WJOX-FM

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WJOX-FM
City of license	Northport, Alabama
Broadcast area	Birmingham/Tuscaloosa/Central Alabama
Branding	JOX 100.5 FM
Slogan	Your Sports Authority
First air date	100.5 FM: 1991, as WLXY (originally on 100.7 FM); WJOX: 1993, as WWIV
Frequency	100.5 (MHz)
Format	Sports Radio
ERP	93,000 watts
Class	C1
Callsign meaning	JOX: nickname for jocks (athletes)
Owner	Citadel Communications
Website	http://www.wjox1005fm.com/

WJOX-FM is an FM sports talk radio station licensed to Northport, Alabama, which serves Birmingham and central Alabama. The station is an affiliate of ESPN Radio, and is the Birmingham area basketball affiliate of the Auburn Network. WJOX-FM became the flagship station of the Paul Finebaum Radio Network, which is syndicated throughout Alabama and adjoining states, in 2007. The station is owned by Citadel Communications. Other stations in the market that Citadel owns include WYSF-FM (94.5), WZRR-FM (99.5), WUHT-FM (107.7), WSPZ-AM (690) and WAPI-AM (1070). Citadel also owns WTUG-FM (92.9) from Tuscaloosa, whose signal covers much of the Birmingham market.

Contents 1 History of 100.5 FM 2 History of WJOX-FM 3 Switch to Sports Talk 4 External links

[edit] History of 100.5 FM

The station first signed on at 100.7 FM in 1991 as WLXY-FM. WLXY was originally licensed to Northport, served only the Tuscaloosa area and was known on the air as Arrow 100.7, playing classic rock. Despite being less than 60 miles from Birmingham, the signal of Arrow 100.7 didn't cover any of the Birmingham metropolitan area. This was due in part to WHMA-FM broadcasting from Anniston at 100.5 and covering a significant part of the Birmingham area.

In 2001, WHMA changed its city of license from Anniston to College Park, Georgia and became a part of the Atlanta radio market as WWWQ, leaving an open broadcasting channel for central Alabama. The ownership for WLXY petitioned to changes the station's dial position from 100.7 to 100.5 in order to move its transmission tower closer to Birmingham and to boost its broadcast power, and in 2003, this petition was approved. In anticipation of its move into the Birmingham market, WLXY changed formats and call letters in early 2003. Looking to challenge Birmingham’s alternative music station WRAX, the station adopted a similar format with the new call letters WANZ. The station’s on-air name was Z-100.7. In April 2003, WANZ changed its dial position to 100.5 and began broadcasting from a taller tower near Vance, enabling its signal to cover both the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa markets. With the new dial position, the station changed its name to Z-100.5.

In 2004, Apex Broadcasting, the owners of WANZ and several Tuscaloosa-area stations, sold their radio properties to Citadel Communications, owners of five stations in the Birmingham market including WRAX (107-7 the X), a station with a format that was virtually identical to that of WANZ. Not wanting to have two stations competing in the same format, the call letters and other intellectual property of WRAX was transferred to 100.5 FM in March, 2005.

[edit] History of WJOX-FM

The forerunner of WJOX-FM signed on at 105.9 FM in the summer of 1993 as WWIV, licensed to Trussville, Alabama, a suburb east of Birmingham. Originally, WWIV was a simulcast of WYDE-AM, which at the time was a talk radio station. After a few months, WWIV became WWBR and was known on the air as “105-9 the Bear”. WWBR was an album rock/active rock station. While the format of the station was relatively well-received by its listeners, a weak broadcast signal (3 Kw) and less than ideal transmission tower location on Birmingham’s eastern side hampered its ratings success.

In 1996, the format of WWBR was changed to alternative music, the call letters were changed to WRAX, and the on-air name of the station was changed to “106 the X”. In 1998, WRAX swapped dial positions with newly-acquired sister station WENN-FM, the former leading urban contemporary music station in Birmingham, and became known on the air as “107-7 the X”. The acquisition of WANZ by Citadel Broadcasting caused WRAX to change dial positions once again, and in March 2005, WRAX moved again. Its on-air name was changed to “The X @ 100.5”. During its time on the air as "107.7 the X", the station released seven charity albums featuring live performances under the name Live in the X Lounge which benefited United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham.

[edit] Switch to Sports Talk

At 3:00 pm Central Standard Time on Wednesday November 29, 2006, 100.5 became the FM home frequency of WJOX, beginning a simulcast of the AM sports talk station. The move came suddenly and unannounced on November 28, with the firing of the entire WRAX staff. On December 1, WRAX changed its call letters to WJOX-FM, and WJOX-AM changed its call letters to WSPZ. Reacting to the change in format at WRAX, Clear Channel Communications changed the format of its WENN-FM on December 2, thus returning alternative rock to the airwaves of Birmingham.

WJOX-FM and WSPZ began separate broadcast schedules on January 8, 2007, with many of the established programs from the former WJOX-AM moving to the new FM sports outlet. The new program schedule on WJOX-FM follows:

• 6:00-10:00 a.m.: The Opening Drive, with Tony Kurre, former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker, and former Auburn University placekicker Al Del Greco
• 10:00-12:00 noon: The Beat, with Birmingham News sports columnist Ray Melick and former WBMA sportscaster Kelly Hunter
• 12:00-2:00 p.m.: The JOX Roundtable w/ Lance Taylor roundtableradio.com
• 2:00-6:00 p.m.: The Paul Finebaum Radio Network

[edit] External links

• Official Website of WJOX-FM
• Paul Finebaum Radio Network
• Birmingham News article on format change
• Birmingham News article on programming changes at WJOX-FM and WSPZ-AM, published 1/6/2007
• Offical Website of Auburn Tigers Basketball
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WJOX