WWXM (97.7 FM) is a

Top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

radio station licensed to Garden City, South Carolina and serves the

Grand Strand The Grand Strand is an arc of beach land on the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina, United States, extending more than from Little River to Winyah Bay. It is located in Horry and Georgetown Counties on the NE South Carolina coast. The term Gr ...

area. The iHeartMedia, Inc. outlet is licensed by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

(FCC) to broadcast with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ...

(ERP) of 100 kW. The station goes by the name Mix 97.7 and its slogan is "The #1 Hit Music Station." Its studios are located on the U.S. 17 Bypass in

Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina, Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as Grand Strand, "The Grand Strand" i ...

, and its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is in

Murrells Inlet Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,547 at the 2010 census. It is about 13 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and 21 miles north ...

History

The station was located in

Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Lowcountry. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,163. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, ...

for many years prior to a power increase from 3,000 to 50,000 watts. The station originally signed on the air as WINH-FM, a companion to WINH (AM) owned by the Winyah Bay Broadcasting Company in September 1971. In 1975 the station's call letters changed to WGMB and became known as ''"The New 98 Rock WGMB"''. Years later that slogan was changed into ''"98 Rock WGMB, We're The Rock Of The Bay!"'' as the marketplace adopted digital tuners. For a brief time in the mid-1980s, the station was AC with the new call letters WMXX, under the new moniker as ''"Magic 97.7"'', and the logo used on

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s resembled that of WMAG in

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph, Davidson, and Forsyth counties. High Point is North Carolina's only city that ex ...

. After the station improved its signal, it was known as WBPR and then again as WGMB under their new moniker as ''"The New Power 98 FM"'' and had a CHR with a rhythmic lean. Later the format moved in a more mainstream CHR direction, the change to then new current moniker as ''"The New Mix 97.7"'' and the current call letters as WWXM was made in the early 1990s and WWXM had a

Hot AC 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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, qui ...

format was used for several years. The signal was eventually improved to 100,000 watts and the city of license was moved to Garden City Beach. Root Communications of

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 ...

bought WWXM in a deal announced in June 1997 and moved it from Waccamaw Pottery to studios shared by WWSK and WGTR near the back gate of the former

Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Early history On 16 October 1939, Myrtle Beach Town Council resolved that the community "is in dire need of a modern municipal airport". The ...

. As of 2000, Booger and Leanne Sullivan co-hosted the morning show. Qantum Communications Inc. purchased Myrtle Beach's Root Communications Group LP stations in 2003. On May 15, 2014, Qantum Communications announced that it would sell its 29 stations, including WWXM, to Clear Channel Communications (now

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...

), in a transaction connected to Clear Channel's sale of WALK AM- FM in

Patchogue, New York Patchogue (, ) is a village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 11,798 at the time of the 2010 census. Patchogue is part of the town of Brookhaven, on the south shore of Long Island, adjoining Great South Bay. It is officially known ...

Connoisseur Media Connoisseur Media LLC is an American media company. It is based in Westport, Connecticut and led by Jeff Warshaw. Connoisseur operates radio stations and digital assets in markets across the U.S. cities of Billings, Fredrick, Maryland; Bay Shore, H ...

via Qantum. According to FCC records, the transaction was consummated on September 9, 2014.

References

External links

* * {{IHeartMedia WXM Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Radio stations established in 1971 1971 establishments in South Carolina IHeartMedia radio stations