WDCX (AM)

WDCX
City of license Rochester, New York
Broadcast area Rochester area
Frequency 990 kHz
First air date 1988
Format Contemporary Christian
Power 5,000 watts day
2,500 watts night
Class B
Facility ID 1906
Transmitter coordinates 43°13′54.00″N 77°52′0.00″W / 43.2316667°N 77.8666667°W / 43.2316667; -77.8666667
Former callsigns WRNY (1947-1955)
WRVM (1957-1565)
WNYR (1965-1988)
WEZO (1988-1990)
WRMM (1990-1993)
WCMF (1993-1997)
WDCZ (1997-1999)
WLGZ (1999-5/2008)
WRCI (5/2008-9/2008)
Owner Kimtron, Inc.
Sister stations WDCX-FM, WLGZ-FM

WDCX (990 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian format to the Rochester, New York, USA area. The station is licensed to Kimtron, Inc. which is owned by Donald Crawford,[1] and is a sister station to WDCX-FM in Buffalo and WLGZ (a station that previously occupied this frequency) in Rochester.[2]

History

What is now known as WDCX has its roots in an earlier radio station, one on a different frequency. In 1947, WRNY signed on at 680 kHz as a daytime-only station (sharing a clear channel with CFTR, which was only about 100 miles away from Rochester as the crow flies). It signed on an FM sister station (FM 97.7, later 97.9) primarily to give the station a night signal, but WRNY-FM was gone by 1955. From 1957 to 1965, like most stations of the era, WRNY ran a top 40 format under the call sign WRVM ("Rochester's Voice of Music"). In 1965, the top 40 was gone and in its place was a country music format under its new call sign, WNYR. Country music lasted 22 years on the channel; a new sister station, WNYR-FM (now WRMM), signed on in the late 1960s, this time becoming permanent. The AM station moved from 680 kHz to 990 kHz over the course of the first week in July 1979, allowing the station to broadcast 24 hours a day. In 1987, when a national movement putting country music on FM led to the establishment of WBEE-FM, WNYR lost its advantage to WBEE and gave up on country music.

The station changed call signs, and formats, to adult standards WEZO on June 21, 1988. On February 26, 1990, the station changed its call sign to WRMM, on May 14, 1993 to WCMF, on August 1, 1997 to WDCZ, on December 1, 1999 to WLGZ. On May 23, 2008, the callsign was changed to WRCI which was previously assigned to WLGZ-FM prior to February 11, 2008 effectively accomplishing a callsign swap between the AM and FM stations.[3] On September 1, 2008, the call sign was changed again to WDCX to match with sister station WDCX-FM.

On February 11, 2008, the station's "Legends" format was modified to incorporate more oldies and soft adult contemporary material, and officially moved to sister station WLGZ-FM 102.7 (formerly WRCI "The Light", a Contemporary Christian station). The displaced Christian format is now being broadcast as an additional HD signal on that FM station.

According to NorthEast Radio Watch, the station's format was flipped along with the callsign and began broadcasting the Christian format formerly broadcast by the FM station.[4] However, in September 2008, the station changed call letters again, this time to WDCX, and began airing a broader religious talk and music format. Along with the changes came a simulcast of Neil Boron Live, a Buffalo-based interview and music program, out of its sister station, WDCX-FM. The station also began airing the nationally syndicated Dave Ramsey Show.

References

  1. ↑ "WRCI Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ "99.5 WDCX LIFE FM: WDCX-AM".
  3. ↑ "WRCI Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. ↑ NorthEast Radio Watch, June 2, 2008

External links

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