It’s not often that a station changes format to the exact thing it was before, but that is exactly what happened at midnight of August 1, 2003 in Knoxville, TN. In July, Citadel Communications announced it would LMA WOKI from its owner Dick Broadcasting and change its format when it took over. But two things happened which would prevent that from happening. The day after the announcement competitor Journal Broadcasting flipped 93.1 WMYU from Classic Hits to Hot AC, which they feared WOKI would have flipped to and compete against their CHR WWST “Star 102”. In addition a petition campaign to “Save The River” began and was highly successful. On July 31, Citadel announced it would keep The River format to the press, however farewell programming from the stations previous management and staff continued. As midnight approached the station said its farewells only to be followed by an announcement welcoming the new 100.3 The River.
