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Goodbye WRAX
I knew something was up this morning when Beaner and Ken were preempted by nothing but mostly good, deep cuts of music.
Then I got in and my Google News Alert for WRAX was sitting in my inbox:
Alternative to sign off at 100.5 FM
Sports-talk station WJOX replaces The X starting today
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
BOB CARLTON
News staff writerBirmingham radio listeners can expect a major lineup change today.
Alternative rock station The X at 100.5 (WRAX-FM), once one of the most popular stations in town, will go off the air this afternoon to make room for sports talk station WJOX, which already airs on the AM 690 frequency.
Staff members at The X were told they no longer had jobs at a Tuesday afternoon meeting with Dale Daniels, the general manager for both stations.
“The X is no more,” Mark Lindsey, that station’s former music director, said following the meeting. “He (Daniels) said that he’s sorry and he appreciates everything that we did.”
Daniels declined to comment on any changes Tuesday.
Both stations are owned by Citadel Broadcasting. For the time being, it is expected Citadel will broadcast WJOX on both the AM 690 and FM 100.5 frequencies.
During its heyday as 107.7 The X, the 100,000-watt WRAX was one of top stations in Birmingham and the highest-rated alternative rock station in the country.
But ratings gradually started to slide over the past few years, and last spring, the station changed frequencies from 107.7 to the less powerful 100.5 signal.
“It was a very influential station, not only locally, but nationally, for years,” radio consultant Mark St. John said. “I don’t think it was ever able to recover from that move because the signal wasn’t as good, among other things.”
Scott Register, who hosted the popular Sunday-morning show “Reg’s Coffee House” for almost 10 years on The X, informed his listeners in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon that the station is going off the air.
“The powers that be decided sports talk was the answer, and with one swift move, The X is no more in Birmingham,” Register wrote. “A station that was once known as one of the top tastemakers in the country has met its Waterloo.”
Register will continue to host a one-hour syndicated version of his show.
As more listeners turn to satellite radio to get their music, the demise of alternative stations such as The X is part of a growing trend, said Don VanCleave, president of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores.
“I’ve got Sirius and XM, so I’m a big fan (of satellite radio),” VanCleave said. “It’s one of the big reasons I haven’t listened to them (The X) in a while.”
E-mail: bcarlton@bhamnews.com
I don’t know, maybe no one listened any more because the music you played (for the most part) sucked.
I actually think that the worst part of all of this is the lack of concert promotion for the Birmingham area that will result from no alt station.
Luckily there are several groups in the area that are working to put their own radio station on the air:
Fried Green Radio and
Radio Revolution Birmingham are the only two I can think of off the top of my head right now.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:32 am
This is pathetic and is just goes to show how management can ruin a good thing. The X broke John Mayer for god’s sake! Once the station was purchased it was over, it just took a long time for the station to breath its last breath.
I had a discussion with my dad over the holiday weekend concerning this very issue. Broadcast radio is programming itself into obsolescence. The X became irrelevant when it started using a 12 track play list. That was about the same time I bought an iPod. How this was actually GOOD for revenue is beyond my comprehension as we all know what happened to the ratings.
Anyway, I can’t move to satellite radio but I can surely listen to my music collection in the car from now on. Broadcast radio is dead to me. Well, that is unless I need to find out about a snow event or something. The biggest casualty of this whole thing is the crippling of Reg’s Coffee House. Maybe he can find a way to acquire the rights to podcast some stuff which I don’t think he is doing now.
Finally, if you want a good internet streaming service that is free and very well maintained, try www.pandora.com
November 29th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
I have to agree, the music was really lacking as of late. Stick with us and we will do all we can to keep the music and the scene alive.
Keep it REAL
J.D.
November 29th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
[…] It will have been replaced with an FM simulcast of WJOX, a sports talk station. At first glance, the decision appears to be one of common sense, considering the buzz associated with the recent coaching carousel that is set to go into motion. This is definitely a state and a city that prides itself on its sports teams, leading to a sound business decision. A closer look though reveals that Birmingham, AL may in fact be losing one of its last vestiges of uniqueness, at least on the FM dial. Not that all of it was as great as it has been, though I’m not quite sure I’d go as far as 3choBoomer went in his post earlier today, which includes the text from the Birmingham News article. For all of it. […]
November 29th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
Wow, that’s heartbreaking.
i’ve been listening to the X, and its predecessors, for a long, long time. As a matter of fact, I virtually *discovered* rock and roll on that station. I went to X Fest I (Matchbox 20, Better Than Ezra, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Medeski Martin and Wood… if I recall).
My musical tastes have changed, and that station has changed, but I kept listening… at least until the buyout and the corporate format. I got a car jack for my iPod and started listening less and less, but I still tuned in for Reg and the occasional radio rock out.
It hurts to see the X go. Birmingham will miss it. I will miss it.
November 30th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
It seems like they just put it out of its misery to me. Everyone needs to go rent Pump up the Volume and start a good grassroots radio station for all the eccentric band-lovers in Birmingham (of which there seem to be a lot) and get their own agenda flowing again.
