WXRX (commonly known as "The X") is an FM

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 radi ...

, broadcasting at 104.9 FM. Licensed to Belvidere, Illinois, the station serves the Rockford, Illinois area. Originally created by a company called "Radio Works" run by David McAley and Robert Rhea Jr., it is now owned by

Mid-West Family Broadcasting Mid-West Family Broadcasting is an independently owned broadcasting company based in Madison, Wisconsin. The company owns and manages radio stations in Madison, Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, La Crosse, Wisconsin, Benton Harbor/ St. Joseph, Mic ...

. WXRX started as 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, prima ...

station. WXRX broadcasts two channels in the HD format. Popular

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

s that have worked for WXRX include

Jonathon Brandmeier Jonathon "Johnny B" Brandmeier (born July 15, 1956) is a Chicago radio personality and musician. Career Born John Francis Brandmeier to a German father and a Lebanese mother, Brandmeier started his radio career in 1973 at WFON in Fond du Lac, Wi ...

, Tim Crull, Cheryl Jackson as K.C. Meadows, Sky Drysdale, Alan Cox, Jamie Markley, Mark Zander Jim Stone, as Mark Edwards, Lori Hastings, and Pete McMurray. In the 1992 motion picture ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman'' (1989) and the second installment in the 1989–1997 ''Batman ...

'', WXRX is a fictional

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the eart ...

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

History

The station went on the air as WKWL on February 27, 1971 playing a "Good Music" format and affiliated with the ABC news network. The 300 foot tower was co-located with the studios on N. Bell School Road in Rockford. A fire in the basement where the transmitter was located burned the entire building to the ground. The license was acquired in December, 1974, and the station was rebuilt at the Cherryvale Mall. It returned to the air in 1976 with the call letters WYBR (for "We're the Yellow Brick Road"), transmitting from a 300' tower in the Cherryvale parking lot, with studios inside the mall in suite E-114.The 1978 Broadcasting Yearbook The initial format was termed "Theatre of the Mind", and the first airstaff included many people with theatrical background. Actress

Susan Saint James Susan Saint James (born Susan Jane Miller; August 14, 1946) is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially the detective series ''McMillan & Wife'' (1971–1976) and ...

was a frequent visitor and contributor to station programming elements. The format gradually migrated to an

Adult Contemporary 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, quie ...

/ MOR format in the late 70s. Future WLUP jock Jonathon "Johnny B." Brandmeier was the morning DJ from 1978 to 1980. The station changed to

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 "cont ...

in 1983, then to

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, prima ...

in October, 1986. RadioWorks, Inc acquired WYBR-FM (and WRRR-AM) in August 1989. Over the next four months, the Company undertook a total upgrade of the station's audio chain. The debut of WXRX at midnight on January 1, 1990 was supported by an intensive TV advertising campaign. A year and a half after the debut, WXRX rose to #1 in the market according to the Arbitron report. This displaced WROK and WZOK after a 25-year span where one or the other had been #1 overall in Rockford. In October 1992 Pete McMurray was hired as WXRX's 1st ever morning DJ, along with Linda Lampert as his co-host and thus "McMurray and Lampert in the Morning" was born. No morning show in the history of WXRX has achieved higher ratings or a bigger following than Pete McMurray and Linda Lampert. Then after almost 5 years at WXRX Linda Lampert had left in 1996, and then in 1998 after 6 rockin' years at WXRX morning DJ Pete McMurray had also too left for WCKG in Chicago, IL. From 1992 to 1996 Pete McMurray and Linda Lampert reigned as the king and queen of Rockford morning radio.

References

External links

Official website of WXRX
* * * {{Rockford Radio XRX Mass media in Rockford, Illinois Radio stations established in 1971