WJZX

Infobox Radio Station
name = WJZX


city = Brookfield, Wisconsin
area = Milwaukee, Wisconsin
branding = "Smooth Jazz 106.9"
slogan =
airdate = August 1995
frequency = 106.9 MHz
format = smooth jazz
erp = 4,400 watts
haat = 116 meters
class = A
facility_id = 67484
callsign_meaning = W JazZ X
former_callsigns = WLJU (2/1993-6/1995)
WFMI (6/1995-5/1997)
WXPT (5/1997-11/1997)
WPNT (11/1997-4/1999)
WMJO (4/1999-6/1999)
WJMR (6/1999-12/2000)
WFMR (12/2000-6/2007)
owner = Saga Communications
sister_stations = WHQG, WJMR-FM, WJYI, WKLH
webcast = [http://www.smoothjazz1069.com/pages/2366710.php? Listen Live]
website = [http://www.smoothjazz1069.com/ SmoothJazz1069.com]
affiliations =

WJZX (106.9 FM) is a smooth jazz radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, licensed to the suburb of Brookfield, with transmitter facilities at the Milwaukee Radio Group complex on the west side of Milwaukee. The station is owned by Saga Communications.

History

The 106.9 frequency came into being in Milwaukee when it was licensed as WLJU on February 10, 1993. The new station was owned by Harris Classical Broadcasting, which also owned Milwaukee's heritage classical station, WFMR. It formally signed on for the first time in August 1995 as WFMI, playing a satellite-fed smooth jazz format. A more powerful and resourceful station, WJZI, signed on with its own smooth jazz format in 1996, giving WFMI stiff competition.

Both stations were sold to Saga Communications and WFMI was quickly switched to a modern AC format, becoming WXPT on May 14, 1997. They were known on the air as "106.9 The Point". When Chicago's WPNT changed formats a few months later, 106.9 picked up the WPNT call sign. They had modest success for a small station, but a few of the bigger stations in the market took notice and adjusted their playlists to fight off the young suburban upstart.

Again, due to stiff competition, the format was changed again in April 1999, this time to a trendy new format known as Jammin' Oldies, and the call letters became WMJO (Milwaukee's Jammin' Oldies). The calls were changed a month later to WJMR and tag line to "Jammin' Hits" due to legal issues. The call sign for 106.9 became WFMR on December 12, 2000, after an in-house frequency swap with WJMR-FM.

Saga Communications moved WFMR to the 106.9 FM dial position, and WJMR-FM's urban AC format and call letters to 98.3 on December 12, 2000. This was done primarily to boost WJMR-FM's signal in the urban areas of Milwaukee, and to target WFMR toward the western and northern suburbs. Saga moved the studios to Milwaukee the year before, in 1999.

At midnight on June 26, 2007, ironically on the 51st anniversary of its original sign-on, WFMR ended its classical music format when it flipped to a smooth jazz format. The decision was made when a rival station, WJZI, dropped the format a week earlier for light adult contemporary music. On July 15, 2007, the station changed its call sign to WJZX. [ [http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=67484&Callsign=WJZX Call Sign History ] ]

On April 24, 2007, the FCC granted WFMR (now WJZX) a construction permit to move its transmitter from its current site in Menomonee Falls to the WJYI tower in Milwaukee. This move to a more central location in the market improved WJZX's coverage in the area. While the station's power was reduced to 4.4 kW, the antenna was higher on its new tower, with about the same reach as its prior signal.

ee also

*WKLH
*WJMR-FM
*WFMR (defunct)

References

External links

* [http://www.smoothjazz1069.com WJZX website]
*FMQ|WJZX
*FML|WJZX
*FMARB|WJZX
* [http://www.onmilwaukee.com/buzz/articles/milwradio.html Milwaukee radio: a retrospective]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060220130623/www.wfmr.com/history.asp History of WFMR (from the Internet Archive)]
* [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=624353 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article on flip to smooth jazz]