WPXZ-FM

Infobox Radio station
name = WPXZ


area = Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania / DuBois
branding = "104.1 FM WPXZ"
slogan =
airdate = December 12, 1973
frequency = 104.1(mHz)
format = Adult contemporary, sports
erp = 3000 watts
class =
owner = Renda Radio, Inc. (Renda Broadcasting Corporation)
website = http://www.wpxz1041fm.com/
callsign_meaning = "Punxy" (nickname of Punxsutawney)

WPXZ is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, known as the "Weather Capital of the World". The station operates at a federally-assigned frequency of 104.1 mHz and an effective radiated power of 3,000 Watts. WPXZ, and its co-located WECZ-AM and WKQL-FM sister stations, are all owned by Pittsburgh-based Renda Broadcasting Corporation.

WPME-FM Punxsutawney, a "shadow" of its AM sister

WPXZ originally signed on the air at 105.5 mHz as WPME-FM and as a simulcast of its daytime-only AM sister, which bore the same call letters until an ownership change in 1981, when both stations switched their call letters to WPXZ, to more accurately reflect its mission as a service to Punxsutawney. Both stations continued to simulcast one another until 1989, when management decided to split both stations in response to the growing number of vehicles equipped with FM radios, as well as an effort to increase revenue.

While WPXZ-AM became WECZ and adopted its own new format of MOR and nostalgia music, WPXZ continued to operate under its longtime format of soft adult contemporary music. The station had a full-service feel to it, as it offered ABC national news, high school sports, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball (the day games were on WECZ and the night games on WPXZ), and other local themed programming.

For a period of about fifteen years, WPXZ also operated a second studio and office location in downtown Brookville, the seat of government for Jefferson County, which did not have a local station of its own at the time. This office was closed in the mid 1990's.

It was also the proving ground for young and upcoming radio talent. Alan Freed (is his real name, but not the legendary DJ who coined "rock and roll") explained to 440.com..."We were only on the air from 6am to midnight, so the first person on the air in the morning had to cross his fingers & hope that the transmitter (known to us as "Eileen" — as in "Come on Eileen") would actually start when we fired it up. I came in to do my Sunday morning shift (I was the lucky 16 year old who ran the God Squad tapes at the time), and the transmitter wouldn't start."

It went downhill from there, according to Freed. "I drove up to the transmitter building to try a trick that the PD had taught me. "Slam the door of the transmitter if it doesn't start," he told me. I interpreted this to mean, "Slam the door of the shack that housed the transmitter." This made no sense to me, but I tried it. I slammed the door on the shack repeatedly with no luck. I got angry & decided to try a bit more unorthodox method."

The more unorthodox method Freed mentioned turned out to be an understatement, to say the least. "I decided to ram my car into the building to see if that would make it go (what the heck, it wasn't exactly a Porsche!) Needless to say, this didn't help either. It wasn't until later that I learned that there was a metal door on the transmitter itself that you could slam to get it to start (this method actually worked most of the time!) The car died years ago, but the building is still doing fine, thank you very much." Freed today owns a web-based company in Pittsburgh, where he has lived for the past two decades with his wife and daughter.

Tragedy strikes: WPXZ newsman murdered

In the summer of 1991, and in a tragic story that made world news headlines, WECZ/WPXZ news director Robert L. Curry was murdered in his home by a known intruder. The accused murderer who broke into the house and fatally shot Curry turned out to be the ex-boyfriend of his teenage daughter. The man is now serving a life prison sentence without parole for the crime. Curry had been employed at the station since 1962, while he was still in high school and before the FM went on the air. The following is a text from the September 20, 1992 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's archives:

cquote|Jury selection in the murder trial of Joel Robert Davis, 20, of Big Run, accused in the 1991 killing of Punxsutawney newscaster Bob Curry, will begin tomorrow in the main courtroom of the Jefferson County Courthouse in Brookville.

Davis has been charged with criminal homicide, which includes a first-degree murder charge, burglary, felonious restraint and terroristic threats.

