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| Broadcast area | Delaware Valley |
| Frequency | 92.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 92-5 XTU |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Country music |
| Subchannels | HD2: Country "NuTune Country" HD3:Sports/music "Flyers Radio 24/7" |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | 1958; 68 years ago (1958) |
Former call signs | WIFI (1958–1983) |
Call sign meaning | Visually similar to calls of New York stationWKTU, which it attempted to emulate for a short time |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 74213 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 15,000 watts |
| HAAT | 279 meters (915 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°02′21″N75°14′13″W / 40.03917°N 75.23694°W /40.03917; -75.23694 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live (HD3) |
| Website | 925xtu |
WXTU (92.5FM) is a commercial radio station inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. Owned byBeasley Broadcast Group, the station broadcasts acountry music format. Its studios and offices are located at 1 Bala Plaza on East City Avenue inBala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, while itstransmitter is located in theRoxborough section of the city.
WXTU broadcasts inHD; its HD2 sub-channel airs a contemporary country format known as "NuTune Country".
The first Philadelphia FM station on 92.5 wasWestinghouse-owned KYW-FM, thesister station toKYW. In 1942, Westinghouse put the station on the air in the old FM band and in 1948 moved it to 92.5 MHz.[1] The development of FM radio in the post-war years was slow and Westinghouse decided not to continue operating KYW-FM, relinquishing its license in 1955. The 92.5 frequency stayed empty for three years.
In September 1958, WIFIsigned on at 92.5 MHz, owned by Hi-Fidelity Broadcasters Corporation.[2] Although it was always licensed as a Philadelphia station, WIFI in its early years was essentially a local station servingNorristown, Pennsylvania and neighboring communities inMontgomery County. It airedMiddle of the Road music and talk along with some specialty music shows and local high school sports. At the end of the 1960s, WIFI brought some of the first "progressive rock" or "underground" programming to the airwaves with Johnny Devereaux and other hosts. By 1970, WIFI had been acquired byGeneral Cinema Corporation and had dropped local programming, replacing it with asyndicated music service known as "Hit Parade", playingautomatedadult contemporary music and pre-recorded announcements, with no live disc jockeys needed. WIFI later switched to Hit Parade's companionoldies format, known as "Solid Gold Rock and Roll", and also tried other automated programming.
On January 1, 1973, WIFI instituted a high-energycontemporary hit radio format known as the Boogie Format with the slogan "Let's Boogie". It was one of the first stand-alone, live FM top 40 stations in the United States.John Tenaglia served as Vice President of General Cinema Corp., George Burns as consultant and Steve "Shotgun" Kelly as Program Director. The legendaryHy Lit fromWIBG was brought on board as the morningdrive time personality along with Bill Figenshu (Wild Bill Elliot) middays, Steve "Shotgun" Kelly in afternoon drive, Fritz Coleman (Bobby Walker) and John Rivers nights. The Boogie Bug was created from aVolkswagen Bug and then theVW Thing was added along with Boogie book covers for school books and "Let's Boogie" billboards all over town. Later well-known personalities were Byron and Tanaka, Jeff "Mutha" Robbins, Bill Gamble, and Pat McKay. WIFI was the only true top 40 station in Philadelphia followingWFIL's evolution into anadult Contemporary format in the late 1970s.
When WCAU-FM (nowWOGL) debuted itsHot Hits format on September 24, 1981, WIFI's ratings fell as WCAU-FM quickly grabbed most of the teen audience. In March 1983, a move to anew wave/alternative rock format, branded as "I-92" and "Rock of the Eighties", attracted press attention, but ratings fell to a 0.5 share in the Arbitron Spring 1983 Book.
In August 1983, the station was sold toBeasley Broadcast Group.[3] The new owners instituted adance music/rhythmic contemporary format as "92X", with acall sign change to WXTU on September 19, (reminiscent of New York City'sWKTU). That format failed to find an audience and was gone in a matter of months.[4] On March 1, 1984, at 1 p.m., the station switched to its current country format. The first country song on WXTU was "Are You Ready For The Country" byWaylon Jennings.
In 2007, the station was nominated for theRadio & Records Magazine "Country Music Station of The Year Award" for the top 25 markets. Other nominees includedWUSN Chicago,KYGO-FMDenver,WYCD Detroit,KEEY-FMMinneapolis, andKSON-FMSan Diego.[5]
On October 2, 2014, Beasley Broadcast Group announced that it would trade WXTU and four other radio stations in Miami and Philadelphia toCBS Radio in exchange for 14 CBS stations located inTampa andCharlotte, with one station in Philadelphia, AM 610 (nowWTEL), going to Beasley. (AM 610 was traded because keeping it would have put CBS over the FCC limit for stations in onemedia market).[6] The swap was completed on December 1.[7]
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge withEntercom.[8] The merger was approved on November 9, and was consummated on the 17th.[9][10]
On July 19, 2018, Entercom announced that it would sell WXTU back to Beasley for $38 million as part of its purchase ofWBEB. The sale closed on September 28.[11][12]
CMA Awards
ACM Awards
Industry Achievement Awards