WCKX

WCKX

City of license	Columbus, Ohio
Broadcast area	Columbus, Ohio
Branding	"Power 107.5"
Slogan	Columbus' Hottest Hip-Hop and R&B
Frequency	107.5 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	1993 (as WJZA)
Format	Rhythmic contemporary
Language(s)	English
ERP	1,900 watts
HAAT	126 meters
Class	A
Facility ID	27645
Transmitter coordinates	39°57′46.00″N 82°59′46.00″W / 39.9627778°N 82.9961111°W / 39.9627778; -82.9961111
Callsign meaning	W Country KiX(kicks), (From previous Country music format)
Former callsigns	WJZA (23 November 1993 - 26 December 1997)
Owner	Radio One (Blue Chip Broadcasting Licenses, LTD)
Sister stations	WXMG
Website	mycolumbuspower.com

WCKX (107.5 FM, "Power 107.5") is a radio station broadcasting an Rhythmic contemporary format with a heavy but hit-driven emphasis on current R&B/Hip-Hop product. The station is licensed to and serves the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1993 under the call sign WJZA. The station is currently owned by Radio One, and highly influenced by the BlackPlanet social networking site. The station serves as the sister station to WXMG.

Station History

WCKX was originally assigned the 'WJZA' call sign on November 23, 1993. On December 29, 1997, the WCKX call sign assigned to 106.3 MHz ("Power 106") in London, Ohio (now WJYD) was reassigned to 107.5 FM, while the WJZA call sign was dropped and later picked up by 103.5 FM in Pickerington ("Smooth Jazz 103.5 FM").

In December 2007, WCKX began to tilt its urban format direction towards Rhythmic contemporary, according to Mediabase, and by September 2009 was officially moved from the R&B/Hip-Hop panel to the Rhythmic Airplay Panel by Nielsen BDS^[1] as it began to incorporate more Rhythmic Pop tracks into its playlist, possibly to become more competitive with Top 40/CHR rival WNCI because of the latter's conservative heritage and its Adult-leaning direction. This shift to Rhythmic has also helped WCKX overtake WNCI in the Columbus Arbitrons, and at times taking the top spot in the market's rating books. Although during its early days as a Urban, WCKX had always leaned towards a Rhythmic direction. Officially, it is the first Radio One-owned station (along with Dallas/Fort Worth's KBFB, Philadelphia's WPHI-FM, which has changed to urban contemporary in 2011 & Indianapolis' WHHH) to be a rhythmic since the sale of former sister station WDHT in Dayton, OH and KTWN-FM in Minneapolis.

Despite the success it has with the Rhythmic format, WCKX is at times criticized for not playing enough Hip-Hop/R&B product, especially those from the local scene,^[2] but at the same time does have its supporters and listeners who like their musical mix and DJs.^[3]

References

External links

• Power 107.5 website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WCKX
• Radio-Locator information on WCKX
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WCKX