He has been lodged in Jefferson County jail and has undergone psychiatric evaluation since he surrendered to Punxsutawney police the day after the shooting.

Accused of entering Curry's Pine Street home in the early hours of July 5, 1991, and killing him, Davis is represented by defense attorney F. Cortez "Chip" Bell III of Clearfield. Bell said Davis will plead not guilty. ``He wants a trial by jury. He disputes the circumstances which were cited in the preliminary hearings and he disputes the charges filed against him," Bell said.

Jefferson County District Attorney Mark Wallisch told the Tribune-Review that if Davis is found guilty of first-degree murder, he will seek the death penalty.

Senior Judge Edwin L. Snyder of the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas will preside over the trial instead of President Judge William L. Henry, who was elected to the bench in last November's general election.

According to the court administrator's office, Snyder heard the pretrial motions because Henry was at a seminar for newly elected county judges in Philadelphia. Since Snyder heard the preliminary motions, he volunteered to preside over the trial. Snyder has just completed a 20-year term as president judge.

Security will be "very tight," according to Jefferson County Sheriff Harry "Ed" Dunkle, who is in charge of security measures.

"The court hasn't told me to release exactly what type security measures will be taken, but they will definitely be tight," Dunkle said.

Curry, who was 46 at the time of his death, had been a newscaster for many years for Punxsutawney radio stations WPXZ-FM and WECZ-AM. He was a Punxsutawney native.

Immediately after selection of the 12-member jury and two alternates, testimony will begin.

According to the court administrator's office, the jury could be selected by noon Tuesday.

This is the first murder trial to be heard by a jury in Jefferson County since 1978. There have been several murder trials since that time, but they were all heard before the presiding judge.

Verdict: Davis guilty...appeals process begins

Because of the intense publicity surrounding this trial, jurors were sequestered for the duration of the 10-day trial. On October 1, 1992, jurors delivered a verdict of guilty on the following charges...second-degree murder, unlawful restraint, and making terroristic threats. Though prosecutors had sought the death penalty, the second-degree murder charge yielded Davis a life prison sentence. In November 1992, attorneys for Davis filed a motion for reconsideration, which was denied. Davis' attorneys filed an appeal the following month with Pennsylvania's Superior Court.

Superior Court granted Davis' appeal in September 1993, with a subsequent motion being filed to quash the appeal. In February 1994, the Superior Court ruled to affirm the ruling in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. Another appeal to the Superior Court was filed in October 2001, more than a decade after Curry's death. Again, the Superior Court affirmed the lower court sentence. As of August 2008, Davis' most recent request for sanctions has been denied. [http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/docketsheets/CPReport.aspx?matterID=7177739]

WKQL: another station joins the fray

In 1996, Renda received permission to put another FM station on the air. In order for the new station to go on the air, many existing FM stations would have to shuffle their frequencies in order to fit the channel in its assigned community of Brookville, some 15 miles away from Punxsutawney. One of the affected stations was WPXZ. Renda gave up the 105.5 frequency for WPXZ to move to 104.1. The new Brookville station debuted in 2000 under an oldies format, the call letters WBEU (later changed to WYTR and then WMUV for a week, and finally WKQL as of October 2006) and the moniker "Kool 103.3."

In a 2004 management change, WPXZ moved to more CHR-based adult contemporary format in an effort to hip up WPXZ's stodgy image of tired music. The change also resulted in scaling back the station's news content, which did not go over well with listeners.

WPXZ today

In April 2005, WPXZ underwent management changes at the administrative, programming and sales levels. Increased efforts at local news and sports, as well as community-oriented events, resulted in a very successful turnaround for all three stations. The music also shifted from a CHR-based AC to an 80's oldies based AC, which improved listenership.

The station features local news segments with Josh Widdowson. WPXZ participates in a news exchange agreement with CBS affiliate WTAJ-TV in Altoona, which also provides audio weather forecasts for WPXZ.

External links

* [http://www.wpxz1041fm.com/ WPXZ-FM official website]
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