It is known by several different descriptors: WOZO (its call letters), 103.9 (its frequency), Knoxville Community Radio (because it’s based within the municipality) and the People’s Radio (it’s operated by locals for locals). Regardless of what you call WOZO-LP 103.9 FM, (Knoxville’s second-newest radio station behind 94Z), WOZO already boasts the city’s largest on-air staff and most eclectic programming while still being shy of it’s six-month anniversary.
With 30+ disc jockeys overseeing more than 40 distinct shows, WOZO offers something for everyone, whether it be music (far too many genres to list), news (local, national, alternative) or miscellaneous (comedy, commentary, sports). Such diversity directly reflects the community-based foundation of the station, as 100 percent of broadcasted content is provided by on-air personalities.
One of the most experienced of those personalities, Aaron Campbell, is a LaFollette native and a longtime veteran of the East Tennessee radio scene. Having cut his teeth in Clinton with WYSH and in Knoxville with WMYL and WKXV (where he still works), he is quick to credit the fast success of the station on the size and variety of its staff.
“Granted, his dad is a DJ here and his dad [also] has a show, but we [even] have a DJ who, I think, is in middle school,” Campbell says. “How cool is that?”
WOZO is jointly sponsored by three non-profit entities: Appalachian Community Fund, United Mountain Defense and the Birdhouse, from whose stately headquarters in the 4th & Gill neighborhood the station transmits its signal. However, designated by the Federal Communications Commission as a Low Power FM (LPFM) radio service, WOZO is authorized for “noncommercial educational broadcasting only.” As such, the station is commercial-free and even refuses underwriting and additional sponsorship. Funding for the station comes only from member dues ($20 a month from each DJ), fundraisers and donations.
As is pointed out by Matt Compton, another WOZO contributor, this unique setup affords each DJ to have “complete autonomy to do what we want on the air.” Aside from FCC regulations prohibiting certain language and self-imposed guidelines banning racist, sexist, homophobic or other prejudiced speech, individuals are allowed artistic freedom, the extent of which is virtually/literally unheard of in the commercial radio sphere.
“So far on my show, I have discussed police brutality, the Central American refugee non-scandal, being invaded by ‘al-Qaeda’ and ‘Cthulhu,’ had one show that was 100 percent unintelligible, interviewed ‘Ben Carson,’ and conclusively proven through Socratic dialogue that all biblical fundamentalists are closeted Satan-worshippers,” Compton says, only half-jokingly. “In the first two months. While I was playing death metal.”
And anybody has the opportunity to become an on-air personality. The only requirements are: to attend two monthly meetings, to be vetted by three current DJs, to pass a majority vote and to pay the aforementioned dues. Failing to appear for your time slot twice (no call no show) and violating FCC rules are the only ways to be removed from the air.
Continuing regarding the creative license of WOZO’s DJs, Campbell namechecks Art of Flow, a two-hour block presented on Thursday evenings by renowned area emcee/poet Black Atticus. Citing its improvisational nature and the host’s proclivity to freestyle over tracks and beats, he calls it “pound for pound one of the most musically interesting shows you’ll hear in Knoxville.”
Although the format remains wide open on account of its non-commercial status, WOZO is limited in terms of bandwidth. Functioning as a LPFM, the station’s antenna near Lake Loudon projects a maximum output of 100 watts. The radius for such an output is 3.5 miles, which means that the range for the signal typically falls between Cedar Bluff and the zoo from west to east and between Fountain City and random parts of South Knoxville from north to south.
However, as Campbell gleefully notes, “We don’t have the power, but we have the content. And the great equalizer is TuneIn radio.” Streaming directly from the station’s website (https://wozoradio.com/) or from the following link (https://tunein.com/radio/WOZO-1039-FM-s256278/), users from around the world have access to WOZO’s programming.
Campbell recently accomplished a career first when he and Matt Ward manned a remote broadcast from the second floor of Scruffy City Hall for the 2nd Annual Scruffy City Comedy Festival. And he is looking forward to upcoming fundraisers at the Birdhouse, including a chili cook off that is planned tentatively for an upcoming Saturday in early December.
Speaking reverently about his many on-air peers as well as the many individuals who have contributed behind the scenes to get the station to the point where it now is, Campbell says, “I love this station. I love the mission, the idea that it’s democracy on air. Everybody has a voice. Everybody has the chance to have a voice.”
With commercial radio’s listenership dwindling just a bit, maybe it will be stations like WOZO who will best attract those audiences with niche programming and open dialogue.
