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WNDX (93.9 FM) is a
commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...
station, licensed to
Lawrence, Indiana Lawrence is a city in Lawrence Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is one of four " excluded cities" in Marion County. The city is home to Fort Benjamin Harrison within Fort Harrison State Park. The population was 49,370 at ...
, and serving the
Indianapolis metropolitan area The Indianapolis metropolitan area is an 11-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its principal cities are Indianapolis, Carmel, Indiana, Carmel, Greenwood, Indiana, Greenwood, and Anderson, Indiana, Anderson. Other primary cit ...
. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
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, ...
, using the moniker ''93-9X''. The studios and offices are located on North Shadeland Avenue on the east side of Indianapolis. WNDX's
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 ...
is located off 38th Street, also on the east side of Indianapolis. It is licensed 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 ...
to broadcast in the HD (hybrid) format.


History


Easy listening (1993–1996)

The station signed on the air on February 12, 1993, as WXTZ, "Ecstasy 93.9." It was licensed to Fishers, and carried an
easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
format similar to the original WXTZ, which broadcast at 103.3 several years prior.


Urban oldies (1996)

The easy format lasted until January 15, 1996, when it was dropped in favor of ABC Radio's now-defunct "Solid Gold Soul" satellite format, which played urban oldies, using the moniker "Gold 93.9." 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 ...
changed to WGLD in February 1996 to reflect this change.


Smooth jazz (1996–1997)

Solid Gold Soul was short-lived, and on October 10, 1996, WGLD changed to another satellite format, Jones Radio Network's
smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...
format.


Country (1997–2001)

The license was sold to Susquehanna Broadcasting in 1997. Management decided that Susquehanna's modern
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
"flanker station," WGRL "104.5 The Bear," would be moved to 93.9, while a new format, under 93.9's WGLD calls, would be placed on 104.5. To smooth over the transition, the two stations began
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) ...
ing "The Bear" on May 30, 1997. Once the move was complete on June 10, the WGLD call letters moved to 104.5 and became
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...
"Gold 104.5." The frequency switch did not help WGRL's ratings, as it experienced a substantial ratings drop once "The Bear" moved to 93.9. As a result, the station became more music-intensive and several disc jockeys were let go. By 2001, WGRL simulcast WFMS in morning
drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
while Donnie Claw, the lone survivor from the 104.5 days, hosted the afternoon drive shift. The end of The Bear came on November 19, 2001, when the format was dropped for
Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
as "93.9 The Christmas Channel."


80s Hits (2001–2004)

On December 25, 2001, 93.9 flipped to an 80s hits format as "Retro 93-9."


Contemporary Christian (2004–2006)

The format lasted until July 9, 2004, when – following a five-day
stunt A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...
of TV themes as "TV 93.9" – the station flipped to
Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...
as "93.9 The Song." The call sign was also changed at this time to WISG. "The Song" lasted for a couple of years and saw modest success. A month after the format change, in August 2004, WISG changed its
city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...
from Fishers to Lawrence, relocated its transmitter from Noblesville to east Indianapolis, and upgraded its power from 2,950 watts to 6,900 watts to provide better coverage of the Indianapolis radio market (it later upgraded to 8,400 watts in 2011).


Talk (2006–2008)

On December 26, 2006, "The Song" was moved to 93.9's HD2 channel while a new talk format, known as "FM Talk 93.9," moved to the main channel. The station's call letters were changed to WWFT. WWFT aired mostly nationally syndicated programming, featuring Mancow,
Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...
,
Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American radio personality who offers financial advice. He is the founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions and a co-host of '' The Ramsey Show'', a nationally syndicated radio program. He ...
, and others until November 16, 2007, when programming was replaced with the return of "93.9 The Christmas Channel." At Noon on Christmas Day, WWFT dropped Christmas music and stunted again, repeating the tracks "Lonesome Road" by Dean Elliot & His Big Band and "Swans Splashdown" by
Jean-Jacques Perrey Jean Marcel Leroy (20 January 1929 – 4 November 2016), better known as Jean-Jacques Perrey (), was a French people, French electronic music performer, composer, producer, and promoter. He is considered a pioneer of pop electronica.soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
"Warm 93-9," debuted at 9:39 a.m. on January 2, 2008, with a commitment to play 93 hours of commercial-free music during its first week. The first song played on "Warm 93-9" was
The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...
's "
Every Breath You Take "Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English rock band the Police from their album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for ei ...
". On March 3, 2008, WWFT changed call letters to WRWM. The program director and morning drive host was Fritz Moser. During the Warm era, "The Song" returned to the main station for six hours on Sunday mornings.


