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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Boston |
| Frequency | 1200kHz |
| Branding | Talk 1200 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Conservative talk radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | April 21, 1947; 77 years ago (1947-04-21) |
Former call signs | WKOX (1947–2010) |
Former frequencies | 1190 kHz (1947–1985) |
Call sign meaning | Taken from sister stationWXKS-FM; previously used on the former WXKS (1430 AM) in Everett, nowWKOX (AM) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 20441 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°17′20.35″N71°11′19.2″W / 42.2889861°N 71.188667°W /42.2889861; -71.188667 (WXKS) |
| Repeater(s) | 100.7 WZLX-HD3 (Boston) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | talk1200boston |
WXKS (1200AM) – brandedTalk 1200 – is a commercialconservative talk radio station licensed toNewton, Massachusetts, serving theGreater Boston area. Owned byiHeartMedia, WXKS serves as the Boston affiliate forFox News Radio,The Glenn Beck Program,The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,The Sean Hannity Show andThe Mark Levin Show; and the home of syndicated personalitiesBill Handel,Ron Wilson,Gary Sullivan andLeo Laporte. The WXKS studios are located in the Boston suburb ofMedford, while the station transmitter resides in Newton. Besides its mainanalog transmission, WXKS streams online viaiHeartRadio.
On April 21, 1947, the station signed on as WKOX, adaytime-only station on 1190 kHz inFramingham.[2] WKOX would be paired with an FM adjunct,WKOX-FM (105.7), on February 10, 1960. Fairbanks Communications purchased WKOX and WKOX-FM in 1970.[3] In 1985, WKOX switched frequencies to 1200 kHz and received authorization to broadcast around the clock. For many years, WKOX functioned as afull service station oriented towards theMetroWest region.[3]
Following stints with satellite-fedoldies andtalk radio, WKOX became a partialsimulcast of its FM sister station, then known ascountry-formatted WCLB (105.7 FM), on March 1, 1993. The only deviation from this simulcast was morning drive, which continued to be programmed separately[4] with a local talk show.[5] That August, WKOX switched toABC Radio/Satellite Music Network's "Real Country" format,[6] featuringclassic country to complement the more contemporary country sound on WCLB;[7] the local morning news-talk program was again retained.[8]
Another attempt at talk, including a show hosted by formerWEEI (590 AM) andWRKO hostGene Burns, was made on October 2, 1995. By this point, WKOX had begun to orient itself to the Boston market as a whole rather than MetroWest.[3][9] WKOX's talk format was largely replaced withbrokered programming in October 1996, mostly consisting of ethnic and foreign language shows;[10] by 1997, WKOX's daytime schedule largely featured programming increole and Spanish, with some talk programming remaining in other time periods.[11] Notably,contemporary Christian music stationWJLT (1060 AM) leased out WKOX's overnight hours to extend its programming schedule, since WJLT was bound at the time to daytime-only operations;[12] by 1999, the bulk of the station's daytime programming was alsoreligious in nature, in Spanish.[13]
As early as 1995, WKOX pursued options to upgrade its power and serve the entire Boston area.[9] The FCC approved plans to have the station change itscity of license to Newton and move its transmitter site to a site also utilized byWUNR, where it would operate at 50,000 watts. Community opposition delayed this series of moves for nearly 13 years, and also significantly delayed attempts by Fairbanks Communications to divest WKOX.[14] WhileWestinghouse Broadcasting[15] and B-Mass Holding Company had expressed interest,[16][17] by 1998, WKOX was the last remaining radio station in the Fairbanks portfolio.[18] After Richard M. Fairbanks died in August 2000,[19] WKOX was finally sold to Clear Channel Communications (nowiHeartMedia) in early 2001.[17]
The brokered format, by then primarily consisting of Spanish-language religious programming, was retained until 2004, when the station began simulcasting aprogressive talk radio format with the originalWXKS (1430 AM).[20] Both stations switched to aSpanish tropical format, branded as "Rumba", on December 21, 2006.[21] WKOX completed the transmitter and city of license move to Newton in the fall of 2008, and began broadcasting at 50,000 watts full-time in April 2009. On September 4, WXKS (1430 AM) broke from the WKOX simulcast and flipped to a Spanishadult hits format, branded as "Mia 1430".
Clear Channel announced in January 2010 that WKOX would once again change to a talk format in April;[22] the launch was stepped up to March 8 after WRKO droppedThe Rush Limbaugh Show from its line-up.[23] With this format change, WKOX changed call letters to WXKS (AM) on March 1; WXKS (1430 AM) concurrently changed its calls to WKOX.Coast to Coast AM was the first talk program to air on the station, moving from WRKO in February 2010, several weeks before the full format change.[24] "Rumba" programming ceased on March 5, at which time the station beganstunting. For the first year of the talk format, WXKS was branded as "Rush Radio 1200", named for Limbaugh; similar branding was utilized atWRNO-FM inNew Orleans,WRDU inRaleigh-Durham, andWPTI inGreensboro, North Carolina.[23] Less than a year later, on February 28, 2011, WXKS re-branded itself as "Talk 1200 Boston."[25]
Local hosts Jeff Katz andJay Severin were both dismissed from WXKS on August 6, 2012; Katz was reassigned to then-co-ownedWRVA inRichmond, Virginia, while Severin joinedTheBlaze Radio Network. That same day, bothRush Limbaugh andCoast to Coast AM returned to WRKO's lineup.[26] For the next four days, WXKS continued with the remainder of its syndicated programming before stunting with a 10-minute loop ofpolitical gaffes;[27] this led into a format switch tocomedy radio that August 13 as the Boston affiliate for24/7 Comedy Radio. Branded "Matty's Comedy 1200" in honor ofWXKS-FM morning hostMatt Siegel—who announced the launch on both his show and on WXKS—the comedy format began with a routine fromCambridge nativeDane Cook.
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On February 27, 2013, Clear Channel announced that WXKS would begin to carryBloomberg Radio's financial news and information programming as of March 1. The comedy format continued on the secondHD Radio subchannel of WXKS-FM until December 2013. The simulcast of 1200 AM, which had previously been on 107.9-HD2, moved to the HD2 subchannel ofWJMN, replacingold-school hip hop.[28][29] In September 2013, WXKS began broadcastingHarvard Universityfootball, men'shockey, and men's basketball games. The broadcasts were produced by an independent packager who paid for the airtime.
Bloomberg L.P. announced on July 3, 2017, that the following day, Bloomberg Radio would move its programming toWRCA and itsFM translator at 106.1 MHz. WXKS continued to simulcast the Bloomberg programming for several months.[30]
After Bloomberg'slocal marketing agreement with WXKS ended on March 1, 2018, the station took on theconservative talk programming that had been on WKOX, including Rush Limbaugh. WXKS also returned to the "Talk 1200" branding.[31] WKOX returned to atropical music format and was moved into a trust ownership, and would later eventually donated to Delmarva Educational Association.
The simulcast on WJMN's HD2 channel ended in November 2018, when it was replaced with iHeartMedia's "Breeze"soft adult contemporary programming.[32] In September 2021, WXKS reappeared on the HD Radio dial, this time on the third sub-channel of sister stationWZLX, replacingK-Love.
Initially, during its conservative talk format, WXKS carried some programming fromFox Sports Radio, including its morning show. On November 1, 2021, the station replaced Fox Sports Radio's2 Pros and A Cup of Joe with a regionally-syndicated program hosted by Jim Polito, produced byWorcester sister stationWTAG.[33]
Back when Westinghouse thought it was about to buy WKOX, circa 1993-94...