A local artist wrote "The Ballad of Jarvis Stout", about the drunk driving arrest of a local constable; alleging the invasion of his privacy, the fact that WIDD aired the song as its "Pick Hit of the Week" (whereas WBEJ refused to air it), and the fact that the publicity around the case prompted a mistrial, he sued WIDD and others involved in the creation of the song for $300,000.
[8] WIDD-AM-FM was sold in 1981 to attorney H. Curtis Williams and Gene Artrip, doing business as Southern Signal Corporation, for $400,000.
On April 6, the Tennessee banking commissioner shut down the financial institution, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation taking control of Watauga Valley's assets.
[20] The new ownership flipped the station from gospel music to easy listening[21] and changed the call letters to WITM ("In Tennessee's Mountains") on April 26, 1988; the new call letters and music format coincided with James Chambers, a Navy veteran who had lost his eyesight while serving, taking over as general manager.
That July, the Holston Valley Broadcasting Corporation—owners of WKPT, WTFM, and WKPT-TV in Kingsport as well as WKTP in Jonesborough—filed to buy the inactive station from Good Shepherd Broadcasting—owned by interests that had bought out Miller and Ward over the late 80s—for $11,200, claiming that WITM's poor financial status made it a failed station which they could own.
[28] In 1999, the St. Thomas More Broadcasting Association acquired WKPP for $65,000;[29] the call letters officially changed to WHHQ on December 8, 1998.
[31] Citing a dispute with a party that held a time brokerage agreement with Mediatrix, the licensee received special temporary authority to take WHHQ silent, as of April 29, 2006.