Top 40 (2009–2015)

At 12:01 a.m. on July 2, 2009, the station dropped the 18-month-old Soft AC format; the station had finished 21st in the most recent Arbitron ratings and never mounted a serious challenge to main rival WYXB. The last song on "Warm" was
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
' " Kokomo". Afterwards, the station began stunting again, this time with construction sounds. At 9:40 a.m. on July 3,
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, the station flipped to Top 40/CHR as "Indy's Hit Music Station, i94" and launched with 940 songs commercial-free. The format change marks the frequency's sixth new format since 2001. i94's first song was
The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...
' "
Boom Boom Pow "Boom Boom Pow" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by group members will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie, being produced by will.i.am. The song featur ...
". In July
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, the station adjusted its daytime format to
hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
, while remaining CHR at night. This did not attract many listeners, with i94 losing the ratings battle against WNOW-FM and WZPL, along with WNTR when that station flipped to Hot AC in May 2013.


Classic hip hop (2015–2017)

On December 19, 2014, at 3 p.m., after promoting a "major announcement about i94," WRWM began airing a "
Classic Hip-Hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...
Holiday Weekend", forcing rival WHHH to do the same. Unlike WHHH, however, WRWM announced the following Monday that it would switch to the format full-time, keeping the "i94" name but running jockless. On January 26, 2015, at 9:39 a.m., the station re-branded as "93-9 The Beat", with no change in format. The flip increased the station's ratings dramatically, going from 15th to first place in the ratings in Indianapolis with a 7.7 share. However, this ratings surge was short-lived, as the station eventually fell back towards a 2.7 share by October 2017. WRWM's initial success served as the basis of Westwood One's "
Classic Hip-Hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...
," a satellite-delivered format that was launched May 22, 2015. Westwood One is co-owned with WRWM.


Top 40 (2017–2019)

On November 17, 2017, at 5:30 p.m., after playing " It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" by
Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...
, and a 10-minute farewell montage and brief teasers for random new formats, WRWM began stunting with
Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
again, this time as "93.9 North Pole Radio." The station also began to post teasers on its Facebook page themed around the letter "E", and promoted that "E-Day" would occur at 9:39 a.m. on December 26. At that time, the station changed its call letters to WYRG, and returned to CHR as "Energy 93-9," launching with " ...Ready for It?" by
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
.


Mainstream rock (2019–present)

The future of Energy came in doubt in February 2019, with Cumulus acquiring then-rival Top 40 (CHR) outlet WZPL as part of a multi-station trade with Entercom, rendering Energy's format as redundant. Those doubts would be verified that May, as the sale closed, and WYRG began running liners advising that Energy would soon be "turned off" and redirecting listeners to WZPL. On May 24, 2019, at noon, after playing " Bye Bye Bye" by *Nsync, Cumulus flipped WYRG to a
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
format as "93-9X". The station changed its call sign to WNDX on May 28, 2019. The first song on "93-9X" was "
Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist ...
" by
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, which began a commercial-free
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
weekend to launch the format. The station now competes with
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
's combo of
classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
WFBQ and
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
WOLT WOLT (103.3 FM "Indy 103.3") is a commercial radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It broadcasts a classic alternative radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. WOLT carries the nationally syndicated "Woody Show" in morning dri ...
. Derrek Madden, the program director of co-owned mainstream rock station KXXR
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, assisted with setting up WNDX with a similar format for the Indianapolis market. The majority of the station's DJs are pre-recorded from other Cumulus stations across the country.


References


External links

* * {{Cumulus Media 1993 establishments in Indiana Active rock radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Mass media in Hamilton County, Indiana Mass media in Indianapolis Radio stations established in 1993 NDX