WLXC
Encyclopedia
WLXC is an Urban Adult Contemporary
radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina
and serves the Columbia market. The Cumulus Media
outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to broadcast at 103.1 MHz with an effective radiated power
(ERP) of 6 kW. The station goes by the name 103.1 Kiss FM and its current slogan is "R&B From The 80's, 90's and Today."
.
Originally, WLXC was to be launched on August 26, 1994, but it was postponed due to area storm damage from the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl
(which produced several tornadoes in and near the town of Lexington) as well as problems with the station's phone lines. Finally on August 31, WLXC signed on with a sports radio
format known as "98.5 The Ticket".
Local airstaff for WLXC in its first year included station general manager/part-owner Jim Forrest and Tom Hayes for mornings, Gary Pozik for mid-mornings (with a health and fitness show, which was dropped months later), Ken Wall for early afternoons, Matt Hogue for late afternoons and Phil Kornblut for evenings (which was moved after several months of being pre-empted by games to All-News
outlet WVOC II
). National sports–talk programming, which included "The Fabulous Sports Babe
", came from "American Radio Sports Network". Several months after WLXC signed on, "American Sports Radio" was sold to "One-On-One Sports Network".
While the station gained the rights for several national and regional sporting events, it had struggled in landing sporting events from the area's two most-popular teams: The University Of South Carolina
and Clemson University
, primarily because both teams were already locked up in the Columbia market on other stations. At one point, WLXC came close to acquiring Clemson sporting rights when their radio network was sold to a different syndication group. Attempts by WLXC to acquire the rights were blocked when the area's then-Clemson affiliate, Oldies
outlet WOMG
, threatened the station with a lawsuit. Arbitron
ratings for WLXC were almost non-existent throughout the entire year, scoring as low as 0.3 at one point.
In late 1995, after WLXC's transaction to HFS Communications was completed, the station was sold shortly afterwards for $1.4 million to Baker Broadcasting, headed up by Frank Baker, a former WOMG general manager and a partner in HFS Communications. Baker at the time was the owner of WWBZ in McClellanville
and had also recently acquired WNCK
in Port Royal
. Both stations operated a Charleston
-based syndicated Beach music
format known as "The Breeze", which Baker partially owned. In December, after weeks of rumors, WLXC announced that the format would be changed to "The Breeze" as well.
Airstaff on "The Breeze" network included veteran brother duo Leo and Woody Windham for mornings (both have been fixtures for many years in the Columbia radio market as well as part-owners of the network), Tanya Roberts (a former WOMG air talent) for middays, Bob Boswell for afternoons, and Eddie Zomerfield for nights. Also, in a strange twist of irony, WLXC was able to acquire Clemson football and baseball rights beginning in the fall of 1996 when an agreement was worked out with WOMG to divide the sports package between both stations.
Despite these changes, WLXC failed to gain traction in the Columbia ratings over the next couple of years, although it had a small but loyal following. In late February 1999, Baker Broadcasting announced that WLXC was sold for $3.2 million to Bloomington Broadcasting Corp. a company that owned local stations WTCB
, WOMG, and WISW
.
Immediately after the sale closed, WLXC ended "The Breeze" simulcast and took the station off the air following a Clemson men's basketball game on February 28. This move was in preparation for the studios to be relocated from Lexington to the Granby Building in Cayce
, where Bloomington's other stations are located.
On March 4, at 3 p.m., WLXC signed back on with its present Urban Adult Contemporary
format under the "98.5 Kiss FM" handle. The station ran commercial-free in its first two weeks on the air using a mixture of local and Dallas
-based ABC Radio Network "The Touch" Urban AC format air talent, including morning man Carlton Booth. Several week later, Carlton Booth morning show was dropped for the syndicated Tom Joyner
Morning Show.
With the addition of Joyner and local afternoon host Kevin Holiday, WLXC's ratings jumped to fourth place in its first book (Summer, 1999), one of the strongest debuts in Columbia radio history for a new station.
