WKXW

WKXW (101.5 FM, "New Jersey 101.5") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Trenton, New Jersey. It is owned by Townsquare Media. Its studios and offices are located in Ewing and its broadcast tower is located near the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey at ().
History.
The station went on the air on August 27, 1962, as WBUD-FM. Its call sign subsequently changed in 1967 to WBJH, which stood for Bill and Joy Hardin, the son and daughter-in-law of the owner. The station's call sign changed to WTRT in 1979 and rebranded as "The New T-101 FM". In 1980, the station's call sign was changed to WKXW-FM, under its new owner Fidelity Communications. It was playing a hot adult contemporary format as "The All New Kix 101 & A 1/2 FM" and later "Kix 101.5". By the late 80s, the station evolved into more of a gold-based adult contemporary format. Its weekend Saturday oldies show evolved into an all oldies format from the 1950s through early 70s on overnights and weekends before the change to its current weekday talk format, which came in 1990 when it was sold to Press Communications. The sale to Millennium Radio Group took place in 2001.
On March 1, 1990 at 5pm, “New Jersey 101.5”, conceived by Sabo Media CEO, Walter Sabo, became the first full-time FM Talk station in America targeted for a younger audience. Mark Sheppard, who later went to middays, kicked off the format playing Bill Haley & The Comets' "Rock Around The Clock".
Since the 1990s, the station has a talk and news format during the week, with oldies music on the overnights and weekend. Initially, the oldies format was 1960s-based with a few pre-1964 oldies and a 1970s oldie or two each hour. By the early-to-mid-1990s, more 1970s music was added and by the early-2000s, 1980s music from 1980-1982 was added occasionally. Between 2000 and 2005, music from between 1986 and 1989 was added to the lineups. Gradually, at the same time, songs from 1964 and older were gradually reduced in the late-1990s and gone by 2000. In September 2007, 1960s music was removed from the "60s, 70s, and 80s" weekend music programming ID, and nearly all 1960s music had been removed from the playlist. However, in May 2012, "60s" was added back to the weekend music programming ID, coinciding with a limited but steady increase in music airplay focusing on select titles by well-known artists.
In the mid-to-late-1990s, music was ended on weekday overnights and now airs strictly on weekends and some holidays.
The station has, at times, provided a simulcast on various AM and FM stations in the Atlantic City area, beyond the reach of its main transmitter. The most recent simulcast ceased in June 2009 when then-WXKW changed formats to ESPN Sports Radio. The station's morning show was also simulcast for a time on regional cable network CN8 in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with cameras mounted in the radio studio showing the station's personalities on-camera.
In 2011, California-based Oaktree Capital signed a deal to buy Millennium Radio Group; after taking over, Oaktree transferred the Millennium stations to Townsquare Media.
Controversies.
In 2008, the station's parent company was sued by a photographer for copyright infringement, and defamation with regards to the online posting of a photocopy of a "New Jersey Monthly "magazine photograph. Photographer Peter Murphy sent a notice of copyright infringement to the station to remove a photo Craig Carton and Ray Rossi, which had been photocopied from a March 2006 issue of the magazine; the station also posted "photoshopped" versions of the picture that were submitted by listeners. While the station complied with the takedown request, Carton and Rossi complained on-air about Murphy's conduct, allegedly saying that Murphy was "not to be trusted" and that people "should avoid doing business" with him. Carton and Rossi also alleged that Murphy "was a homosexual." In April 2008, Murphy brought suit for direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement, violation of the DMCA, and defamation of character against Millennium Radio Group, Carton, and Rossi. The Third Circuit ruled that the station's actions did constitute both a violation of the DMCA and copyright infringement, which vacated the district court's judgment.
On July 26, 2018, the station came under fire after hosts Judi Franco and Dennis Malloy referred to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal as "turban man" while on air. The hosts were suspended for 10 days.
In December 2018, Judi Franco garnered controversy when called the state's "Move Over" law "silly" and unnecessary in an opinion piece she posted on the station's website under the headline "Dead cops make bad laws."
New Jersey-centric branding.
The station has strongly branded its New Jersey-ness, with its announcers frequently self-identifying "New Jersey 101.5" and with its bumper message intoning "Not New York. Not Philadelphia. Proud to be New Jersey!", as well as its branded "New Jersey Fast Traffic" and "New Jersey Instant Weather". The New Jersey-centric nature of the station is emphasized in the traffic reports, in that they refer to traffic direction on bridges and tunnels as "entering New Jersey" or "leaving New Jersey" instead of the more traditional designations of "into the city/inbound" or "out of the city/outbound". As well, current temperatures of different samples of towns in New Jersey are given after the weather reports. Despite the station's branding, the 101.5 signal does not reach the majority of Cape May, Salem and Sussex Counties while the signal's coverage of Atlantic, Bergen, Cumberland and Hudson Counties is poor at best, though digital options do allow full-state reach of the station through other means.
Ratings.
The way WKXW has been able to maintain a strong listener base can be attributed to several factors, including:
Townsquare News Network.
The station is the flagship broadcasting arm of the Townsquare New Jersey News Network as heard on twelve radio stations throughout the state. The network consists of WOBM-FM in Toms River, WOBM-AM in Lakewood, WCHR-FM in Manahawkin, WJLK-FM in Asbury Park, WADB-AM in Tinton Falls, WFPG-FM in Atlantic City, WSJO-FM in Egg Harbor City, WPUR-FM in Atlantic City, and WENJ in Atlantic City. Various bureaus throughout the state share stories with the Ewing headquarters.
Format.
The station's proprietary format was created in 1990. It was idea of Sabo Media CEO Walter Sabo. Sabo, a former NBC and ABC executive, branded the station, built its approach to call-in radio and gave the station its Jersey-centric point of view. His initiatives were carried out by Jay Sorensen and Perry Michael Simon, with the help of Press Broadcasting chief Bob McAllan and general manager John Dziuba. Subsequent program directors include Leigh Jacobs and Eric Johnson.
On-air personalities.
Current.
Supporting personalities include Dan Zarrow on weather, David Mattau and Patrick Lavery on news, Bob Williams, Jill Myra, "Tom Rivers" (aka Matt Ward from 1010 WINS), and Bernie Wagenblast for traffic.
Alumni.
Notable radio personalities who have worked at the station include: