WMYX-FM
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| WMYX | |
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| Broadcast area | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Branding | "99.1 WMYX" or "The Mix" |
| Slogan | "The Mix Means Variety" |
| Frequency | 99.1 (MHz) |
| Format | Hot AC / (all-Christmas during November-December) |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | MYX = "MIX" |
| Owner | Entercom |
| Website | www.991wmyx.com |
WMYX-FM (99.1 FM) is a Hot AC-formatted radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are known on-air as "The Mix", and are, in fact, the first station in the country to use the "Mix" name.
WMYX has been airing the same format since late 1981. They are owned by Entercom, along with sister stations WXSS-FM and WSSP. "The Mix" compliments WXSS-FM well with their Hot AC format, while WXSS aims toward a younger listening audience with their Top 40 format.
WMYX airs a Christmas music format from November until right after Christmas every year, and has been doing it since 2003.
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[edit] History
WMYX began as WEMP-FM in the 1960s, but simply re-broadcast WEMP-AM until 1971, when it flipped to its own format: WNUW Stereo FM. It was a soft Top 40, an album-oriented rock station known as "X-Rock 99", then an easy listening station. On October 31, 1978, it flipped to Disco 99 and played nonstop disco music. The station lasted as disco for less than 10 months. Afterward, it became just WNUW again before finally changing to "The Mix" with the WMYX call letters in 1981.
During the 90s, WMYX's playlist featured a mixture of Hot AC, Soft AC and dance/pop. During the 1996 and 1997 NFL seasons when the Green Bay Packers ended up going to the Super Bowl, the station gained notoriety when Dan & Jane (the morning show hosts at the time) recorded parody songs with Packer and football themes. The most known was "Packarena" (parody of Los Del Rio's "Macarena") was played heavily on the station during the 1996 season. For the 1997 season, Dan & Jane recorded a parody of "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls under the name "Packer Wannabe." Dan & Jane went out and sold cassette tapes of the songs at various southeast Wisconsin locations. Proceeds went to the Child Abuse Prevention Fund.
When sister station WAMG switched to Top-40 in June of 1998, WMYX slowly began evolving into a more full blown Hot AC with a less diverse playlist.
In September of 2004, longtime morning co host Dan Weber was fired and replaced with WXSS morning hosts Michael Knight and Rahny Taylor in a well criticized airstaff shakeup. Jane Matenaer remained on board with Knight and Taylor. At the same time, longtime afternoon host Mark Richards was fired and was later replaced by crosstown WKTI evening host Kidd O'Shea. Mark Richards now works at WMIL (FM 106.1). Rahny Taylor returned to WXSS soon after. Michael Knight resigned from WMYX after a contract dispute with General Manager Ray Quinn, but not before taking the station to #1 25-54 females and winning an A.I.R. award for "Best Morning Show." Kidd O'Shea was promoted to Mornings from Afternoon Drive. Afternoons were taken over by longtime WXSS host Van McNeil.
In the summer of 2005, WMYX briefly expermented with a format called "Whatever Whenever" (later "Mix It Up"). The format was only used on the weekend and later during the evening drive in addition to by listener demand, and was similar to the Jack FM format, in that they did not use announcers, only pre recorded promos and station IDs. The format was later dropped when the station's ratings started to slide.
On June 19, 2006, WMYX announced they would begin carrying Premiere Radio Networks' "Delilah" syndicated radio program on Monday, June 27, 2006[1]. Because Delilah's show is almost exclusively carried by Soft AC radio stations, many believe this to be an indication of a forthcoming format change. Brian Kelly, operations manager for WMYX, denied any format "flip", telling Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tim Cuprisin that WMYX would be picking up a version of the Delilah show carrying music that would match the current Hot AC format of the radio station[2]. Previous stations in Milwaukee carrying Delilah include WQBW-FM (97.3, as WLTQ/Light 97) until 2004, and WOKY-AM (920) between 2004 and 2006.
[edit] WMYX HD2
On April 25, 2006, Entercom announced that WMYX's HD2 subchannel will carry a format focusing on Blues. The Blues channel is called "The Delta"
[edit] Format Flip Pranks
Beginning in 2003, station management has allowed the on-air staff to conduct a yearly "prank" beginning at midnight on December 26, as the station comes out of it's all-Christmas format, during which it pretends to be the introduction of a new station format other than it's typical Hot A/C.
In 2003, the station pretended to "stunt" for a period of time before resuming the Hot A/C format. In 2004, the station pretended to change into "Magic 99," a Soft AC format. There was no prank in 2005, but the tradition resumed in grand fashion in 2006, when the station became a Contemporary Christian format as "The All New Spirit 99, your positive music station." The prank lasted a full hour, and included a new jingle package and liners recorded by Brian James, the station's normal voice talent. Tim Lethlean was the DJ during this hour, and was responsible for crafting the entire fake format flip.
[edit] Schedule
Monday-Friday
- 5-9 AM: Jane & Kidd in the Morning
- 9-2 PM: Heather Moore
- 2-7 PM: Van "The Man" McNeil
- 7-12 AM: Delilah
- 12-5 AM: John McDonough
Weekends
- Tony Lorino (Producer Tony)
[edit] Notable DJ's
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=438474 Reporter Tim Cuprisin mentions WMYX will carry Delilah, JSOnline.com
- ^ http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=438987 Brian Kelly denies a Soft AC format flip, JSOnline.com
[edit] External links
| FM radio stations in the Milwaukee-Racine, Wisconsin market (Arbitron #36) | |
|---|---|
| By frequency: |
87.7¹ | 88.1 | 88.9 | 89.7 | 90.7 | 91.7 | 92.1 | 92.5 | 93.3 | 94.1 | 94.5 | 95.1 | 95.7 | 96.5 | 96.9 | 97.3 | 98.3 | 99.1 | 100.1 | 100.7 | 102.1 | 102.9 | 103.7 | 104.5 | 104.7 | 104.9 | 105.3 | 106.1 | 106.9 | 107.7 |
| By callsign: |
WBWI | WCCX | WDDW | WEZY | WFMR | WFZH | WHAD | WHQG | WIIL | WITI¹ | WJJO | WJMR | WJZI | WKKV | WKLH | WKTI | WLUM | WPJP | WMIL | WMSE | WMWK | WMYX | WQBW | WRIT | WTKM | WUWM | WVCY | WWDV | WXSS | WYMS ¹Audio for TV Channel 6 (WITI/Fox) |
