Metro Pulse/Cover/Best of Knoxville 2003

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The 10th Annual Metro Pulse Readers' Poll

division

Best Radio Station:
Wild 98.7
The top two vote-getters in this year's Best of Knoxville suggest that radio consultants don't always know what's best. The winner, Wild 98.7, is the region's first commercial FM hip-hop station, a genre that has been ignored by Knoxville commercial stations for 20 years. (Some hip-hop purists might quibble that Wild is rap, not hip hop, but as MC Zion told me, "It's all music of experience. It's all hip hop. I listen to music.") And the River, which finished a close second and just turned two, has been showing a great deal more variety than your typical FM station, featuring a mix of rock, Americana, blues, and reggae. True, neither of these stations is straying that far from the norm to try some revolutionary new structure. But in a medium where rigid formatting rules, it's nice to see them taking some risks. Clearly, listeners were hungry for it.
Runner-Up: 100.3 The River

Radio DJ:
Gunner, 107.7 WIVK
Runners-Up: Phil Williams, 100.3 WOKI; Roach, 94.3 WNFZ

Talk Radio:
Hallerin H. Hill, 99.1 WNOX
Runners-Up: Mark And Kim, 102.1 WWST; Man Cow, 94.3 WNFZ

TV News:
WBIR Channel 10
Runners-Up: WBIR, Live at Five; WATE Channel 6

TV News Anchor:
Ted Hall, WBIR
Runners-Up: Robin Wilhoit, WBIR; Lori Tucker, WATE

TV Sports:
Mark Packer, WBIR
Runners-Up: Jim Wogan, WATE; Rick Russo, WVLT

TV Weather:
Matt Hinkin, WATE
Runner-Up: Todd Howell, WBIR

Writer:
Jack Neely
Runners-Up: Sam Venable, Maggie Longmire

Website:
Metro Pulse
Admittedly, we had an unfair advantage in this category, since most of the votes for Metro Pulse Online were submitted through the electronic ballot on Metro Pulse Online. But, hey, we'll take it!
Runners-Up: Spa Visage, University of Tennessee