In 2005, WLXC achieved success when it went to #1 12+ in the summer Arbitron ratings with a 7.5 share, its highest to date. However, ratings slipped to 11th place in the next book as WWDM reclaimed the top spot.
On April 1, 2008, Citadel Broadcasting
moved the urban contemporary format from 98.5 FM to 103.1 FM. The Oldies
format then heard on 103.1 FM moved to 98.5 FM, along with the WOMG
calls. The WLXC calls were moved to 98.5 FM.
Citadel merged with Cumulus Media
on September 16, 2011. .
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
and serves the Columbia market. The Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...
outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to broadcast at 103.1 MHz with an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
(ERP) of 6 kW. The station goes by the name 103.1 Kiss FM and its current slogan is "R&B From The 80's, 90's and Today."
History
98.5 was allocated in the early 1990s as part of an FCC docket that would allow the Columbia metro area several new radio stations. The license was eventually awarded to Lexington Communications, which applied for the WLXC call letters. Before construction started, Lexington Communications agreed to sell the station to HFS Communications, another group, on the condition that WLXC was operated by the company for a period of one year before completing the transaction. Studios for the station were constructed in the town of Lexington while the transmitting facilities were built near the village of Red BankRed Bank, South Carolina
Red Bank is a census-designated place in Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,811 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area-Geography:...
.
Originally, WLXC was to be launched on August 26, 1994, but it was postponed due to area storm damage from the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl
Tropical Storm Beryl (1994)
Tropical Storm Beryl, was the second named storm of the 1994 Atlantic hurricane season. Beryl originated north of Puerto Rico as an upper-level low pressure system, then passed over Florida, then entered the gulf where it became a tropical depression. The storm had advisories on it for five days;...
(which produced several tornadoes in and near the town of Lexington) as well as problems with the station's phone lines. Finally on August 31, WLXC signed on with a sports radio
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
format known as "98.5 The Ticket".
Local airstaff for WLXC in its first year included station general manager/part-owner Jim Forrest and Tom Hayes for mornings, Gary Pozik for mid-mornings (with a health and fitness show, which was dropped months later), Ken Wall for early afternoons, Matt Hogue for late afternoons and Phil Kornblut for evenings (which was moved after several months of being pre-empted by games to All-News
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
outlet WVOC II
WCOS (AM)
WCOS is a sports talk radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina and serves the Columbia market. The Clear Channel Communications outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 1400 kHz with an ERP of 1 kW...
). National sports–talk programming, which included "The Fabulous Sports Babe
The Fabulous Sports Babe
Nanci Donnellan, best known by her title of "The Fabulous Sports Babe," is an American sports radio broadcaster, currently broadcasting on WHBO in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. She is best known nationally for being syndicated across the United States on both ESPN Radio and ESPN2, from 1994 until 2001...
", came from "American Radio Sports Network". Several months after WLXC signed on, "American Sports Radio" was sold to "One-On-One Sports Network".
While the station gained the rights for several national and regional sporting events, it had struggled in landing sporting events from the area's two most-popular teams: The University Of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
and Clemson University
Clemson University
Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
, primarily because both teams were already locked up in the Columbia market on other stations. At one point, WLXC came close to acquiring Clemson sporting rights when their radio network was sold to a different syndication group. Attempts by WLXC to acquire the rights were blocked when the area's then-Clemson affiliate, Oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
outlet WOMG
WOMG
WOMG is an Oldies radio station licensed to Lexington, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 98.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 6 kW...
, threatened the station with a lawsuit. Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings for WLXC were almost non-existent throughout the entire year, scoring as low as 0.3 at one point.
