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The History...
As Dustin Hoffman said in the movie Rain Man, "97X--Bam!--The Future of Rock & Roll"...launched our Alternative (Modern Rock) format in September, 1983. Entrepreneurs Doug and Linda Balogh had bought Oxford, Ohio's WOXY 97.7 FM in 1981 for $375,000 with hopes to try something completely different from the station's struggling Top 40 format. That "something different" was Alternative and Modern Rock, and our archivist's best record-keeping indicates we were the sixth commercial Modern Rock station in the country. On Labor Day weekend in 1983, we kicked off our new format with U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
In January 2004, after 23 years, the Baloghs announced the sale of the broadcast license and assets of WOXY-FM to First Broadcasting Investment Partners of Dallas. All rights and ownership of the intellectual property of 97X The Future of Rock and Roll, woxy.com and the music library were retained with plans of taking 97X Internet-only. With the deteriorating state of commercial broadcast radio and the growth of broadband Internet access, it seemed like the perfect plan. The search for funding for the project began immediately while a sign-off date of May 13th loomed on the horizon. When Thursday, May 13th came but no funding had been secured, 97X signed off shortly after midnight, thought never to be heard from again.
The following morning can only be described as a Frank Capra moment. In the parking lot while packing our cars with the contents of our emptied desks, we were approached by an acquaintance of our two, anonymous angel investors. On July 12th, after a few months of sorting out paperwork and buying new equipment, 97X signed on once again and began a new life as possibly the first terrestrial radio station to make the move to an Internet-only entity.
We are back streaming live each weekday with Mike hosting the 9am-1pm shift, Shiv hosting from 1pm-5pm, and Joe wraps up the broadcast day from 5-10 (eastern). Our live, in-studio Lounge Act sessions also happen frequently during the week, so keep an eye on our website to see who is stopping by!
In the tri-state area, you can also now hear our broadcast in HD Radio. Tune us in on WVXU-HD2 @ 91.7!
Check out the Lounge Act archives and download all of our recent performances here:
http://www.woxy.com/music/loungeacts/
