WXXI-FM

WXXI-FM (105.9 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Rochester, New York, United States. It broadcasts news, talk and informational programming as a member station of National Public Radio (NPR). WXXI-FM is owned by the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council, Rochester's primary public broadcaster. The station was founded as WJZR in January 1993 by North Coast Radio, Inc., and broadcast a smooth jazz format for 29 years before it was taken silent in July 2022 upon the owner's retirement. Since May 2023, WXXI-FM has carried WXXI's news/talk service, which originates from WXXI (1370 AM).

The transmitter is on Pinnacle Hill Road off Highland Avenue in Brighton.^[2] The studios and offices are on State Street in Rochester.

North Coast Radio

In November 1988, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated a series of 14 applications for comparative hearing in order to determine who should be awarded a construction permit to build a new radio station on 105.9 MHz in Rochester.^[3] The commission awarded the permit to R. B. Lee Rust in December 1991. Rust was a second-generation station owner in Rochester; his father, Bill, had owned WHAM.^[4]

WJZR began broadcasting on January 22, 1993, with an eclectic jazz format.^[4] It was the second station Rust had managed with such a format, having set WGMC in Greece into the format previously in the 1990s.^[5] Rust's own personal music collection set the tone for WJZR; he categorized songs by such factors as attitude and so-called "thump".^[6] Rust also took the name North Coast Radio—which had been initially intended to refer only to the licensee—and used it as the station's overall brand instead of a set of call letters, feeling that it "makes Rochester sound more attractive, not just a cold, nondescript place".^[7] The station also set itself apart by airing no prerecorded commercials; the station's air staff read commercials live, and there were only six such ads an hour.^[8] Rapid consolidation of Rochester commercial radio stations meant that WJZR and Black-owned WDKX were the only independent outlets in the city by 1998; Rust rebuffed offers to sell his station.^[9]

By 2013, WJZR was a completely automated operation, with Rust as chief engineer, programmer, and the station's imaging voice; its commercial status made it more unusual as the number of full-time jazz outlets dwindled yet Rochester still had two stations in the format.^[10] Rust's extensive involvement in multiple facets of station operations also kept costs low.^[11] After 29 years, Rust announced he would retire and take the station silent; the last song on WJZR, played on the evening of July 10, 2022, was "In a Silent Way" by Miles Davis.^[12]

Sale to WXXI

On October 7, 2022, the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council announced it would purchase WJZR from Rust. The $1.2 million deal was structured as a $675,000 payment as well as an additional $525,000 donation by Rust to WXXI;^[13] the acquisition was completed on January 24, 2023.^[14] WXXI pledged to return the station to service in 2023 on a noncommercial basis as an FM frequency for its news/talk programming, originating from WXXI (1370 AM), with a new call sign to be selected;^[15] on May 10, 2023, the station took on the WXXI-FM call sign, with the previous WXXI-FM (91.5) concurrently becoming WXXO.^[16] The new WXXI-FM soft launched on May 24, 2023.^[17]

WXXI-FM going live with a strong FM signal allowed WRUR-FM, which was airing afternoon programming from WXXI due to a lack of a strong FM signal for the all news station, to drop Connections with Evan Dawson and All Things Considered and go in a full time music direction.^[18]

References

External links

• WXXI in the FCC FM station database
• WXXI in Nielsen Audio's FM station database