The One is on the air

Warren County's first contemporary Christian music station, 92.1 The One, launched Monday at noon on WAKI 92.1 FM and 1230 AM. Main Street Media held a Founding Sponsor Luncheon at its office at 230 W. Colville St. beginning at 11 a.m. to observe the switch from 92.1 The Ticket sports talk radio to The One and to thank the initial 10 sponsors of the station.

Those sponsors are Reddick Brown Ford, Ben Lomand Connect, Knowles Private Wealth, First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Prater's BBQ, Caney Fork Electric Cooperative, Ace Hardware of McMinnville, Snider's Plumbing and Electric Plus HVAC, Security Federal Savings Bank and Tree City Realty.

WAKI first hit Warren County's airwaves in 1947 and has seen several owners and format changes during its 78 years, most recently being known as The Ticket, broadcasting Fox Sports Radio. Citing a desire to attract a wider audience, Main Street Media has made the decision to rebrand The Ticket as The One, capitalizing on the popularity of contemporary Christian music (CCM).

Following remarks by Main Street Media owners Chad Graves and Scot MacDonald, representatives of the founding sponsors, and a prayer by Main Street Media's Justin Reed, The One launched with its first song, "I Thank God." The song was a cover of Maverick City Music's hit, and was performed by the First Baptist Church's praise band, made up of John Templeton, Lorie Kesey, Tyler Morton, Allie Morton, Kenny Johnson and Main Street Media's Rob Nunley.

"This is a big moment for us," Graves said. "WAKI is the oldest radio station in Warren County, and it is now the county's first contemporary Christian music station."

"For the last five years the CCM format, without a doubt, has been the fastest growing radio format," Main Street Media Manager of Strategic Partnerships Greg Roberson said. "More stations are switching to CCM than any other format. The Christian format in general, which encompasses CCM and Christian teaching and talk stations, are No. 2 in the number of stations behind only country music. This will be Warren County's first CCM station. WBMC has played some southern gospel but there's never been a contemporary Christian station here. This is a niche we thought we could fill which will attract more listeners than national sports talk."

Graves expressed his appreciation to Roberson for spearheading the move, launching a new era for Main Street Media as it enters its second year in business.

"First, I want to thank Greg Roberson," Graves said. "He has been monumental in helping launch The One. Greg came from another Christian station and he had a ton of ideas and contacts in terms of understanding the Christian radio environment. He has really helped us out there a great deal. Greg introduced us to Jayme Summers. She is part of the Main Street Media family but she also contracts with a company called Christian FM who will be doing all of our music programming. They are very up to date on the contemporary Christian genre. Jayme is a go-getter, and she has done an outstanding job of getting us where we are today."

MacDonald echoed many of Graves' sentiments, adding his thanks to the founding sponsors and expressing appreciation to the community for embracing this change in local programming.

"I want to personally say thank you to the sponsors," MacDonald said. "Thank you to the team that put all of this together. It's a lot of work, and it's much appreciated. I'm really excited about this station. It's fun doing local media. I never thought I'd be doing this, and it's been great. The ability to bring a contemporary Christian station on is something I think will really benefit the community moving forward, and I'm excited to see what comes."

"For the first 92 hours, thanks to our sponsors, The One will be commercial-free," Roberson said. "From Monday-Thursday next week, there will only be music and a rotating announcement with the sponsors' names as presenting 92 hours of commercial-free music. At 8 a.m. next Friday, only those 10 initial sponsors will be featured until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Beginning Thanksgiving Day, the station will be open to anyone who would like to advertise. We also encourage churches to reach out to us if they would like to put messages or a Sunday program on the station."

Thanksgiving will mark a change for the station in more ways than one, as much-requested seasonal programming will come to The One.

"We will go all Christmas music from Thanksgiving Day until midnight Christmas night," Greg said. "It will be an all-Christmas station which will play both religious and secular Christmas music classics."

For more information, contact Roberson at greg.roberson@mainstreetmedia.llc or visit Facebook.