In late 1995, after WLXC's transaction to HFS Communications was completed, the station was sold shortly afterwards for $1.4 million to Baker Broadcasting, headed up by Frank Baker, a former WOMG general manager and a partner in HFS Communications. Baker at the time was the owner of WWBZ in McClellanville
McClellanville, South Carolina
McClellanville is a small fishing town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 459 at the 2000 census. It is situated on the Atlantic coast, on land surrounded by Francis Marion National Forest and has traditionally derived its livelihood from the sea and coastal...
and had also recently acquired WNCK
WXST
WXST is a Gold-based Urban Adult Contemporary radio station located in Charleston, South Carolina, but licensed by the FCC to the town of Hollywood, South Carolina. The station broadcasts with an ERP of 70 kW.-History:...
in Port Royal
Port Royal, South Carolina
Port Royal is a town in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Largely because of annexation of surrounding areas , the population of Port Royal rose from 3,950 in 2000 to 10,678 in 2010, a 170% increase. As defined by the U.S...
. Both stations operated a Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
-based syndicated Beach music
Beach music
Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues,...
format known as "The Breeze", which Baker partially owned. In December, after weeks of rumors, WLXC announced that the format would be changed to "The Breeze" as well.
Airstaff on "The Breeze" network included veteran brother duo Leo and Woody Windham for mornings (both have been fixtures for many years in the Columbia radio market as well as part-owners of the network), Tanya Roberts (a former WOMG air talent) for middays, Bob Boswell for afternoons, and Eddie Zomerfield for nights. Also, in a strange twist of irony, WLXC was able to acquire Clemson football and baseball rights beginning in the fall of 1996 when an agreement was worked out with WOMG to divide the sports package between both stations.
Despite these changes, WLXC failed to gain traction in the Columbia ratings over the next couple of years, although it had a small but loyal following. In late February 1999, Baker Broadcasting announced that WLXC was sold for $3.2 million to Bloomington Broadcasting Corp. a company that owned local stations WTCB
WTCB
WTCB is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to Orangeburg, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 106.7 MHz with an effective radiated power of 100 kW...
, WOMG, and WISW
WISW
WISW is a news/talk radio station licensed to Columbia, South Carolina. It serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 1320 kHz with 5,000 watts daytime and 2,500 watts nighttime, directional...
.
Immediately after the sale closed, WLXC ended "The Breeze" simulcast and took the station off the air following a Clemson men's basketball game on February 28. This move was in preparation for the studios to be relocated from Lexington to the Granby Building in Cayce
Cayce, South Carolina
Cayce is a city in Lexington and Richland counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, along the Congaree River. The population was 12,150 at the 2000 census...
, where Bloomington's other stations are located.
On March 4, at 3 p.m., WLXC signed back on with its present Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
format under the "98.5 Kiss FM" handle. The station ran commercial-free in its first two weeks on the air using a mixture of local and Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
-based ABC Radio Network "The Touch" Urban AC format air talent, including morning man Carlton Booth. Several week later, Carlton Booth morning show was dropped for the syndicated Tom Joyner
Tom Joyner
Thomas "Tom" Joyner is an American radio host, host of the nationally syndicated The Tom Joyner Morning Show, and also founder of REACH Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com.-Early life:...
Morning Show.
With the addition of Joyner and local afternoon host Kevin Holiday, WLXC's ratings jumped to fourth place in its first book (Summer, 1999), one of the strongest debuts in Columbia radio history for a new station.
In 2005, WLXC achieved success when it went to #1 12+ in the summer Arbitron ratings with a 7.5 share, its highest to date. However, ratings slipped to 11th place in the next book as WWDM reclaimed the top spot.
On April 1, 2008, Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country...
moved the urban contemporary format from 98.5 FM to 103.1 FM. The Oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
format then heard on 103.1 FM moved to 98.5 FM, along with the WOMG
WOMG
WOMG is an Oldies radio station licensed to Lexington, South Carolina and serves the Columbia, South Carolina market. The Cumulus Media outlet is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 98.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 6 kW...
calls. The WLXC calls were moved to 98.5 FM.
Citadel merged with Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...
on September 16, 2011. .