WXOS

WXOS

City of license	East St. Louis, Illinois
Broadcast area	Greater St. Louis
Branding	101 ESPN
Slogan	St. Louis' Sports Station
Frequency	101.1 MHz FM (also on HD Radio) 101.1-2 FM ESPNEWS
First air date	May 13, 1966
Format	Sports talk
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	300.4 meters
Class	C1
Facility ID	56512
Transmitter coordinates	38°28′56″N 90°23′53″W / 38.48222°N 90.39806°W / 38.48222; -90.39806
Callsign meaning	X's and O'S (icons representing players in football play diagrams)
Former callsigns	WMRY (1966-1989) WSNL (1989-1991) WFXB (1991-1994 WVRV (1994-2006) WMVN (2006-2008)[1]
Affiliations	ESPN Radio
Owner	Hubbard Broadcasting (St. Louis FCC License Sub, LLC)
Sister stations	WIL-FM, WARH
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	101 ESPN

WXOS (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, broadcasting to the Greater St. Louis area. WXOS previously aired a hot AC/rhythmic contemporary music format (as "MOViN 101.1"), but on October 10, 2008, it switched to an all Christmas music station (becoming the second after WRHS for 2008 for the United States) as a prelude to transitioning to all-sports on January 1, 2009.^[2]

Current programming

D'Marco Farr (right) and Randy Karraker.

WXOS, an ESPN Radio affiliate, carries Mike and Mike in the Morning, and other ESPN shows at night and weekends. Local shows includes The Kevin Wheeler Show, followed by The Turn with world champion St.Louis Cardinals outfielder Chris Duncan and Anthony Stalter. Afternoon drive is called "The Fast Lane" with Randy Karraker world champion Rams defensive lineman D'Marco Farr and former Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson. Weekend show hosts include Tony Softli, Alvin Reid, Marty Jenkins.

WXOS also won the radio rights to the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League beginning with the 2009 season, ending a nine-year run on KLOU. It also acquired the rights to Saint Louis University basketball from KFNS. Play-by-play announcer Bob Ramsey joined 101 ESPN as a member of the Fast Lane when the station launched. 101 ESPN also airs the Bowl Championship Series, the World Series, the NBA Finals, and other events from ESPN Radio.

Sportswriter and The Fast Lane Producer Michelle Smallmon has been filling the spot left by Duncan on The Fast Lane. However, that spot is now being permanently filled by Brad Thompson.^[3]

History

WXOS has adopted several call letters and formats since it began airing on May 13, 1966. The station first broadcast under WMRY and had studios based out of the Our Lady of the Snows shrine near Belleville. The station, however, never broadcast a religious format. Rather, they aired non-commercial pop music with periodic positive motivational messages from different faiths interspersed. In the mid-1980s, the station became a commercial station, and aired a progressive rock format. Their studios were relocated to an office park in St. Louis County, Missouri. In 1991, the station flipped to soft AC as "Sunny 101", WSNL. Later in the year, the station flipped to "mellow rock" as WFXB, "The Fox", and simulcasted on KFXB (105.7 FM). A year later, the simulcasting ended, though 101.1 would continue to carry the mellow rock format, which would evolve to an "Arrow"-type classic hits format, while still being called "The Fox." In 1994, the station would flip to Modern AC as "101 The River" and the WVRV call letters, which would last until 2004, when the station shifted to adult top 40, but retained the "River" moniker and call letters.

MoViN' logo (2006-2008)

On September 8, 2006, at 11:00 am local time, WVRV changed its format to "adult rhythmic hits from today, the 1980s and 1990s plus a sprinkling of rhythmic classics," and changed its nickname to MOViN 101.1, and adopted the slogan of "Makes You Feel Good." They were the fourth station to adopt the "MOViN" moniker, after KQMV/Seattle, KMVN-FM/Los Angeles and KYMV/Salt Lake City. The announcement was made with no prior notification to its on air personalities and they were dismissed on short notice, as is the norm in format switches. The station announced that it would go 90 days without personalities before DJs would be announced. Under the rhythmic adult contemporary format, it played dance and hot AC songs from the 1990s and 2000s (decade). The station would change call letters to WMVN shortly afterward.

The first on-air DJs were former Steve & DC castmember Jill Devine (10a-3p), Mysti (2-7p) and Raven Rush (7p-12mid) on December 15, 2006. On February 12, 2007, former KYKY morning show co-host Steph Duran, joined MOViN' for mornings. Prior to joining MOViN 101.1, Duran had been at KZON and KUPD in Phoenix. She was joined on September 1, 2007 by co host Eric Schmidt. Schmidt had previously worked at WMVN sister station, WARH. A veteran of the St. Louis market he had also worked at WVRV, KPNT, WXTM, WMLL, KCLC, and KFAV. WMVN was programmed by Jules Riley, who also programs WARH.

After an economic-related shakeup on March 3, 2008, Mysti and Raven Rush were let go. Schmidt moved to the 2-7p slot and Steph Duran took a solo morning shift. The format was shifted to hot adult contemporary after this.

On September 22, 2008, it was announced that WMVN would flip to an all-sports format as of January 1, 2009, featuring a combination of local and ESPN Radio programming. The station would also change call letters to the current WXOS.^[4] WMVN had been airing an all Christmas music format until the full format flip occurred.^[2]

Bonneville International announced the sale of WXOS, as well as 16 other stations, to Twin Cities-based Hubbard Broadcasting on January 19, 2011.^[5] The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.^[6]

References

External links

• Station website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WXOS
• Radio-Locator information on WXOS
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WXOS