View source for WKOS

{{for|the Ocala, Florida, radio station|WOCA}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WKOS
| logo             = File:WKOS NASHIcon104.9 logo.png
| city             = [[Kingsport, Tennessee]]
| area             = [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee]]
| branding         = ''104.9 Nash Icon''
| frequency        = 104.9 [[MHz]]
| airdate          = [[1979 in radio|1979]] (as WGAT-FM)
| format           = [[Country music|Country]]
| erp              = 2,750 [[watt]]s
| haat             = {{convert|150|meters}}
| class            = A
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| facility_id      = 67674
| callsign_meaning =
cite | former_callsigns = {{ubl|WGAT-FM (1979–1981)|WZXY (1981–1991)<ref name=call>{{cite web |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=67674&Callsign=WKOS |title=Call Sign History |access-date=February 27, 2024}}</ref>}}
| affiliations     = 
| owner            = [[Cumulus Media]]
| licensee         = Radio License Holding CBC, LLC
| sister_stations  = [[WGOC]], [[WJCW]], [[WQUT]], [[WXSM]]
| webcast          = [http://wkos.tunegenie.com/tophits/#listenlive Listen Live]
| website          = [http://www.1049nashicon.com/ 1049nashicon.com] 
}}

'''WKOS''' (104.9 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]), branded as "104.9 Nash Icon", is a [[radio station]] serving the [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee]], area with [[country music]]. This station is under ownership of [[Cumulus Media]].

==History==
This station was assigned the [[call sign]] WGAT-FM on March 13, 1979. It changed calls to WZXY on October 14, 1981, and changed to its current callsign on July 1, 1991.<ref name=call/> In the early 1980s, WGAT-FM became WZXY, an [[album-oriented rock]] station branded "Y105". Sometime in the mid- to late-1980s, WZXY changed its to [[Contemporary Hit Radio|CHR]]/[[Mainstream Top 40|Top 40]]. Through much of the 1990s and a large part of the 2000s, the format was [[oldies]] under its new callsign WKOS,<ref>[http://www.ontheradio.net/radiostations/wkosfm.aspx Radio Station WKOS 104.9 FM] Retrieved on 2009-03-26.</ref>{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} and then [[adult hits]]. The station was called "The Peak" when it changed to [[hot adult contemporary]].

[[File:WKOS (Nash FM 104.9) logo.png|thumb|WKOS's logo under previous "Nash FM" branding]]
On February 24, 2012, WKOS changed formats to country, branded as "Great Country 104.9".<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/headlines/55838/great-country-comes-to-kingsport/ Great Country Comes To Kingsport]</ref> On July 3, 2013, at 3:00&nbsp;p.m. EDT, WKOS re-branded itself as "Nash FM 104.9".<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/headlines/84100/cumulus-nashfm-expansion-continues/ Cumulus'NashFM Expansion Continues]</ref> On April 24, 2015, WKOS rebranded as "104.9 Nash Icon".<ref>[http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/92787/wkos-shifts-from-nash-to-nash-icon/ WKOS Shifts From Nash to Nash Icon]</ref>

==Sports coverage==
In 2007, the [[ETSU Bucs men's basketball|East Tennessee State University men's basketball Team]] moved its games from [[WJCW]] to WKOS. This marked the first time the team was heard on FM radio. This has since been moved to AM 640 WXSM, a sister station.<ref>[http://www.staatalent.com/Headlines/07/0707/072707ETSU.htm ETSU BASKETBALL MOVES TO WKOS RADIO] Retrieved on 2009-03-26.</ref>

==Pirate radio station "WKOS" in Maine==
In 1967, the phone hacker [[John Draper|Captain Crunch]] created a radio station called WKOS [W-"chaos"], a pirate station in [[Dover-Foxcroft, Maine]], but had to shut it down when a licensed radio station, [[WZLA-FM|WDME]], objected.
{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.1049nashicon.com/ WKOS official website]
*{{FM station data|67674|WKOS}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOQsrxgXxOA A commercial for WZXY ("Y-105") from 1982]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6MiST5S_Oo One of the commercials for WZXY, as a Top 40 station]

{{Tri-Cities TN / VA Radio}}
{{Country Radio Stations in Tennessee}}
{{Cumulus Media}}

{{coord|36.554|N|82.450|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC|display=title}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Tennessee|KOS]]
[[Category:Country radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Cumulus Media radio stations]]