Photo Credit: Lightning 100 Nashville, soon to be renamed “The New FM 100”
Garth Brooks is acquiring the Nashville radio station WRLT “Lightning 100,” transforming it into a country music station called “The New FM 100,” which he envisions as “the voice of Music City.”
Country music icon Garth Brooks is diving into the radio industry as his company, Sevens Network, completes the $3 million acquisition of Nashville indie station WRLT “Lightning 100.” Brooks will turn the station into a country music-focused one called “The New FM 100,” which he envisions as “the voice of Music City, highlighting local/breaking news, and spinning the entire family of country music.”
“This is an opportunity to bring the entire family of country music together in one spot: the legends, the greats, and the future greats,” Brooks said. “Nashville is being called ‘The Newest City in America,’ and we want to bring a new kind of communication, combining terrestrial and digital radio, built to grow with this city.”
He emphasized that the goal is not to compete with other local Nashville channels and stations but to “promote what they have going on,” providing a service to Music City and its businesses.
The existing Lightning 100 format will move to Cromwell Media’s 106.3 W292ED Franklin/102.5 WPRT-HD3 Pegram, which is currently a sports simulcast station. The new call letters for this change are pending.
Brooks ended his partnership with TuneIn in September, but he has been actively cultivating his radio plans since at least last year. The idea began in 2025 when he saw a post from the station asking for financial support—but he didn’t realize that post was from 2020, during the early COVID days, when many businesses were struggling to stay afloat.
“I thought the post was current,” Brooks explained. “I was looking for a station for this idea I had about an information station for Nashville locals, visitors, and tourists. A country artist buying an indie-rock station made no sense. This way, the owner gets help in funding, the station lives on, while the new FM-100 finds a home in the middle of the FM dial.”
The singer intends for the station to play a mix of country music from the ’60s to the modern era, with an emphasis on public service. He’s already got a partnership with Nashville Secure Weather to broadcast weather alerts and plans to work closely with the city’s convention and tourism sectors.