WXXM (92.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and serving the Madison metropolitan area. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, and broadcasts a classic hits radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. The station is noted for its runs as an alternative rock station during the 1980s and 1990s and as a progressive talk station in the 2000s and 2010s.
WXXM's studios and offices are located on Fish Hatchery Road in the Madison suburb of Fitchburg, and has a transmitter located off Brooks Drive in Sun Prairie.WXXM on Radio-Locator.com
Station history
Top 40 (1972-197?) The station first signed on the air on April 12, 1972, as WYXE.Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-236 It was a stand-alone operation, initially airing Top 40 contemporary music along with some oldies music from the late 1950s and early 1960s on weekends and hourly news updates from ABC Radio.WYXE aircheck c. 1972 on YouTube
Alternative (1970s-2002) The station would segue to a mostly adult album alternative rock format in the late 1970s, and by 1979, would adopt the WMAD call sign (for "MADison").
Outside of a one-year silent period from June 1992 until June 1993 due to financial issues, WMAD programmed alternative rock music during much of the 1980s and 1990s, initially under a brand of mainly under the "Mad Radio" brand and/or some other variation that emphasized the M-A-D of the station's call sign."WMAD radio shuts down," The Wisconsin State Journal, June 3, 1992.Scott Lautenschlager, "WMAD may return to the air," The Wisconsin State Journal, October 21, 1992.Ed Treleven, "WMAD-FM back on the air," The Wisconsin State Journal, June 26, 1993. The station had decent ratings, though its lower-powered Class A signal did not saturate the market like many of the other local FM stations. (The station's current signal strength is concentrated on Madison's North and East sides, as well as the station's city of license, Sun Prairie.)
Modern adult contemporary (2002–2004) With "Mad Radio's" ratings on the decline, Madison management at Clear Channel Communications (the company now known as iHeartMedia) dropped WMAD's alternative rock format on October 28, 2002. The station would become the modern adult contemporary-formatted "Mix 92.1," and emphasized a lighthearted presentation and a playlist that included the likes of Sheryl Crow, U2, and Dave Matthews Band.Tom Alesia, "WMAD to cut alternative rock," The Wisconsin State Journal, October 29, 2002. Alternative rock fans disappointed over the flip to "Mix" would take heart over a year later on December 31, 2003, when Clear Channel turned its struggling smooth jazz station at 96.3 FM into the new "Mad Radio", adding the WMAD call letters and alternative rock format, while 92.1 adopted the WXXM call letters. (The new "Mad Radio" at 96.3 was later replaced by country music on December 23, 2005, and resurfaced again in 2007 on WIBA-FM's HD Radio subchannel.)
Progressive talk (2004–2016)
"Mix 92.1" could not compete with similarly formatted stations in the market and its ratings were lower than that of the previous alternative format. During the week before Labor Day 2004, WXXM went jockless with announcements on the end of "Mix" and the launch of a progressive talk format and directing current "Mix" listeners to its CHR-formatted sister station, WZEE ("Z104").Source: WisconsinBroadcasting.comTom Alesia, "Liberal radio network sets sights on FM dial," The Wisconsin State Journal, September 1, 2004.
At midnight on September 7, 2004 (when Len's "Steal My Sunshine" finished playing), "Mix 92.1" was no more. After several hours of stunting with left-leaning comedy bits,Source: WisconsinBroadcasting.com "The Mic 92.1" launched at 11:00 that morning with a CNN Radio hourly news update and Air America's "The Al Franken Show." Clear Channel was inspired to launch "The Mic" in Madison after experiencing success with progressive talk in several other markets. Clear Channel Madison management thought that the format would be ideal for the strongly liberal-leaning Madison market. Media musings: To air is liberal Google cache of "The Capital Times", September 7, 2004
"The Mic 92.1" relied heavily on Air America Radio syndicated programming during its early months. Schedule adjustments eventually were made, including acquisitions of programs from non-AAR distributors, such as shows hosted by Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller, and Mike Malloy (Malloy displaced original late evening host Phil Hendrie due to many requests from listeners). "The Mic's" reliance on Air America Radio dwindled over the years, with AAR programming being relegated to overnight and weekend hours by the time of AAR's Chapter 7 bankruptcy and shutdown in January 2010.
"The Mic" also added a local on-air presence. Madison-based writer Stu Levitan briefly hosted a late afternoon show during "The Mic's" early months. Later local shows included "Forward Forum," a Saturday morning show hosted by John Quinlan; "The Pro Show," a weekday morning program hosted by Lee Rayburn (with Jim Dick and later Jodie Shawback alongside as a sidekick); and 2-minute commentaries from Matthew Rothschild, editor of the Madison-based magazine The Progressive. Additionally, national hosts heard on "The Mic" broadcast shows originating from Madison's Barrymore theater, including Al Franken (2005), Stephanie Miller (2006), Ed Schultz, Laura Flanders, and Rachel Maddow (2007).
