WXXI-FM (105.9 FM) is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

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 ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, United States. It broadcasts news, talk and informational programming as a member station of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(NPR). WXXI-FM is owned by the

WXXI Public Broadcasting Council The WXXI Public Broadcasting Council is a community non-profit organization of some 36,000 subscribing members in the Rochester, New York metropolitan area that owns that city's major public television and community radio stations, a newspaper, a ...

, Rochester's primary public broadcaster. The station was founded as WJZR in January 1993 by North Coast Radio, Inc., and broadcast a

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 for 29 years before it was taken silent in July 2022 upon the owner's retirement. Since May 2023, WXXI-FM has carried WXXI's news/talk service, which originates from WXXI (1370 AM). The

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 on Pinnacle Hill Road off Highland Avenue in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. The

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices are on State Street in Rochester.

North Coast Radio

In November 1988, 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) designated a series of 14 applications for comparative hearing in order to determine who should be awarded a

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

to build a new radio station on 105.9 MHz in Rochester. The commission awarded the permit to R. B. Lee Rust in December 1991. Rust was a second-generation station owner in Rochester; his father, Bill, had owned WHAM. WJZR began broadcasting on January 22, 1993, with an eclectic jazz format. It was the second station Rust had managed with such a format, having set WGMC in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

into the format previously in the 1990s. Rust's own personal music collection set the tone for WJZR; he categorized songs by such factors as attitude and so-called "thump". Rust also took the name North Coast Radio—which had been initially intended to refer only to the licensee—and used it as the station's overall brand instead of a set of call letters, feeling that it "makes Rochester sound more attractive, not just a cold, nondescript place". The station also set itself apart by airing no prerecorded commercials; the station's air staff read commercials live, and there were only six such ads an hour. Rapid consolidation of Rochester commercial radio stations meant that WJZR and Black-owned WDKX were the only independent outlets in the city by 1998; Rust rebuffed offers to sell his station. By 2013, WJZR was a completely automated operation, with Rust as chief engineer, programmer, and the station's imaging voice; its commercial status made it more unusual as the number of full-time jazz outlets dwindled yet Rochester still had two stations in the format. Rust's extensive involvement in multiple facets of station operations also kept costs low. After 29 years, Rust announced he would retire and take the station silent; the last song on WJZR, played on the evening of July 10, 2022, was " In a Silent Way" by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Sale to WXXI

On October 7, 2022, the

announced it would purchase WJZR from Rust. The $1.2 million deal was structured as a $675,000 payment as well as an additional $525,000 donation by Rust to WXXI; the acquisition was completed on January 24, 2023. WXXI pledged to return the station to service in 2023 on a noncommercial basis as an FM frequency for its news/talk programming, originating from WXXI (1370 AM), with a new call sign to be selected; on May 10, 2023, the station took on the WXXI-FM call sign, with the previous WXXI-FM (91.5) concurrently becoming WXXO. The new WXXI-FM

soft launch A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it wi ...

ed on May 24, 2023. WXXI-FM going live with a strong FM signal allowed

WRUR-FM WRUR-FM (88.5 FM radio, FM) is a public radio Radio station, station owned by the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. The station broadcasts an Adult Album Alternative format and carries NPR news programming. WRUR-FM partners with W ...

, which was airing afternoon programming from WXXI due to a lack of a strong FM signal for the all news station, to drop Connections with Evan Dawson and

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

and go in a full time music direction.

References

External links

* {{News/Talk Radio Stations in New York XXI-FM NPR member stations Radio stations established in 1993 1993 establishments in New York (state)