Alan Cox (radio presenter)

Alan Cox (born June 23, 1971 in Ft. Lee, VA) has been an American comedian and radio personality for fifteen years. Cox was most recently on the air at WKQX (Q101), in Chicago, Illinois. Before Q101, Cox was with stations in Rockford, IL and Kalamazoo, MI, before he began to come to prominence in the broadcast industry at WXDX in Pittsburgh.

Cox is known for his caustic wit, political comments, and controversial comedy routines. Defying conventional wisdom among radio personalities, Cox has been wildly successful despite divulging very little about his personal life.

Early career

Cox began writing and performing stand-up comedy during college in the early 90's. A classmate in a public speaking class recommended Cox try his hand at radio, and he got on the air for a short time at his college radio station. A chance meeting with an outgoing intern at [http://www.wlup.com WLUP-FM] (The Loop) in Chicago led to Cox filling the position for the "Jonathon Brandmeier Radio Showgram" , one of the most successful shows in Chicago radio history. Cox's intelligence, humor, and willingness to do a variety of on-air stunts for the show led to his hiring as assistant producer. After two years, Cox left The Loop to begin his own radio show. In September 1995, he was hired to do nights at [http://www.wrkr.com WRKR-FM] in Kalamazoo, MI. His irreverent comedy and outspoken style made the show an instant hit in the college town, and he was promoted to afternoon drive two years later. In December 1998, Cox was hired to fill the afternoon drive slot at WXDX-FM (105.9 The X) in Pittsburgh, then one of the country's most prominent and highly-rated alternative stations. "The Alan Cox Radio Show" debuted to mixed reviews but, after a year, his mix of sociopolitical commentary, high- and low-brow comedy, and verbal sparring with listeners on a wide array of topics quickly made Cox one of the most popular personalities in the market. He soon began writing columns for local newspapers and magazines, as well as being hired by the NHL to be the arena host for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After one year on the air, Cox was hired by Pittsburgh's PBS affiliate WQED to provide a young, liberal face and voice for a new weekly panel segment on a newsmagazine show called "On Q." The segment, which placed Cox onstage with local conservative host Fred Honsberger, radio host Lynn Cullen, and think-tank advisor Jerry Bowyer became so popular that it was spun off into a new show called "Off Q". Despite some lineup changes, Cox's visibility in the market grew exponentially and the PBS show provided the perfect complement to his radio show, as it introduced his intelligence and humor to an older audience unfamiliar with his work on WXDX. In June 2004, "The Alan Cox Radio Show" was moved to mornings after WXDX's parent company, Clear Channel, dropped The Howard Stern Show for content issues. While Cox's show took some time to reboot for a new audience, his popularity provided an easier transition than most stations losing Stern.

In June 2006, Cox was suddenly informed by WXDX management that his contract would not be renewed. Despite solid ratings, and an extremely loyal audience, station management said they "wanted to go in a different direction". Speculation was that Clear Channel Communications simply wouldn't justify Cox's increasingly lucrative contract, and dumped the show in a cost-cutting move.

Current

In August 2006, Cox was hired to return to Chicago as the host of "The Morning Fix", a new conceptual ensemble show at heritage alternative WKQX-FM (Q101). (Ironically, this put Cox down the hall from his former mentor Brandmeier, who returned to host mornings at WLUP after the station was purchased by Emmis in 2005.) "The Morning Fix" combined the sensibilities of improv and stand-up comedy with traditional radio elements and replaced the outgoing Mancow Muller, who had been Q101's morning host for nearly a decade. In November 2007, the ensemble members of the Morning Fix were let go, citing high cost and insufficient ratings. Cox and sports anchor Jim Lynam were asked to stay and create a more music-intensive show, in line with recent audience research results. The new show was a looser, more conversational, and caller-intensive incarnation of the former show. Listeners of the show during its first hour became branded as "Frontliners" and were encouraged to check in with the pair via wireless text messages. On August 1, 2008, Alan Cox & co-host Jim Lynam's "Morning Fix" was canceled. They were replaced temporarily by Q101 weekend DJ Alex Quigley until August 11th, 2008, when Q101's former late afternoon duo Sherman and Tingle took over the WKQX morning duties. Ironically, the most recent ratings placed Cox and Lynam in the top 5 rankings, leading some to speculate that the change was financially motivated, due to the Emmis's sagging stock price.

External links

* [http://www.postgazette.com/tv/20020502alancox2.asp Radio host Alan Cox's caustic, hip and raunchy barbs pull in listeners]
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06178/701330-80.stm Alan Cox let go from WXDX-FM]
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06245/718305-80.stm Cox lands in Chicago]
* [http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=266819 Q101 assembles new morning team]
* [http://jacobsmedia.com/q101_press1.htm Q101 mornings turn to newsradio for laughs]
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* [http://www.suntimes.com/business/1086558,emmis080108.article Q101 dumps the Morning Fix]