More Information About WXTR
| WXTR, WWXT, WWXX |
 |
| City of license |
WXTR: Alexandria, Virginia
WWXT: Prince Frederick, Maryland
WWXX: Warrenton, Virginia |
| Broadcast area |
Washington, D.C. |
| Branding |
Redskins Radio ESPN |
| Slogan |
Home of the Redskins |
| Frequency |
WXTR: 730 kHz
WWXT: 92.7 MHz
WWXX: 94.3 MHz |
| First air date |
July 17, 2006
|
| Format |
Sports |
| ERP |
WXTR: 8,000 watts day/25 watts night
WWXT: 2,850 watts
WWXX: 2,000 watts |
| HAAT |
WWXT: 145 meters
WWXX: 175 meters |
| Class |
WXTR: D
WWXT: A
WWXX: A |
| Facility ID |
WXTR: 70036
WWXT: 43277
WWXX: 16819 |
| Callsign meaning |
All three frequencies use the X: WWXT, WWXX, WXTR |
| Owner |
Red Zebra Broadcasting (Daniel Snyder) |
| Website |
www.redskinsradioespn.com |
Redskins Radio ESPN is the on-air name for a three-station sports radio simulcast in the Washington, D.C. radio market. The three signals are:
The stations are owned by Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is owned by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Naturally, "Redskins Radio ESPN" is the radio flagship of the Redskins. Redskins Radio is also affiliated with Virginia Tech football and men's basketball.
The three stations are relatively weak. WXTR, the flagship station, broadcasts at only 8,000 watts during the day, but has recently applied for a significant power boost (see below). The FM stations both broadcast below 3,000 watts and mainly serve to fill in the gaps in WXTR's coverage.
The stations broadcast from a studio in Silver Spring, Maryland.
History
92.7 and 94.3 FM
From 2001 until November 17, 2005, WBZS-FM 92.7/WBPS-FM 94.3 aired the Spanish Tropical format under the positioning of "La Nueva Mega" (originally, WBPS aired a separate format, Spanish love songs "Amor"). However, due to strong competition from Infinity Broadcasting-owned and SBS-programmed WLZL "99.1 El Zol", Mega Communications changed the station to "Mega Clasica", a format consisting of a mixture of Latin Contemporary and Oldies.
Previously, as WMJS and WQRA respectively, these were traditional, full-service FM stations designed to serve their respective small cities of license and surrounding counties. During the 1990s, however, 94.3 underwent a series of unsuccessful attempts to garner listeners across suburban Northern Virginia as a "rimshot" signal:
WBZS-FM along with sister stations WBPS-FM and WKDL were sold in 2006 to Red Zebra Broadcasting. On July 17, 2006, the Mega Clasica format ended to make way for the English-language format sports radio format.
730 AM
WXTR itself signed on as WPIK back in the 1940's. For many years this station operated as the AM side to country station WXRA 105.9-FM, and for another period as WPKX "Kix Country." For a time 730 simulcasted 105.9's next incarnation, classic rock, as WCXR. For a short while in the mid-80's, 730 was WCPT and featured a soul oldies format. It was also WRMR with a nostalgia format for a very short while (calls which were later used in the Cleveland, Ohio market). In the late 1980s the station flipped to a CNN news format, which was soon followed by a business news (a la the WBZS calls), brokered financial advice format which lasted until April 1999.
Then, Mega Communications bought the station and installed a Mexican/tropical music format as "Radio Capital." The call letters changed again in October 2000 to WKDL, calls that were previously held on what is currently WFED-AM. This format, along with its' FM sisters, lasted until the launch of "Triple X" in July 2006. The WXTR calls were installed at this point; the call letters were used in the past on different stations in the Washington area on two different stations (at 104.1-FM and 820-AM).
On October 24, 2006, Red Zebra filed an application to increase WXTR's power to 28,000 watts in the daytime and 20,000 watts in the night hours. The power boost would give WXTR coverage comparable to the other major AM stations in the capital. At present, WXTR is all but unlistenable at night, since it must reduce its power to 28 watts in order to protect clear-channel CKAC in Montreal. In addition, Red Zebra planned to acquire WGYS 103.9-FM in Braddock Heights, Maryland and WGMS 104.1-FM in Waldorf, Maryland via a recent acqusition with Bonneville International, but called the deal off weeks later.
Redskins Radio ESPN Schedule
Monday-Friday
All times Eastern Time
NOTE: Pardon the Interruption, unlike other ESPN Radio affiliates, airs in its entirety on "Triple X," including the segment that airs during SportsCenter, during the 7:05 to 7:40 PM time slot.
External links
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