WBSX
Encyclopedia
WBSX is a FM
radio station licensed to the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania
, broadcasting to the Scranton
/Wilkes Barre
/Hazleton
radio market on 97.9 MHz. WBSX airs an active rock
music format branded as "97-9 X" .
sister station to WAZL
AM
also located in the city of Hazleton
. During the early 1970s, the station switched to what was branded as a "Beautiful Music" format (which was a form of Easy Listening
or Elevator Music
) and the call signs WVCD. The station was automated with no live DJs or announcers during this time. The station evolved their music format slightly by 1985 when the station changed call signs to WWSH and branded on air as "Wish 98". The station made a dramatic switch in 1994 to a rock music
format and another call sign change to WZMT to reflect the new on air branding as "The Mountain". In 1996, it was renamed "98 Rock". In 1997, under Citadel Broadcasting
, the name changed to "The Bear", with the call letters WXBE, and featuring the syndicated Howard Stern Show in mornings. 2001 saw a shift to a format branded as "classic hard rock", name change to "Z-Rock", and call letters to WAOZ. 7 months later, the station returned to a more current-based rock format under the call sign of WBSX, and branding as "97-9 X" with an alternative rock
format. By 2007
, the station adopted its current active rock
format. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.
, who started in local Wilkes-Barre. The station's Breaking Benjamin promotion is also briefly featured in Breaking Benjamin's video for "Breath
", which was recorded at Stabler Arena
in Lehigh Valley
, Pennsylvania
in early 2007.
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio station licensed to the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6% from the 2000 census count .-Greater Hazleton:...
, broadcasting to the Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
/Wilkes Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
/Hazleton
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6% from the 2000 census count .-Greater Hazleton:...
radio market on 97.9 MHz. WBSX airs an active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
music format branded as "97-9 X" .
History
The radio station first signed on the air in 1949 as WAZL-FM, the FMFM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
sister station to WAZL
WAZL
WAZL is an AM broadcasting radio station licensed to the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania with service area extending to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton radio market. The station broadcasts in an Oldies radio format. It broadcasts at a frequency of 1490 kHz with 1,000 Watts of power using a...
AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
also located in the city of Hazleton
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6% from the 2000 census count .-Greater Hazleton:...
. During the early 1970s, the station switched to what was branded as a "Beautiful Music" format (which was a form of Easy Listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
or Elevator Music
Elevator music
Elevator music refers to instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems , cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators...
) and the call signs WVCD. The station was automated with no live DJs or announcers during this time. The station evolved their music format slightly by 1985 when the station changed call signs to WWSH and branded on air as "Wish 98". The station made a dramatic switch in 1994 to a rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
format and another call sign change to WZMT to reflect the new on air branding as "The Mountain". In 1996, it was renamed "98 Rock". In 1997, under 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...
, the name changed to "The Bear", with the call letters WXBE, and featuring the syndicated Howard Stern Show in mornings. 2001 saw a shift to a format branded as "classic hard rock", name change to "Z-Rock", and call letters to WAOZ. 7 months later, the station returned to a more current-based rock format under the call sign of WBSX, and branding as "97-9 X" with an alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
format. By 2007
2007 in radio
The year 2007 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 8: Nanci "The Fabulous Sports Babe" Donnellan returns to radio after a six-year absence, filling in for local hosts in Florida....
, the station adopted its current active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
format. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.
Trivia
97.9X is known for being the first commercial station to play Breaking BenjaminBreaking Benjamin
Breaking Benjamin is an American rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, currently consisting of Benjamin Burnley and Chad Szeliga. The band has released four studio albums to date and a greatest hits album that was released on August 16, 2011. The group initially went on indefinite hiatus due...
, who started in local Wilkes-Barre. The station's Breaking Benjamin promotion is also briefly featured in Breaking Benjamin's video for "Breath
Breath (Breaking Benjamin song)
-Charts:-External links:*....
", which was recorded at Stabler Arena
Stabler Arena
Stabler Arena is Lehigh University's 6,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, located on its Goodman Campus in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States...
in Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in early 2007.