WFNX (95.3 FM; "The Otter") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to

Grand Marais, Minnesota Grand Marais () is a city and the county seat of Cook County, Minnesota, United States, of which it is the only municipality. It is on Lake Superior's North Shore. Grand Marais had a population of 1,337 at the 2020 census. Before it was settled ...

, United States, and serves the

North Shore North Shore or Northshore may refer to: Geographic features Australia *North Shore (Sydney), a suburban region of Sydney **Electoral district of North Shore **North Shore railway line, Sydney *Noosa North Shore, Queensland * North Shore, New So ...

region. The station airs an

Adult Album Alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

format. WFNX broadcasts with an ERP of 63,000 watts.

History

95.3 FM Grand Marais (as WXXZ), and 106.7 FM Babbitt (as KOAD) formerly simulcast

KQDS-FM KQDS-FM (94.9 FM, "95 KQDS") is a classic rock music formatted radio station located in Duluth, Minnesota. Established in 1976 as KAOH-FM, the station is owned by Midwest Communications, and follows a format similar to that of the well-known K ...

from Duluth. In 2017,

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications is a Wausau, Wisconsin-based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Illinois and ...

sold W288AI (Ely), WXXZ (Grand Marais) and KAOD (Babbitt) to Aurora Broadcasting LLC. In 2017, WXXZ and KOAD both changed their callsign. WXXZ changed their callsign to WVVE, and KOAD changed their callsign to KZJZ. In May 2018, after stunting, WVVE and KZJZ launched an

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

format branded as "Radio North Of Ordinary." In June 2019, Shire & Shore Communications announced that it would sell WVVE to Zoe Communications, Inc, however the transaction was never consummated. On September 16, 2019, WVVE returned to air simulcasting oldies-formatted WHRY 1450 AM Hurley, WI.Classic Hits Station on Both Sides of Lake Superior
/ref> Its call sign was changed to WFNX on June 15, 2020. In March 2021, the radio station, now operating as 95.3 The Otter, re-committed to its AAA format as a local, independent broadcasting company serving the Minnesota North Shore.

Sources

northpine.com
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New AAA Radio Station Launches In Northeastern Minnesota
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fccinfo.com
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Boreal.org

References

External links

*{{FM station data, WFNX Radio stations in Minnesota Radio stations established in 1999 1999 establishments in Minnesota Grand Marais, Minnesota Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States