WMIX (940

kHz 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 uni ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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

Mount Vernon, Illinois Mount Vernon is a city in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area, which includes all of ...

. It is owned by

Withers Broadcasting Withers Broadcasting Companies is a radio broadcasting company based in southern Illinois. Founded in 1972 by the late W. Russell Withers, Jr., and now owned by his daughter Dana Withers, the company owns several radio stations across the United ...

with the

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which va ...

held by the Withers Broadcasting Company of Illinois, LLC. The studios and offices are on Withers Drive. WMIX 940 airs a soft oldies and

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

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, ...

. Most programming comes from

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

's "

America's Best Music America's Best Music is the on-air branding of a soft oldies and adult standards 24-hour radio network, formerly known as AM Only. The service is syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. It was one of the original Transtar Ra ...

" service. It also broadcasts live

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games from Mt. Vernon Township High School. WMIX is a Class B station. By day it is powered at 5,000

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. But

940 AM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 940 kHz: 940 AM is a Mexican and Canadian clear-channel frequency. XEQ-AM, XEQ Mexico City is the dominant List of North American broadcast station c ...

is a Canadian and Mexican clear channel frequency. So at night, to avoid interference with other stations, WMIX reduces power to 1,500 watts and uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a five-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. Programming is also heard on two

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

s, at 96.5

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 ...

in Mt. Vernon and 93.7 in Fairfield.

History

The station

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 ...

the air in . It originally was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

, required to go off the air at night. In the 1960s and 70s, it aired a middle of the road (MOR) format, playing popular adult artists with news and sports. It was a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

. The station was assigned the

call sign 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 unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

"WMIX" by the

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 ...

(FCC). Withers Broadcasting registered the "WMIX" branding as a

registered trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from ot ...

,Justia Trademarks: "WMIX - Trademark Details"
/ref> which prevents other stations, many of them carrying some sort of Mix FM format, from using WMIX as a branding without permission. In the early 2000s, WMIX broadcast a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format, branded "News Talk 940," plus

music in the evening and overnight. Syndicated talk programming included ''

The Rush Limbaugh Show ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' was an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' became the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States. At i ...

, The

Jim Bohannon James Everett Bohannon (January 7, 1944 – November 12, 2022) was an American broadcaster who worked in television and radio and hosted the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show ''The Jim Bohannon Show'' originally broadcast on the ...

Show'', plus

music blocks hosted by Chick Watkins, Jeff Rollins and Don K. Reid from

Dial Global Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The c ...

's "

" radio network. The station later decided to end the news/talk programming, instead airing "America's Best Music" around the clock.

Translators

WMIX programming is also carried on two

broadcast translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

stations to extend or improve the coverage area of the station.

References

External links

WMIX official website
MIX News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1946 Jefferson County, Illinois 1946 establishments in Illinois {{Illinois-radio-station-stub