WODE-FM

WODE-FM (99.9 FM, "99.9 The Hawk") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Easton, Pennsylvania. The station's service contour covers the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania.[2]

This article is about a radio station. For the dye plant, see Woad. For the surname Wode, see Wode (surname).
WODE-FM
CityEaston, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaLehigh Valley
Frequency99.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding99.9 The Hawk
SloganClassic Rock of the 70s, 80s and More
Programming
FormatClassic rock
SubchannelsHD2: WEEX simulcast (Sports)
Ownership
OwnerCumulus Media
(Radio License Holding CBC, LLC)
WEEX, WTKZ, WWYY, WLEV, WCTO
History
First air date
1948 (as WEEX-FM at 98.3)
Former call signs
WEEX-FM (1948-early 1970s)
WQQQ (early 1970s-1989)
WHXT (1989-1991)
Former frequencies
98.3 MHz (1948-1950s)
Call sign meaning
OlDiEs (Reference to when the station had an oldies format.)
Technical information
Facility ID8595
ClassB
ERP50,000 watts (analog)
2,000 watts (digital)[1]
HAAT137 meters (449 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
40°42′30.3″N 75°12′58.6″W
Translator(s)See tables below
Links
WebcastListen Live
Website999thehawk.com

The station is owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holding CBC, LLC, and broadcasts a classic rock radio format, playing rock hits from the 1960s into the early 1990s. WODE-FM's transmitter, studios and offices are on Paxinosa Road West in Easton. The station is frequently at or near the top of the ratings in the Allentown-Easton-Bethlehem radio market.

WODE-FM broadcasts using HD Radio, and simulcasts the sports programming of sister station 1230 AM WEEX on its HD2 subchannel.

History

WEEX-FM

The station began operations on 98.3 FM as a stand-alone FM station. It got its construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission in 1948, and signed on the air in June 1950.[3] Its call letters stood for the Easton Express, Easton's daily newspaper as well as the station's owner. WEEX-FM was originally powered at only 1,000 watts.

In the late 1950s, WSAN AM 1470 in nearby Allentown decided to give up its FM station on 99.9 MHz. The Easton Express took over the 99.9 frequency, boosting WEEX-FM's power to 16,000 watts.[4] Also in the late 1950s, the newspaper put an AM station on the air at 1230 kHz under the WEEX call sign. In the early 1960s, WEEX 1230 switched to a Top 40 radio format during that time and used the FM station to simulcast much of the programming to cover areas where the AM station's 1,000 watt signal could not be heard.

WQQQ Beautiful Music

In the late 1960s, WEEX-FM's simulcast with the AM was broken off under new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules which forbid full-time AM/FM simulcasts. The FM station switched to beautiful music under the WQQQ call sign.

The call letters were chosen because the lower-case Q closely resembled the number 9, hence the station's frequency 99.9. The station offered an instrumental-based easy listening format, playing cover versions of pop songs, as well as Broadway and Hollywood showtunes. A few times per hour a soft vocal was mixed in.

1983-1991 Contemporary Hits

In late 1982, The Easton Express acquired The Globe-Times, a newspaper in nearby Bethlehem. To satisfy the FCC's media ownership rules, both WQQQ and WEEX were sold off to Wilkes-Schwartz Broadcasting, so that the Easton Express would not own too many media outlets in the same market.

On April 4, 1983, WQQQ swapped formats with its AM sister station, WEEX 1230. WEEX had evolved by 1981 from Top 40 into an adult contemporary format. WEEX's disc jockeys moved to 99.9 FM. WQQQ's easy listening format was moved to 1230 WEEX but it played more vocals than it did on FM.

The former WEEX format was modified on FM into Mainstream CHR/Top 40. The station kept the WQQQ call sign but became known as "Q 100." Initially, the station focused on current pop music, but also played a moderate amount of 60s and 70s oldies until about 1985. Throughout the 80s, WQQQ aired a Saturday evening oldies show. But by 1986, the regular rotation was mostly current and recent titles.

At the time, Q100 was the only Top 40/CHR station in the Allentown/Easton/Bethlehem radio market, competing with then-dominate Album Rock station 95.1 WZZO for first place in the ratings. However, on January 26, 1987, former country music outlet WXKW switched to CHR as "Laser 104.1 WAEB-FM." While the change didn't have an immediate impact on Q100's ratings, a burnt-out transmission line in the summer of 1988 forced the station to broadcast on low-power for a period of 2 weeks. This caused Q100's ratings to slip, allowing WAEB-FM to beat Q100 in the ratings.

