WWMX
WWMX, known on-air as Mix 106-5, is a commercial FM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The studios and offices are on Clarkview Road off Jones Falls Expressway.
WWMX has an effective radiated power of 10,500 watts. The station's transmitter is located on Television Hill in Baltimore. WWMX broadcasts using HD Radio technology; the HD2 digital subchannel carries Audacy's Channel Q, aimed at the LGBTQ community.
History
The station signed on June 30, 1960, as WCBM-FM, a sister station to WCBM. In 1968, Metromedia, which had bought the WCBM stations in 1964, sold WCBM-FM to The A.S. Abell Company, owner of WMAR-TV and the Sunpapers, for $200,000; the sale was necessary because Metromedia's purchase of WASH in Washington put the company over the Federal Communications Commission 's ownership limits of the time, which limited a company to owning seven FM radio stations. Abell changed the call sign to WMAR-FM; this was the second incarnation of WMAR-FM, as an earlier station with those call sign was operated by Abell on 97.9 FM from 1948 to 1950. The call sign were changed to WRLX in 1982. For many years, the station had played beautiful music. By the early 1980s, the target demographic of the station had aged beyond what was termed "profitable" and the station decided to switch to a new format.The WMAR-FM call sign returned on July 14, 1983; at 10:30 p.m. on July 28, it became one of many "Hot Hits" CHR/Top 40 stations throughout the country, consulted by programmer Mike Joseph. WMAR-FM, also known as "Hot Hits 106", was the main competitor to Baltimore's other CHR, B104. When the station was sold to S&F Broadcasting in 1985, it retained the Hot Hits format, but its call sign changed to WMKR-FM on March 15, 1985, and its name became "Hot Hits K-106". The station was sold once again to Capitol Broadcasting in 1986. Capitol decided to change the format to adult contemporary and the name to "Mix 106.5" that October 24. "K-106" signed off by playing "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister, and then the jingles for each of its DJs. "Mix" was then introduced, and the call sign was changed to WWMX. Initially, WWMX played the "Best Mix of the '60s, '70s, and '80s." For years, many mistakenly thought the calls were "WMIX", leading the station to insert quick "W-Mix", with the word "Mix" spoken, liners between commercials. These were not legal station identifications, as 106.5 still identified itself as "WWMX Baltimore" at the top of the hour, but they allowed the station to claim listeners who mistakenly identified 106.5 as "WMIX" in their diaries. The "WMIX" callsign is actually used for AM and FM stations in Mount Vernon, Illinois, whose broadcaster, Withers Broadcasting, registered the "WMIX" branding as a registered trademark. Shortly after the trademark was approved, WWMX dropped the "W-Mix" liners.
In 1990, the station's adult contemporary format evolved into a hot adult contemporary format, playing some hip hop and classic hard rock. Many urban contemporary songs that have charted high on the CHR/pop charts have been played on WWMX.
Capitol Broadcasting sold the station to American Radio Systems in 1993, who later merged with Infinity Broadcasting in 1997. Infinity changed names in 2005 to CBS Radio.
In 2008, the station began shifting towards a mainstream Top 40 (CHR) direction as it began incorporating more rhythmic hits, but still incorporated 1990s hits played on hot AC stations, thus classified as an Adult Top 40 station. As of April 2009, the station has dramatically shifted away from hot AC, primarily focusing on top 40 hits much like a CHR station, but still plays some music from the mid to late 2000s, and dropped the remaining '80s and '90s songs. WWMX had not had much rivalry in the market until CHR station WZFT replaced alternative rock station WCHH in 2009. In July 2015, Mediabase moved the station from the Hot AC panel to their Top 40 panel. In September 2020, Mediabase moved WWMX back to their Hot AC panel.
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17. The company rebranded as Audacy in 2021.