WXKE (96.3 FM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radio ...

licensed to

Churubusco, Indiana Churubusco ( or ); often shortened to Busco (), is a town located near the headwaters of the Eel River in the extreme northeast corner of Whitley County, Indiana, United States, in Smith Township, about northwest of Fort Wayne. The population ...

and serving the nearby

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

area. The station airs a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

History

96.3 FM began operations as WKQM in April 1994, featuring an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

/ adult standards music format. In September 1995, WKQM changed its format to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

and adopted the moniker "The Edge," with new calls WEJE. "The Edge" was consulted by noted rock radio consultant Fred Jacobs, but after Jacobs Media and WEJE parted ways in January 1998, WEJE rebranded as "Extreme 96.3." In March 2001, the "Extreme" format and WEJE calls moved to new sign-on 102.3 FM in

Auburn, Indiana Auburn is a city in DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. The population was 13,820 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1836 by Wesley Park (1811–1868), the city is the county seat of DeKalb County. Auburn is also known as Home of the Classics. Hi ...

(now

WGBJ WGBJ (102.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Auburn, Indiana, and serving the Fort Wayne metropolitan area. It is owned by Sarkes Tarzian and it broadcasts an alternative rock radio format, known as "Alt 102.3." The studios and of ...

), and on March 12, 2001, 96.3 debuted a new

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format as WWWD, originally tagged "Big Red Country" but then changed to "Red Hot Country" after

Artistic Media Partners {{Infobox company , name = Artistic Media Partners , logo = , industry = Entertainment , location = Indianapolis, IN, key_people = Arthur A. Angotti, CEO & President, products = radio , homepage www ...

notified 96.3's then-owner, Frank Kovas, that the name "Big Red Country" was already service-marked for their station in Ellettsville. On March 1, 2002, following Kovas' sale of his stations to Travis Broadcasting Corporation the previous December, "Red Hot Country" was blown up in favor of WHTD "Hits 96," a

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

station. On April 5, 2004, after stunting with " Wild Thing" by

Tone Loc Anthony Terrell Smith (born March 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Tone Lōc (), is an American rapper, actor, and producer. He is known for his raspy voice, his hit songs " Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina", for which he was nomina ...

for a day, 96.3 flipped to an urban-leaning Rhythmic CHR format, branded as "Wild 96.3", and changed call letters to WNHT. The station was purchased by Summit City Radio Group in July 2004. In March 2014, Adams Radio Group entered an agreement to purchase Summit City's cluster (which includes WNHT). Days later, Adams announced they would purchase Oasis Radio Group's stations. To meet ownership limits, Adams will retain WNHT, WGL and

WXKE WXKE (96.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Churubusco, Indiana and serving the nearby Fort Wayne, Indiana area. The station airs a classic rock format. History 96.3 FM began operations as WKQM in April 1994, featuring an easy listening/ adul ...

, as well as acquiring Oasis Radio Group's

WJFX WJFX (107.9 FM) is a Top 40 radio station located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is owned and operated by Adams Radio Group, LLC. WJFX broadcasts three channels in the HD digital format. History The station was an urban contemporary formatted r ...

and

WBTU WBTU (93.3 FM) is an 18,500-watt radio station licensed to Kendallville, Indiana, serving Fort Wayne, Indiana. WBTU is owned by Adams Radio Group, LLC, through licensee Adams Radio of Fort Wayne, LLC. WBTU originally operated as WAWK-FM, a sist ...

, while selling off WHPP to Fort Wayne Catholic Radio, and selling WGL-FM to Calvary Radio Network. WLYV and two translators (on 96.9 FM and 103.3 FM) will also be acquired by Adams. The purchase, at a price of $6.4 million, was consummated on June 2, 2014. As a result, Adams plans on massive format restructuring. WNHT's entire airstaff were released on May 30, leading to rumors of a format change. On June 2, Adams announced that WXKE will move to the stronger 96.3 signal on June 11. At first, WNHT's format was speculated to move to the 96.9 FM translator, but on June 5, the station announced via Facebook that its format will be merged into WJFX, a top 40 station that had previously been formatted as urban contemporary and rhythmic contemporary. On June 13, 2014, the station took on the WXKE call sign.

External links

963 XKE's Website
* {{coord, 41.1037, N, 85.1789, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title XKE Classic rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Indiana