WWWX (96.9 FM, "96.9 The Fox") is an

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 ...

formatted

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

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

, that serves the Appleton- Oshkosh area. The station is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

. The station shares a transmitter site with

WNAM WNAM (1280 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Neenah-Menasha, Wisconsin, that serves the Appleton- Oshkosh radio market. The station is owned by Cumulus Media. WNAM uses the " America's Best Music" radio format supplied by co-own ...

located along I-41.

History

The station signed on January 30, 1967 as WMKC, operating on 96.7 FM under the ownership of Kimball Broadcasting. In 1968, the station became an affiliate of the ABC FM network. By 1971, WMKC had a middle of the road format, and devoted 20 hours a week to

jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...

. The station changed its affiliation to 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, ...

in 1978; by then, programming also included three hours of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. Kimball Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Miles Kimball

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

company, sold WMKC to Cummings Communications for $400,000 in 1980. The new owners changed the call letters of the station to WAHC, which at the time carried a Beautiful music format. Several short lived format changes came through the station after the sale. WAHC tried an album oriented rock format which didn't attract listeners, then by December 1982 switched (back) to middle of the road. In September 1983, facing miserable audience ratings of less than 1% of the market, it made another format switch, this time to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

under the moniker SuperHit 97; the station was affiliated with the RKO Radio Network and competed with

WIXX WIXX (101.1 FM) is an adult Top 40/ CHR radio station licensed to and serving Green Bay, Wisconsin and the Fox Cities region of Northeast Wisconsin. The station is owned and operated by Wausau, Wisconsin-based Midwest Communications, and is ...

. WAHC kept this format until 1987, when it switched to modern country. ODON Communications bought the station in 1988 and changed its call letters to WUSW in 1989. In 1991, a reallocation of various FM frequencies in Wisconsin moved WUSW to 96.9 FM. In January 1997, WUSW and

were sold to Value Radio Corporation, who in turn sold them to

on August 31, 1997. On April 1, 1999, the station began simulcasting a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

format, branded "The Fox", with WEZR (107.5 FM) in Green Bay and changed its call letters to WWWX.Bob Lowe, "Once-dominant country station makes a surprising switch to rock format," ''The Post-Crescent'', April 4, 1999. The simulcast ended in 2003, when the Green Bay station (which had become WXWX) took on the

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

format of WDUZ; the "Fox" format would continue on WWWX. After

swapped its Green Bay radio stations to

Clear Channel Communications 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 ...

for two stations in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and entered into a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

to retain control of the Green Bay stations (which Cumulus reacquired in 2013), WWWX, along with WZNN in Allouez, Wisconsin, was placed into a trust, WI Radio, LLC, that was required to sell the stations. In 2013, WWWX was transferred to another trust, Current Radio, LLC. After Cumulus moved WOGB's

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 Kaukauna (part of the Appleton market) to Reedsville (part of the Green Bay market) in August 2013, Cumulus was able to reacquire WWWX in 2017.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Cumulus Media WWX Alternative rock radio stations in the United States Modern rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1967 1967 establishments in Wisconsin Cumulus Media radio stations