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WOXO-FM

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Coordinates: 44°17′47.2″N 70°37′3.2″W / 44.296444°N 70.617556°W / 44.296444; -70.617556
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"WEZR-FM" redirects here. For the FM radio station in Manassas, Virginia, that held the call sign WEZR from 1968 to 1985, see WJFK-FM.
WOXO-FM
Broadcast areaLewiston–Auburn
Frequency92.7 MHz
BrandingWOXO Country 92.7 & 100.7
Programming
FormatCountry
Ownership
Owner
  • Bennett Radio Group
  • (Bennett Radio Group, LLC)
WEZR, WPNO, WIGY-FM, WIGY, Channel X Radio
History
First air date
December 12, 1970; 54 years ago (1970-12-12) (as WNWY-FM at 105.5)[1]
Former call signs
  • WNWY-FM (1970–1976)
  • WOXO (1976–1981)
  • WOXO-FM (1981–2016)
  • WEZR-FM (2016–2019)
Former frequencies
105.5 MHz (1970–1974)
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID67698
ClassC3
ERP5,200 watts
HAAT244 meters (801 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
44°17′47.2″N 70°37′3.2″W / 44.296444°N 70.617556°W / 44.296444; -70.617556
Links
Public license information
Webcast
Websitewoxo.com

WOXO-FM (92.7 FM, "WOXO Country 92.7 & 100.7") is a radio station licensed to serve Norway, Maine, United States. Established in 1970 as WNWY-FM, the station is owned by Bennett Radio Group.[3] WOXO-FM broadcasts a country music format, and simulcasts on Mexico sister station WIGY-FM (100.7).

History

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WOXO-FM signed on December 12, 1970,[1] as WNWY-FM under the ownership of Oxford Hills Radio Communications.[4] The station originally operated on 105.5 FM with a middle of the road format. By 1974, WNWY had moved to 92.7 FM,[5] a change made to accommodate the move of Skowhegan station WTOS-FM from 107.1 to 105.1,[6] and was programming contemporary music, country music, pop, and gold.[5]

Richard Gleason, the general manager of WSKW and WTOS in Skowhegan, bought WNWY-FM for $120,000 in 1975;[7][8] the following year, the call letters were changed to WOXO[9] to reflect the station's service to Oxford County and the Oxford Hills.[8] By 1978, WOXO's top 40 format was 80-percent simulcast with WXIV (1450 AM) in South Paris, which Gleason acquired in 1976.[10] In 1981, WOXO dropped the top 40 format in favor of country music after Gleason conducted a survey that found that a country-formatted station would be highly rated.[8] WOXO-FM's country format was simulcast on 1450 AM, which had taken on the WOXO call letters,[6] until the early 1980s, when the AM station shifted to religious programming; in 1986, that station changed its call letters to WKTQ.[6] In 1990, Gleason bought WTBM (100.7 FM) in Mexico;[11] that station then became a simulcast of WOXO-FM.[6]

Logo as "Maine's Big Z"

WOXO-FM's country format moved to WKTQ, which took on the WOXO call letters, on August 1, 2016. Concurrently, the station changed its call letters to WEZR-FM and began simulcasting the hot adult contemporary format of Lewiston sister station WEZR (1240 AM), expanding that station's reach to serve the entirety of the Western Maine Mountains region and parts of Carroll County, New Hampshire, and the WOXO-FM call letters were transferred to WTBM, which continued to air WOXO's country music programming.[12][13] In April 2019, WEZR-FM returned to simulcasting country music with WOXO-FM, with the simulcast of WEZR's hot adult contemporary programming moving to WOXO (AM) (now WPNO).[14] The move back to country increased competition for the country audience in the Lewiston-Auburn market with heritage outlet WTHT along with North Conway, New Hampshire-based WPKQ (which switched to a WCYY simulcast in 2021). On September 27, 2019, the WOXO-FM call sign was moved back to 92.7, with 100.7 briefly taking on the WEZR-FM call sign[15] before changing to WRMO-FM.

WOXO-FM, along with its sister stations, went off the air March 29, 2020, citing financial considerations that included expected reduction in advertising revenue attributed to COVID-19.[16] The stations had been up for sale following the death of owner Dick Gleason in February 2019.[17] A sale of the Gleason Media Group stations to Bennett Radio Group was announced in May 2020.[18]

Bennett Radio Group's purchase, at a price of $300,000, was consummated on August 5, 2020. On August 10, 2020, WOXO-FM returned to the airwaves by its new owners.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-200. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WOXO-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "WOXO-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1972 (PDF). 1972. p. B-93. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Broadcasting Yearbook 1975 (PDF). 1975. p. C-84. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d Fybush, Scott. "Maine Radio History, 1971–1996". The Archives at BostonRadio.org. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  7. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 11, 1975. p. 30. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Marois, Dan (2016–2017). "Hitting the Airwaves For Over 40 Years". Oxford Hills Magazine. pp. 28–9. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  9. ^ "Call letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 8, 1976. p. 68. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  10. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1978 (PDF). 1978. pp. C-96–7. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  11. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 8, 1990. p. 64. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  12. ^ Crosby, Christopher (August 1, 2016). "Radio station WOXO changes frequencies". Sun Journal. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  13. ^ Venta, Lance (July 29, 2016). "WEZR & WOXO Lewiston On The Move". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  14. ^ WOXO & WEZR Swap Frequencies Radioinsight - April 4, 2019
  15. ^ [1] Radioinsight - October 6, 2019
  16. ^ "WOXO says farewell to listeners; Gleason Radio Group to go silent after 45 years". Lewiston Sun Journal. March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  17. ^ Venta, Lance (March 25, 2020). "Gleason Media To Shut Down Cluster In Lewiston/Auburn". RadioInsight. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  18. ^ Binnie VP/Programming Stan Bennett Acquires Silent Maine Cluster Lance Venta, Radio Insight, May 26, 2020.
  19. ^ Relaunches As WIGY Following Return of WOXO Lance Venta, RadioInsight, August 11, 2020.
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