WDCX-FM (99.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. The station airs a brokered

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. WDCX-FM is owned by Kimtron, Inc., a division of

Crawford Broadcasting Crawford Media Group is a family-owned media company based in Denver, Colorado.Contact information
https://crawford ...

. Its studios are located in the

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

neighborhood north of downtown Buffalo, and the

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

site is located off Zimmerman Road in

Boston, New York Boston is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 7,948 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is an interior town of the county and one of t ...

, southeast of Buffalo. As a brokered time station, nationally known religious leaders pay WDCX-FM for their half hour segments on the station, and appeal to the listeners for contributions. Hosts on WDCX-FM include Dr.

Charles Stanley Charles Frazier Stanley Jr. (September 25, 1932 – April 18, 2023) was an American Southern Baptist pastor and writer. He was senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta for 49 years and took on ''emeritus'' status in 2020. He founded a ...

, Jim Daly,

Chuck Swindoll Charles Rozell Swindoll (born October 18, 1934) is an evangelical Christian pastor, author, educator, and radio preacher. He founded Insight for Living, headquartered in Frisco, Texas, which airs a radio program of the same name on more than 2 ...

and

Jay Sekulow Jay Alan Sekulow (; born June 10, 1956) is an American lawyer, radio, television talk show host and politically conservative media personality. He has been chief counsel of the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) since 1991. As a member of P ...

. Since 2012, WDCX is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

on AM 970

WDCZ WDCZ (970 AM) is an American radio station in Buffalo, New York. WDCZ has not originated any programming of its own since 2012. The station operated as a commercial station from its launch in 1924 until 1975, then operated as a public radio st ...

in Buffalo. Programming is also heard on AM 990 WDCX in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. WDCX-FM broadcasts in

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

. The station's HD 2 channel carries

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

History

WDCX-FM

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

for the first time on February 18, 1963, and has been owned by the Crawford family for its entire existence. Since its founding, WDCX-FM has broadcast religious programming, with Donald B. Crawford, the son of evangelist

Percy Crawford Percy Bartimus Crawford (October 20, 1902 – October 31, 1960) was an evangelist and fundamentalist leader who especially emphasized youth ministry. During the late 1950s, he saw the potential of FM radio and UHF television and built the first ...

, as WDCX-FM's original president. Crawford's initials are represented by the DC in the station's

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

, with the X representing the

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

Superpower Status

WDCX-FM is a grandfathered "Superpower" Class B FM radio station, operating at 110,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. Buffalo has three other superpower FM stations: 92.9

WBUF WBUF (92.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Buffalo, New York. Its studios are located at the Rand Building in downtown Buffalo, with its transmitter on Elmwood Avenue in North Buffalo. WBUF is owned by Townsquare Media and bro ...

, 94.5

WNED-FM WNED-FM (94.5 Hertz, MHz) is a public broadcasting, non-commercial radio station City of license, licensed to Buffalo, New York. WNED-FM offers a classical music format. It is owned by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association (form ...

and 102.5

WBKV WBKV (102.5 FM) is a radio station in Buffalo, New York. It is owned by Educational Media Foundation and is a part of its K-Love network. The license currently on 102.5 has been operating since 1946, with predecessors dating to 1932; it is ...

. (WBKV also broadcasts at 110,000 watts but has a taller antenna, so it has a larger coverage area.) Under current

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

rules, Class B FM stations are not allowed to exceed 50,000 watts ERP. WDCX-FM's signal not only covers much of Western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

but extends into

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The station has listeners in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

and around the

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

References

External links

* *
List of "grandfathered" FM radio stations in the U.S.
Radio stations established in 1963 DCX-FM DCX-FM Brokered programming 1963 establishments in New York (state) {{NewYork-radio-station-stub