason. In light of that, the station decided to let the entire staff go effective December 23, 2011.