Regarding Ed...
In the summer of '76 as an about to be freshman at UT, I was hired to be a weekend DJ at WIVK. I spent 5 wonderful years behind the mic at WIVK and the memories and friendships have lasted a lifetime!
Ed Brantley was already an established on air veteran at that time working mid mornings and then taking over afternoon drive! When folks think WIVK, Ed's name is linked at the top of the list along with Claude Tomlinson, Bobby Denton and Mike Hammond!
After the James Dick family sold to Citadel, Ed remained on board and became the front office fixture leading the charge for all of the now Citadel Knoxville stations...WIVK, WNOX, The Sports Animal, and WOKI.
I was just 18 when I became part of the WIVK family, but a biz lesson that I quickly learned was that much of the WIVK success was occuring because the entire team truly was a family!
Ed was kind and helpful to me as I was a neophyte announcer and we remain friends today.
101 has learned that Ed left WIVK today (Citadel has eliminated the Knoxville GM position)...Kudos to Ed and his 40 years of service, he was a huge part of this once in a lifetime radio success story!