In 1989, Roth Broadcasting acquired WQQQ, and sister station WEEX from Wilkes-Schwartz. That September, Q100 switched to a dance-leaning CHR format as "Hot 99.9" under the WHXT call sign. The format lasted about a year before returning to Mainstream CHR.

After an uphill ratings battle with its rival WAEB-FM for almost 2 years, Hot 99.9 was unable to make any significant gains due to budget and signal issues. However, in its final ratings trend as a CHR, WHXT had beaten WAEB-FM by two-tenths of a point.

1991-2001 Oldies

On August 23, 1991, WHXT dropped its CHR format for oldies. The format played the hits of the 1950s, 1960s, and a few songs from the early 1970s. The call sign became WODE-FM (standing for OlDiEs) and the station became known as "Oldies 99" under programming consultant Pete Salant.

The station was sold to Patterson Broadcasting and became "Oldies 99.9" in the mid 1990s (adding the "point nine" in its handle as more radios employed digital tuners). In 1997, Capstar bought WODE-FM and WEEX as part of a multi-station deal, but spun the Easton stations off to Clear Channel Communications. Capstar had to do this because the Lehigh Valley has only five FM stations, and under FCC rules, no one company could own more than half. Capstar was already buying 95.1 WZZO and 104.1 WAEB-FM. Under Clear Channel ownership, WODE-FM continued its oldies format.

2001-2013 Classic Hits

In 2000, Clear Channel announced a merger with AM/FM Broadcasters (a company which was created as a result of a merger with Capstar and Chancellor). AM/FM already owned WZZO and WAEB-FM. Clear Channel would not be allowed to keep all three stations upon the merger, so it decided to swap WODE-FM and WEEX with Nassau Broadcasting Partners. Nassau was given cash plus WODE-FM and WEEX, while Clear Channel obtained stations in New Jersey, including WNNJ, WNNJ-FM, WSUS, WHCY, and management agreements for WDLC and WTSX. Clear Channel also kept the former Capstar/AM-FM stations.

In September 2001, WODE-FM hit #1 in the Fall 2001 Arbitron ratings in the Allentown market. The station was originally called "99-9 The River" but was forced to change its name because Clear Channel owned the rights to the name "The River." WODE-FM became known as "99-9 The Hawk." Its slogan was "The Valley's Classic Hits Station." The station's ratings generally led the market with the key 25-54 audience.

WODE-FM, along with nine other Nassau stations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was purchased at bankruptcy auction by NB Broadcasting in May 2012. NB Broadcasting was controlled by Nassau's creditors — Goldman Sachs, Pluss Enterprises, and P.E. Capital. WODE-FM was included in the deal after Goldman Sachs rejected a bid from Cumulus Media for the station.[5][6] In November, NB Broadcasting filed a motion to assign its rights to the stations to Connoisseur Media.[7] The sale to Connoisseur Media, at a price of $38.7 million, was consummated on May 29, 2013.

2013-now Classic Rock

With the sale completed in July 2013, Connoisseur Media tweaked the format, giving it more of a rock focus and changing the slogan to "Classic Rock of the 70s, 80s and More."

In late 2013, WODE-FM acquired translator W234AX 94.7 FM, licensed to serve Allentown, from Family Life Ministries.[8] The translator broadcast WODE-FM analog/HD1 programming until April 15, 2016, when it began simulcasting the programming of alternative rock sister station 107.1 WWYY via WODE-FM-HD2.[9]

Translators

WODE-FM-HD2 programming (WEEX simulcast) is broadcast on the following translator:

Broadcast translators of WODE-FM-HD2
Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseFacility
ID		ERP
(W)		Height
(m (ft))		ClassTransmitter coordinatesFCC info
W234AX94.7Allentown, Pennsylvania15740710204.9 m (672 ft)D40°35′55.4″N 75°25′10.7″WFCC

See also

References
  1. "FCC 335-FM Digital Notification [WODE-FM]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. March 29, 2016. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
  2. "54 dBu Service Contour for WODE-FM, Easton, PA, 99.9 MHz". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1952 page 244
  4. Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page A-216
  5. "10 Nassau Stations Go To NB Broadcasting LLC". All Access. May 30, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  6. Pierce, David (June 12, 2012). "Pocono radio stations now in the hands of creditors". Pocono Record. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  7. "Connoisseur Moves To Assume Debtor's Bid To Buy 10 Nassau Stations, Including WPST". All Access. November 21, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  8. Venta, Lance (October 23, 2013). "FCC Applications 10/23: COL Change In Washington". radioinsight.com. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  9. Venta, Lance (April 15, 2016). "Spin Radio Expands To Lehigh Valley". radioinsight.com. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
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