WXRX

WXRX
City Belvidere, Illinois
Broadcast area Rockford, Illinois
Branding The X
Frequency 104.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
Translator(s) 100.5 W263BJ (Loves Park, relays HD2)
First air date 1971 (as WKWL-FM)
Format Mainstream Rock / Classic Hits
ERP 4,000 watts
HAAT 122 meters
Class A
Facility ID 672
Transmitter coordinates 42°19′21.00″N 88°57′14.00″W / 42.3225000°N 88.9538889°W / 42.3225000; -88.9538889
Former callsigns WKWL (1971-1976)
WYBR-FM (1976-1990)
Owner Mid-West Family Broadcasting[1]
(Mid-Way Radio, Inc.)
Webcast Listen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Website wxrx.com
themightyfm.com (HD2)

WXRX (commonly known as "The X") is an FM radio station, broadcasting at 104.9 FM. Licensed to Belvidere, Illinois, the station serves the Rockford, Illinois area. Originally created by a company called "Radio Works" run by David McAley and Robert Rhea Jr., it is now owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting. Originally a classic rock station, the X today is a mainstream rock station in Rockford, IL.In early 2015 , the station tweaked from an active rock format to a mainstream rock format evidenced by including a wider variety of classic rock while still featuring new rock.

WXRX broadcasts two channels in the HD format.[2]

The station shows include: Stone & Double T (Jim Stone & Terry Turen ) in the morning, Double T (Terry Turen) in the midday,Captain Jack in the afternoon , Steph in the evenings and Driver during the overnight.

Other popular disc jockeys that have worked for WXRX include Jonathon Brandmeier, Tim Crull, Cheryl Jackson as K.C. Meadows, Sky Drysdale, Alan Cox, Jamie Markley, Mark Zander as Mark Edwards, Lori Hastings, and Pete McMurray.

In the 1992 motion picture Batman Returns, WXRX is a fictional television station in Gotham City.

History

The station went on the air as WKWL on February 27, 1971 playing a "Good Music" format and affiliated with the ABC news network. The 300 foot tower was co-located with the studios on N. Bell School Road in Rockford.[3] A fire in the basement where the transmitter was located burned the entire building to the ground.

The license was acquired in December, 1974, and the station was rebuilt at the Cherryvale Mall. It returned to the air in 1976 with the call letters WYBR (for "Yellow Brick Road"), transmitting from a 300' tower in the Cherryvale parking lot, with studios inside the mall in suite E-114.[4]

The initial format was termed "Theatre of the Mind", and the first airstaff included many people with theatrical background. Actress Susan Saint James was a frequent visitor and contributor to station programming elements. The format gradually migrated to an Adult Contemporary/MOR format in the late 70s. Jonathon Brandmeier was the morning show host from 1978 to 1980.

The station changed to Top 40 in 1983, then to Classic rock in October, 1986.

In October 1992 Pete McMurray was hired as morning man, along with Linda Lampert as sidekick, thus "McMurray in the Morning" was born. No morning show in the history of WXRX has achieved higher ratings or a bigger following than "McMurray in the Morning." Lampert left in 1996. In 1998 McMurray exited for WCKG FM Talk Chicago, IL. From 1993-1998 Pete McMurray reigned as the "King of Rockford Radio." He currently hosts the evening show at WGN in Chicago.

100.5 NTA FM

On November 11, 2011, W263BJ began broadcasting as "100.5 NTA FM", at the time simulcasting WNTA AM 1330.[5] On July 26, 2012 WXRX added a news/talk format branded as "NTA", airing the format which had long aired on WNTA 1330 AM Rockford, Illinois, on its HD2 digital subchannel.[6] At that time WNTA 1330 changed formats to comedy and was no longer simulcasting the programming of 100.5 NTA FM, and 100.5 became a translator of WXRX HD2.

The Mighty 100.5

On February 21, 2014 WXRX-HD2 and W263BJ changed their format to classic hits, branded as "100.5 River FM". On March 17 that same year, due to complaints from a Chicago area radio station, the station rebranded temporarily as just "100.5, Rockford's Greatest Hits", asking listeners to post new name ideas online. One week later, they rebranded as "The Mighty 100.5".

Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Height
m (ft) 		Class FCC info
W263BJ 100.5 Loves Park, Illinois 230 106.8 m (350 ft) D FCC

References

  1. ↑ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/81641/maverick-media-sells-eau-claire-rockford-clusters/
  2. ↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=1
  3. ↑ The 1972 Broadcasting Yearbook
  4. ↑ The 1978 Broadcasting Yearbook
  5. ↑ WNTA Rockford Adds FM Simulcast Radio Insight. November 11, 2011. Accessed December 31, 2013
  6. ↑ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/59056/comedy-comes-to-rockford/

External links

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