Although its ratings would ebb and flow during its history, "The Mic" enjoyed a loyal following among listeners in mostly progressive Madison. (In the Summer 2006 Arbitron ratings for the Madison market, WXXM ranked 11th of 25 stations overall, and the 2nd highest rated talk-formatted station in that survey.) On November 10, 2006, however, Clear Channel Madison made a controversial announcement that WXXM would change formats to all-sports on January 1, 2007. In its original announcement, management cited audience research that showed a desire among listeners for more coverage of local high school and college sports, as well as more live broadcasts of other sports programming that were tape-delayed on Clear Channel's other stations in the Madison market (including WIBA and the already sports-formatted WTSO), along with coverage of the Madison Mallards baseball team. (Clear Channel had won the team's broadcast rights, and planned to air the games on WXXM.) Jeff Tyler, the market manager for Clear Channel Madison, later admitted that other reasons contributed to the format change, including Air America Radio's financial problems as well as difficulty attracting advertisers to the progressive talk format, which in turn led to lower revenues generated by the station. (WXXM ranked last out of 14 Madison radio stations that reported earnings.) In relation to the announcement, "The Pro Show" was discontinued the week of November 10, 2006 (replaced by Air America's "The Young Turks"). "Forward Forum" was previously cancelled on October 28, 2006, and migrated to competing station WTDY.
The announcement of WXXM's format flip met with great notice, and for fans of "The Mic," great disdain. While some comments dismissed the flip as a case of progressive talk not being an attractive format for listeners or advertisers (the latter of which had been cited specifically by management), fans of the station expressed disappointment over the loss of a left-of-center viewpoint in Madison commercial talk radio. Words turned into action as one fan of "The Mic," Valerie Walasek, launched an online petition to persuade Clear Channel Madison to reverse its decision—a petition that surpassed its original goal of 5,000 signatures. Events in relation to Walasek's petition included a rally for "The Mic's" listeners and advertisers (which attracted an overflow crowd to the High Noon Saloon on December 12, 2006),"Stand up with 'The Mic,'" from Isthmus, 12/13/2006 and a "funeral procession" to Clear Channel's Madison headquarters on December 20, 2006, at which the petition was delivered to station management.
"The Mic's" proposed change reached national notice. Ed Schultz, a vocal proponent of the petition drive on his show, was among those suggesting that the format flip resulted from a lack of effort among management and salespeople at Clear Channel Madison to commit to the progressive talk format and to promote it to advertisers. Schultz even criticized Tyler by name on his show. Stephanie Miller featured Walasek on her program, while her show's resident impressionist, Jim Ward, performed a parody of what WXXM's sports format would sound like... an intentionally pedestrian play-by-play of girls' volleyball in a thick Wisconsin accent.
Jeff Tyler insisted that Clear Channel Madison would not waver from its plans to change WXXM to sports. But Walasek, her fellow "Mic" supporters, and advertisers continued the pressure, with supporters holding a mock "funeral" and delivering the "Save the Mic" petition to CC's Madison studios on December 20, 2006. On December 21, one day after the "funeral," Clear Channel Madison reversed its decision, stating that WXXM would retain its progressive talk format into 2007. Tyler confirmed the reversal in a message first played on air on December 22, 2006, indicating that management was "overwhelmed" by the support of fans, advertisers, and community leaders for The Mic. Tyler also confirmed that the station's agreement with Fox Sports Radio had to be ended in order for the reversal to take place. Additionally, The Jim Rome Show, which was slated to move from WTSO to WXXM, instead moved to Good Karma Broadcasting-owned WTLX at the beginning of 2007. WTLX aired Rome's show (and retained its Fox Sports Radio affiliation until 2009, when both moved to WTSO while WTLX took over ESPN Radio affiliation in the Madison market. WTLX also retained broadcasts of Madison Mallards baseball, a relationship that lasted until WOZN-AM/FM gained radio rights to the team in 2016."Mallards Partner with The Zone," from NorthwoodsLeague.com, 5/31/2016
In a move that left some "Mic" supporters disappointed, local weekday programming did not immediately return to WXXM after Clear Channel's reversal.Central Park: Taking the next steps - Isthmus | The Daily Page Mike Ferris, FM operations manager for Clear Channel Madison, countered that WXXM's schedule would be "kind of in a holding pattern" until Air America's financial situation cleared up. However, on May 21, 2007, Lee Rayburn would return to host "The Mic's" 6-8AM weekday time slot. Rayburn did keep busy during his 6 months away from the station, including joining former "Pro Show" co-host Jodie Shawback on a series of podcasts from the Escape Java Joint in Madison; fill-in duties for Air America Radio hosts; and co-founding an online media company in Madison, Willy Street Media.Lee Rayburn debuts Willy Street Media - Isthmus | The Daily Page Rayburn also worked a second evening show (Mondays thru Thursdays at 7PM) from September 2007 until early 2008. Local programming did immediately return to "The Mic's" weekend lineup, featuring the returns of "Progressive Forum" with Matthew Rothchild and "Sunday Journal" with host Stu Levitan (which would be rechristened "Books and Beats" by 2009). Other local shows that previously aired on "The Mic" included "The Recovery Zone," a Sunday morning programming that featured frank discussions about recovery from addictions, and "La Original," an all-Spanish-language music program broadcast on Friday and Saturday nights in 2007 and early 2008.