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Nearly 50 Years Later, WKRP in Cincinnati Becomes a Real Radio Station

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Why This Matters

The revival of WKRP in Cincinnati as a real radio station marks a nostalgic and innovative blending of pop culture and broadcasting, highlighting how classic TV shows can influence modern media. This development underscores the enduring cultural impact of media properties and the potential for nostalgic branding to engage audiences and boost local radio stations.

Key Takeaways

It took near­ly 50 years. WKRP in Cincin­nati is no longer just a TV sit­com. It’s now a real radio sta­tion in Cincin­nati.

A Cin­cy-area FM sta­tion, known as “The Oasis,” has adopt­ed the WKRP call let­ters after acquir­ing them from a non­prof­it radio sta­tion in North Car­oli­na. The Raleigh-based sta­tion put the call let­ters up for auc­tion as part of a fundrais­ing effort. And then The Oasis snapped them up.

To mark the offi­cial launch last week, the sta­tion played the TV show’s theme song for six straight hours. Mov­ing for­ward, the sta­tion will con­tin­ue play­ing clas­sic rock from the ’60s through the ’80s — much like the music fea­tured on the 1978–82 sit­com. As a bonus, Gary Sandy, who played pro­gram direc­tor Andy Travis, has record­ed pro­mos for the revived WKRP. If the orig­i­nal show was before your time, you can watch some episodes on YouTube. Enjoy…

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Relat­ed Con­tent

All the Music Played on MTV’s 120 Min­utes: A 2,500-Video Youtube Playlist

All of the Songs Played on “WKRP in Cincin­nati” in One Playlist: Stream 202 Clas­sic Tracks

MTV Rewind Lets You Revis­it 40,000 Music Videos & Com­mer­cials from the Gold­en Age of MTV