WWKX (106.3 FM, "Hot 106") is a

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

station in

Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of ...

, serving the

Blackstone Valley The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major factor in the American Industrial Revolution. It makes up part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Nation ...

and much of the

Providence metropolitan area The Providence metropolitan area is a region extending into eight counties in two states, and is the 38th largest metropolitan area in the United States. Anchored by the city of Providence, Rhode Island, it has an estimated population of 1,622,5 ...

. The

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

outlet operates with an ERP of 1.15 kW and is licensed to Woonsocket. The station's studios are located in East Providence and the transmitter site is in Cumberland.

History

The current WWKX signed on June 26, 1949, as WWON-FM on 105.5 FM as the sister station to WWON (now WOON). In 1950, WWON-FM operated with 390 watts. WWON-FM changed frequencies to the current 106.3 by summer 1958. In the 1970s, the station played

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

, and in 1986 became WNCK. In 1988, it flipped to

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...

as WWKX "Kicks 106" (later "Kix 106"), before it shifted to

as "The Rhythm of Southern New England" in November 1990; the format scored high ratings in the 18-34 demographic from 1995–1997. By February 1998, the station adopted its current moniker and tweaked its playlist towards a pure R&B/Hip-Hop flavor.http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1998/RR-1998-02-06.pdf WWKX was the only rhythmic top 40 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

to air

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

from 1997 to January 5, 2005, when parent company

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia ...

ceased airing the show in a dispute regarding Stern's mentioning of his upcoming move to

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

. Citadel merged with

on September 16, 2011. The call letters WWKX were assigned to 104.5 in Gallatin/

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

from 1978 to 1987. This frequency is now occupied by

WGFX WGFX (104.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Gallatin, Tennessee, and serving the Nashville metropolitan area. It is branded as 104.5 The Zone, broadcasting a sports radio format. It is owned by Cumulus Media, with studios in Na ...

, also a Cumulus station.

References

External links

WWKX official website
*

* ttp://jeff560.tripod.com/1958fm.html List of FM stations in the U.S. in the summer of 1958 as listed in the North American Radio TV Station Listings, by Vane A. Jones. WKX Rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1949 Woonsocket, Rhode Island 1949 establishments in Rhode Island {{RhodeIsland-radio-station-stub