WXXJ (106.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

) is an FM radio station owned by

Cox Media Group CMG Media Corporation ( doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company pri ...

. It is licensed to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and serves the

Jacksonville metropolitan area The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the metropolitan area centered on the principal city of Jacksonville, Florida and including the First Coast of North Florida. According ...

with an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

format. WXXJ broadcasts with 6,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s of both horizontal and vertical power. The station's offices and studios are located at 8000 Belfort Parkway on the

Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of Newf ...

of Jacksonville, and the

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 the ...

tower is in the Arlington district.

History

According to th
Facility_id=28894&Callsign=WEZI FCC's Call Sign History
106.5 MHz was issued a construction permit WPVJ in July 1994. The station signed on as

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

WTLK-FM on September 30, 1996, and was known as Real Radio 106.5, with a

Hot Talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format. The most notable event during this part of the station's history was the return of The Greaseman to Jacksonville's airwaves. (Ironically, the Greaseman's previous time in Jacksonville had been on WAPE when it was on AM 690 (the current home of WOKV)). The Greaseman Show aired 6-10AM weekdays. Numerous nationally syndicated shows filled the 10AM-noon slot, including hosts Mike Walker,

Alan Keyes Alan Lee Keyes (born August 7, 1950) is an American politician, political activist, author, and perennial candidate who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. A member of the Repub ...

and

Bo Gritz James Gordon "Bo" Gritz (; born January 18, 1939) is an American former United States Army Special Forces officer and presidential candidate. After serving in the Vietnam War and retiring from the military, Gritz has worked on attempted POW res ...

. "The Judy Jarvis Show" aired between noon and 3PM, The

Don and Mike Show The ''Don and Mike Show'' was an American nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by the shock jocks Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara, which aired from December 1985 through April 11, 2008. The show debuted on WAVA-FM in 1985 as ''The Mornin ...

from 3-7 PM, The

Tom Leykis Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Show from 7-10PM, "Ferrall on the Bench" with

Scott Ferrall Scott Ferrall (born July 29, 1965) is an American sports talk radio personality who hosts two shows on the SportsGrid video streaming service, Scott Ferrall: Coast to Coast and In-Game Live. Scott's father Thomas C. Ferrall was a former radio p ...

from 10PM-1AM and

Joey Reynolds Joseph Pinto, better known as Joey Reynolds, is a long-time radio show host and disc jockey. Reynolds' broadcasting career started on TV in Buffalo at WGR TV 2 and he worked at various stations, including at WNBC. Career His first radio job was ...

aired overnights from 1-6. Weekend programming consisted of classic rock music provided by

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The compan ...

's syndicated "Adult Rock & Roll" format. WTLK flipped 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 ...

at 3 p.m. on January 16, 1998, becoming known as Big 106.5, and changing to the WBGB call letters in March 1998. At this time, the station was owned by Clear Channel Communications. The format change began with a 10,000 commercial-free song launch that ended on February 18, 1998. That morning, former WPLA and WNZS part-time air personality Randy Clemens became the first live local DJ on the station, with program director Steve Fox handling afternoon drive. The remaining dayparts were filled by

air talent, including Jeff Gonzer, Terry Gladstone, Tony Scott, Frazer Smith and Mackenzie Rae. WBGB was divested by Clear Channel, along with sister stations

WZNZ WZNZ (1600 AM) – branded Relevant Radio – is a non-commercial Catholic radio station licensed to Atlantic Beach, Florida. Owned by Relevant Radio, Inc., the station serves the Jacksonville metropolitan area but does not broadcast any local pr ...

, WZAZ, and WJGR, in the fall of 1999 to Concord Media Group. From there, it came under the ownership of

Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communica ...

, who in turn sold the station to Caron Broadcasting (a division of

Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Irv ...

) in 2003. Caron then flipped WBGB to

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

, branding the station as 106.5 The Promise. On July 6, 2006, Salem Communications entered into an agreement to sell WBGB to

for $7.7 million in cash. The last day the station broadcast as 106.5 The Promise was Monday, September 18, 2006. The format then moved to non-commercial religious broadcaster 88.1

WCRJ WCRJ (88.1 FM, "The Joy FM 88.1") is a Christian radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. Owned by Radio Training Network, it broadcasts a Christian AC format as part of its ''The Joy FM'' network, History Prior to 1993, WCRJ was WNCM-FM. The sta ...

, which adopted The Promise name, as well as a number of on-air staffers. In the afternoon on Tuesday, September 19, WBGB began stunting, letting listeners know that The Promise had moved to 88.1, and promising something "new and exciting" to come to 106.5 on Thursday, September 21. The new format of WBGB, a simulcast of talk station WOKV, was revealed o
Cox's Investor Relations website
on September 20. On May 1, 2013, the FM simulcast was transferred to 104.5 FM (formerly WFYV-FM). The move expanded its broadcast coverage area from Brunswick, Georgia south to Daytona Beach, Florida, southwest to Gainesville, Florida and west to Lake City, Florida. The simulcast on 106.5 FM continued for a short time as the station told listeners about the change. 106.5 FM officially dropped from the simulcast on May 23 at Midnight, and flipped to

Urban AC Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

as "Hot 106.5". The new format launched with a marathon playing of 10,000 songs in a row, which began with " P.Y.T." by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. The station changed its call sing to WHJX on the same day. On September 24, 2015, WHJX began simulcasting on translator W258CN (99.5 FM) as "Hot 99.5", and began redirecting listeners to the new frequency. On September 29, 2015, at Noon, 106.5 FM flipped to

soft 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, quiet sto ...

as "Easy 106.5", with the call sign already changed to WEZI five days prior. Core artists heard on WEZI include Elton John,

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

, Gloria Estefan and Billy Joel. On November 20, 2017, WEZI and sister station WXXJ (102.9 FM) swapped formats, with WEZI becoming

-formatted "X106.5". No other changes are expected on either station.X102.9 & Easy 106.5 Swap Frequencies In Jacksonville
/ref> The stations swapped call signs on November 26, 2017.

References

External links

* * {{COXMG XXJ (FM) Cox Media Group Radio stations established in 1996 1996 establishments in Florida