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| Broadcast area | Central Virginia |
| Frequency | 102.1MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Alt 102-1 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Alternative rock |
| Subchannels | HD2:Big 98.5 (country music) |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | March 4, 1949 (1949-03-04)[1] |
Former call signs | WRNL-FM (1949–73) |
Call sign meaning | "Richmond's Radio Excellence" |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 11961 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 20,000 watts |
| HAAT | 241 meters (791 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°36′52.5″N77°30′54.9″W / 37.614583°N 77.515250°W /37.614583; -77.515250 |
| Translator |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WRXL (102.1FM "Alt 102-1") is acommercialradio stationlicensed toRichmond, Virginia, and servingCentral Virginia. WRXL is owned and operated byAudacy, Inc.[3] WRXL airs analternative rockradio format.
Studios, offices and thetransmitter tower are on Basie Road in Richmond.[4][5] The station carries thesyndicatedElliot in the Morning show, produced byPremiere Networks and originating at former sister stationWWDC-FM inWashington, D.C.
On March 4, 1949, the stationsigned on the air as WRNL-FM.[6] It was the FMsister station toWRNL, owned by the Richmond Radio Corporation, asubsidiary ofThe Richmond News Leader newspaper (hence the WRNL-FMcall sign). At first, WRNL-FMsimulcast its AM counterpart, carrying theABC Radio schedule of dramas, comedies, sports and news. In the late 1950s, WRNL-AM-FM moved to afull service format ofmiddle of the road music, news, sports and talk.
In the 1960s, several Richmond FM stations received permission from theFederal Communications Commission for unusually high power.[7] Today, Richmond is inZone 1, limited to a maximum of 50,000 wattseffective radiated power (ERP). Before these rules were put into place, WRNL-FM was permitted to go to 120,000 watts, WFMV (nowWURV) went to 74,000 watts and, to this day,WRVQ (then WRVA-FM) runs at 200,000 watts.
In 1971, WRNL-AM-FM were bought by Rust Communications, which owned a number of radio stations around the country. Rust decided to give WRNL-FM its own format. It hired a staff of youngDJs, stopped simulcasting the AM station and switched toprogressive rock.[8] To give the station a fresh identity, in 1973, thecall sign was changed to WRXL. By 1980, the station's music had moved to analbum-oriented rock andclassic rock direction, based on playing the biggest selling rock artists.[9]In 1993, WRVH (the new name of WRNL) and WRXL were sold toClear Channel Communications, a forerunner of iHeartMedia, Inc., for $9.75 million.[10]During the entire 1990's, WRXL evolved into a full-blown Mainstream rock station all the way through until 2002 when the station decided to transition into active rock to compete against, Cox Media's then-alternative rock station, Y-101. Their music program adjustment was successfully changed to an alternative metal lean around the mid- 2000's making it very similar to Y-101 without overlapping both station's format adjustment.
In 2002, the station slowly started to move their format from being an album rock-leaning mainstream rock station to effectively begin an experimental approach to alternative metal to their format asActive Rock, the station rebranded as "102-1 The X" alongside the new name, the station updated their music programing intentionally to compete against Cox Media's Alternative rock rival, WDYL, well known as "Y-101". During that time, their format transition was proven to be a surprisingly successful and competitive approach during the mid and late 2000's, WRXL became a popular active rock station during that time and era until 2012 when the format started to decline in popularity. The transition to alternative rock overthrown their active rock sound completely during 2013, the station began to slowly phase out the active rock playlist format all the way through to fill the void of where WDYL, known as Y-101 once was three years after the station underwent their official change in their format to beingTop 40/CHR as WHTI-FM introduced as "HOT 100.9" on April 29, 2010. The switch was similar to how WXMM, locally known as "100.5 MAX-FM" did. They changed their format and introduced the station as WVHT "HOT 100.5" in Hampton Roads during the spring of 2009. They changed their format from beingMainstream Rock toTop 40/CHR. HOT 100.9's music format was in direct competition against WRVQ Known as Q94. On October 1, 2012, WRXL rebranded from "102-1 The X" back to "XL 102", WRXL's branding from 1976 to 2002. In 2006 the station changed to a new broadcast tower at 791 feet (241 meters) inheight above average terrain, while also dropping to 20,000 watts from its previous 120,000 watts. WRXL would still have a larger coverage area than conventional Class B FM stations, but with lower power due to the increased antenna height.[11]
On November 1, 2017, iHeartMedia announced that WRXL, along with all of its co-owned stations in Richmond andChattanooga, would be swapped toEntercom, coupled with that company's merger withCBS Radio.[12] The sale was completed on December 19, 2017.[13] The deal had iHeartMedia taking over several former CBS and Entercom stations inBoston andSeattle in exchange for the Richmond and Chattanooga stations.
On September 13, 2020, WRXL quietly re-branded as "Alt 102-1" as part of a systemic "revamping" of Entercom's alternative rock stations. At this time, most of the local DJs and programming staff were laid off and replaced with out-of-market hosts.[14][15]
WRXL also broadcasts an HD subchannel: