WUOT HD-2

The HD-2 subchannel of WUOT (91.9 FM), a noncommercial educational public radio station owned by the University of Tennessee. The primary WUOT signal serves as the NPR member station for the Knoxville metropolitan area and much of Eastern Tennessee, airing a mix of news, classical music, and jazz alongside programming from NPR, American Public Media, and Public Radio Exchange. Studios are located in the 209 Communications Building on the UT campus, with the transmitter situated at Sharp's Ridge Memorial Park off Interstate 640. WUOT traces its origins to a construction permit application filed June 2, 1949, with the FCC. The campaign to establish a university radio station had been part of the student government platform of future U.S. Senator Howard Baker during his run for student body president at UTK. The FCC approved the application the following month, and the university acquired equipment from the defunct commercial station WKPB — which had operated at 93.3 FM from October 1947 to April 1949 before its owner, The Knoxville Journal, shuttered it citing uncertainty from the rise of television. The total equipment purchase cost the university $16,000. WUOT signed on October 27, 1949, initially broadcasting five and a half hours per day with two full-time staff, offering informational programming, classical music, and student activity reports in a student-operated format. The HD-2 subchannel extends the station's reach through digital broadcasting, serving listeners across East Tennessee.