WXEX (AM)

WXEX (1540 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Exeter, New Hampshire, and covering the New Hampshire Seacoast region and Southern Maine. The station airs an oldies radio format. The station's license is held by Port Broadcasting LLC.[1][2] The station simulcasts its sister station, 92.1 WXEX-FM in Sanford, Maine. In addition, listeners can tune in the station's FM translator at 97.1 MHz, W246BP, also based in Exeter, which offers another simulcast of WXEX.

WXEX
Simulcast of WXEX-FM, Sanford, Maine
Broadcast areaSeacoast Region & Southern Maine
Frequency1540 kHz
BrandingSeacoast Oldies
Programming
FormatOldies
Ownership
Owner
  • Andrew Hartmann
  • (Port Broadcasting LLC)
WWSF, WXEX-FM
History
First air date
June 4, 1966 (as WKXR)
Former call signs
  • WKXR (1966–1982)
  • WMYF (1982–1998)
  • WGIP (1998–2009)
Call sign meaning
Greater Exeter area
Technical information
Facility ID53386
ClassD
Power
Transmitter coordinates
42°59′23″N 70°56′14″W
Translator(s)
  • 97.1 W246BP (Exeter)
  • 107.5 W298CU (Chester)
Links
WebcastListen live
Websiteseacoastoldies.com

AM 1540 is a clear-channel frequency reserved for Class A stations KXEL in Waterloo, Iowa, and ZNS-1 in Nassau, Bahamas. WXEX broadcasts at 5,000 watts by day, but reduces its power to three watts at night.

History

The AM 1540 frequency in Exeter went on the air on June 4, 1966, as WKXR.[3] It was owned by Frank Estes, who also owned WKXL in Concord, New Hampshire.[4] Estes sold the station in 1978,[4] and on March 10, 1982, the station was renamed WMYF.[5] Those call letters stood for "The Music of Your Life," a syndicated adult standards format.[6]

In 1998, Capstar acquired WMYF from CBS Radio.[7] (CBS had obtained the station after its purchase of American Radio Systems.)[8] The station began to simulcast the news/talk format of 610 WGIR, a sister station in Manchester, New Hampshire.[9] A call change to WGIP followed on October 2.[5] The WMYF call letters would later be moved down the AM dial to 1380 AM, which would retain them until that station's closure in 2015.

Capstar and Chancellor Media announced in August 1998 that they would merge (Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst was a major shareholder in both companies);[10] upon the merger's completion in July 1999, the combined company was named AMFM Inc.[11] AMFM was in turn acquired by Clear Channel Communications in a deal announced on October 4, 1999,[12] and completed in August 2000.[13]

Logo used from August 11, 2011, through August 20, 2015

After WGIP was placed into the Aloha Station Trust in 2008 as a result of the privatization of Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia, Inc.),[14] the station was sold to Aruba Capital Holdings, LLC in 2009.[15] After Aruba closed on the sale on March 9, 2009, the call letters were changed to WXEX[5] and the WGIR simulcast was discontinued. WXEX relaunched with an oldies format[16] on March 16, 2009.[17] On August 11, 2011, the station began simulcasting with 92.1 WXEX-FM in Sanford, Maine, which Aruba had acquired earlier in the year.[18]

On April 14, 2015, WXEX owner Aruba Capital Holdings LLC entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with WNBP/WWSF owner Port Broadcasting LLC whereby the latter assumed operational control of WXEX and WXEX-FM. On August 20, 2015, WXEX and its FM sister station shifted their format from classic hits to classic rock, branded as "Classic Rock 92.1"; the move was made to distinguish WXEX from WWSF's oldies format.[19] Effective January 31, 2017, Aruba Capital sold WXEX, WXEX-FM, and W246BP to LMA partner Port Broadcasting. In return, Aruba Capital received a 26.9% stake in Port Broadcasting, giving Aruba Capital principal Andrew Hartmann a controlling interest in the new licensee.

During Labor Day Weekend in 2018, WXEX and WXEX-FM stunted with a broadcast of the Drake-Chenault documentary The History of Rock and Roll. On September 3, 2018, the stations changed to an oldies format, branded as Seacoast Oldies, in effect reversing the 2015 format change.[20]

Port Broadcasting agreed to sell WXEX and WXEX-FM to the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) for $690,000 in April 2023. EMF already operated Air1 station WNHI in Farmington, with its K-Love network only available via stations in surrounding markets.[21]

References
  1. "WXEX Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. "WXEX Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1968 page F-103
  4. "NHAB Alumni: Frank Estes". New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters. October 28, 2001. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  5. "WXEX Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  6. Fybush, Scott (June 5, 1997). "ARS Grows Again". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  7. Fybush, Scott (July 7, 1998). "North East RadioWatch". Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  8. Fybush, Scott (September 19, 1997). "Extra: CBS buys ARS". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  9. Fybush, Scott (October 1, 1998). "WNNZ Sold to Clear Channel". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  10. Littleton, Cynthia (August 28, 1998). "Chancellor, Capstar ink merger". Variety. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  11. "Chancellor/Capstar merger creates AMFM Inc". Austin Business Journal. July 13, 1999. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  12. "Clear Channel, AMFM deal". CNN Money. October 4, 1999. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  13. Variety Staff (August 30, 2000). "Clear Channel brings AMFM into focus". Variety. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  14. Fybush, Scott (January 28, 2008). "Now Ryan's Gone at WLTW, Too". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  15. Fybush, Scott (January 12, 2009). "Santos Exits Amidst WBZ Changes". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  16. Fybush, Scott (March 16, 2009). ""Now," NY's K-Rock is History". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  17. Feals, Jennifer (March 27, 2009). "Exeter launches AM radio station". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  18. Sanborn, Aaron (August 24, 2011). "Exeter radio station WXEX moving to FM". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  19. WXEX Shifts to Classic Rock
  20. WXEX Flips to Seacoast Oldies Radioinsight - September 4, 2018
  21. Venta, Lance (April 14, 2023). "EMF Acquires Seacoast Oldies WXEX/WXEX-FM". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
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