WRXS (106.9 FM; "Pure Oldies 106.9") is a commercial radio station licensed to Brookfield, Wisconsin, and serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The station is owned by Saga Communications, and operates as part of its Milwaukee Radio Group. It broadcasts an oldies radio format, known as "Pure Oldies," concentrating on 1950s, 60s and 70s hits. It switches to Christmas music during the holiday season.
WRXS has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 4,400 watts. The transmitter and radio studios are on Milwaukee's West Side, off West McKinley Avenue.
History
Smooth jazz (1995-1997) On , a construction permit was granted for a new FM station, with the call sign WLJU. It was owned by Harris Classical Broadcasting, which also owned Milwaukee's heritage Classical station, WFMR.
It formally signed on for the first time in August 1995 as WFMI, playing a satellite-fed smooth jazz format. A more powerful and resourceful station, WJZI 93.3 FM converted from a failing rock format as WQFM to smooth jazz in 1996, giving WFMI stiff competition.
Modern adult contemporary (1997-1999) Both WFMR and WFMI were sold to Saga Communications, and WFMI was quickly switched to a Modern AC format, becoming WXPT on May 9, 1997, branded as "106.9 The Point". The first song on "The Point" was Sheryl Crow's "A Change Would Do You Good". When WPNT-FM in Chicago changed format and call letters a few months later, 106.9 picked up the WPNT call sign. The Point had modest success for a small station, but a few of the bigger stations in the market took notice and adjusted their playlists to fight off the young suburban upstart.
The station is also hamstrung by a modest Class A signal which has never covered the important suburban communities like Waukesha and Ozaukee County very well, and is virtually non-existent north of the Sheboygan County line, where it runs into adjacent-channel interference from WHBZ on 106.5. This is because the frequency was a short-spacing allocation which is shared with WOOD-FM across Lake Michigan in Muskegon, Michigan.
R&B oldies (1999-2000) Again, due to stiff competition, the format was changed again at 3 p.m. on April 16, 1999, this time to Jammin' Oldies, and the call letters became WMJO (Milwaukee's Jammin' Oldies). The call letters were changed a month later to WJMR and tag line to "Jammin' Hits" due to legal issues.
Classical (2000-2007) Saga Communications moved WFMR and its classical music format to the 106.9 FM dial position, and WJMR-FM's format and call letters to 98.3, on December 12, 2000. This was done primarily to boost WJMR-FM's signal in the urban areas of Milwaukee, and to target WFMR toward the western and northern suburbs. Saga had moved the studios to Milwaukee the year before.
Smooth jazz (2007-2010) At midnight on June 26, 2007, ironically on the 51st anniversary of its original sign-on, WFMR ended its classical music format when it flipped to the Smooth Jazz format, a change made quickly to gain momentum from rival WJZI, which dropped the format a week earlier to become light Adult Contemporary music as WLDB/B93.3. On July 15, 2007, the station changed its call sign to WJZX.
On April 24, 2007, the FCC granted what was then WFMR a construction permit to move its transmitter from its original site in Menomonee Falls to the WJYI/WHQG/WJMR tower in Milwaukee outside of the stations' main studios on McKinley Avenue. However, because the station moved closer to Lake Michigan, the power was thus reduced in half from the Menomonee Falls signal to 4.4 kW in order to protect what was then WMUS (currently WOOD-FM) across the lake. 106.9's HD Radio signal was put into service in 2008, though because of the current limitations of digital radio the digital signal only covers the city of Milwaukee and eastern Waukesha County proper.
Aborted flip to top 40 (May-June 2010) On May 27, 2010 at Noon, after playing "Life in the Fast Lane" by Dave Koz, WJZX flipped from Broadcast Architecture's syndicated satellite feed Smooth AC "Smooth Jazz Network" to a stunt format called "Tiger 106.9", which referenced Tiger Woods's scandals and featured cheating-themed music from all eras. Saga had reserved the call letters WNQW, possibly referring to the then-popular "Now" format of Top 40 music and announced them publicly in the media, which proved problematic overall in hindsight due to what would occur the next day. The format change was likely done due to the introduction of Arbitron's Portable People Meter audience measurement system in the month of June into the Milwaukee market.