Personally I will be glad to get better signal on WJOX
December 1st, 2006 at 11:33 am
Here we go again. Why does Birmingham radio SUCK so bad. We lost 97.3 to a country channel and now the X is gone. Their music selction really began to suck after their switch over. Now, Birmingham has a reason to SUCK even more. I am 32 yrs old and I really don’t enjoy hearing the same club music and songs all day on 103.7 while I am at work and do listen to the radio. Why dont these corporate idiots travel to ATL and listen to 105 The Buzz. That channel is great alternative music ALL DAY and I dont mean songs that came out 10-15yrs ago or songs that OK to play only during daytime hours. NO they play real music ALL the time. You can hear Disturbed and Korn (songs that you never hear in Birmingham) at 9am. That is awesome. I wish Bham could get over their selves and the LACK of good radio stations. We have more country channels in Bham than prob any other state. And there are several thousand people that DONT like or listen to country music.
December 1st, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Hello. look i know that things on the x weren’t perfect ,but damn it was all we had. at least we had reg. look i’m 51 years old and i absolutely can’t listen to classic rock at least not the kind they play here…against the wind by bob segar…i’ve heard it 100,000 times. if someone could play the good stuff van morrison, pfloyd,spirit,moody blues…forget it it’ll never happen. why can’t we just have reg’s coffee house all the time? i need something to listen to dammit.
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Where’s Beaner and Ken in all this? Or are they also still under too much shock to shout out? I have to agree with the comments on the quality of music rotated in the last couple years on the station. I listened primarily just for Beaner and Ken in the mornings. Between 2 pair of asinine country bumpkins and a very unentertaining pair of smarmy jerks there was still Beaner and Ken. Hell, I’d be surprised if there are many morning duos in the country today that could hold a candle to those guys.
And to think that I felt wrathful for 99.5 playing Nascar and Auburn football on weekends. Woe is me.
December 4th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Great!!! Now, maybe Birmingham will have a REAL rock station that doesn’t continue to play 1-hit wonders from the late 90s. Maybe Birmingham will now have a radio station that supports local music.
December 4th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Good riddance! The X sucked before they bought out 100.5. That’s why they bought them, they couldn’t compete. They went soft. I like John Mayer, but I don’t want to hear him every hour. Beaner and Ken were the only good thing left. Mark AD sucked big time! What got me was how they pimped concerts for bands they never played.
I did listen to a new station today. 105.5 Vulcan. Good stuff. It reminded me of the Bear 105.9 all those years ago.
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:41 pm
The X may have soured in recent years (Way to go Citadel Management!) but it was still better than the alternatives. I’ve been listening since “The Bear” days as well. Beaner & Ken were good to listen to when they were in town, but doing the Birmingham morning show from Syracuse left me thoroughly confused. Whose brainchild was that Citadel? You could never tell where listeners were calling from. For me, preset number 5 has been changed to 105.5. Hopefully Citadel doesn’t and won’t own them. Bunch-a-dam idiots…
January 9th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I am a resident of Syracuse NY where Beaner and Ken were broadcast on 95x (WAQX 95.7FM). They have been taken off the air here and needless to say I am NOT happy about it. They were the best morning show we have ever had, in my opinion. I cannot believe it. One of the few good things we had going for us here and now it has been ripped out from underneath us. Unbelieveable. I hope they get another radio show soon and one I will be able to listen to. They will be extemely missed!
February 14th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I feel as if I’ve taken this a little too harshly. I mean, I listened to Beaner & Ken almost every morning since I was a kid. They were the highlight of my morning. I knew that if I listened on my way to work, chances are I’d have AT LEAST a couple laughs. One day, bam…gone.
My mornings are now empty. Those guys will be extremely missed by me.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:06 am
1. yeah the music sucked as of late, but they managed to throw a good one in every now and again, and at least there was the hope that things would get better. Now, there is no real hope.
2. 105.5 the vulcan is owned by Clear channel. Do you people know who they are??? if you think citadel is bad, clear channel owns like half of the radio stations in the country and guess what the first thing they do is when they buy a station? fire all the local talent and start running simulcasting with one of their other stations or a satellite feed from a syndicated jock. All of you touting the Vulcan, beware, there is no hope for local music being showcased there for sure.
July 1st, 2007 at 12:01 am
Well, it’s been a little over six months since X ceased operations and Vulcan 105.5 came on the air. To my surprise, the Vulcan is still on the air. I don’t listen to Vulcan all that much due to their crappy static reception where I live. However when I was able to pick up one day, it sounded like to me that Vulcan play a lot of the same songs that Rocket 95.1 in Huntsville normally plays. The Rocket may not have the same “character” or will ever be as well-known as the old 107.7 X (pre-Citadel) was, but at least they are not owned by Citadel or Clear Channel and that I’m thankful for.
July 1st, 2007 at 10:01 pm
I think the PD from Rocket 95.1 is now @ 105.5 the Vulcan….
July 6th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Like many of you. I was around Southside Birmingham, AL when 105.9 the bear was around in the mid to late 90’s, then came 107.7 The X. Which you could listen to damn near up in Huntsville, AL. I grew to love The X, and i miss all the wonderful concerts at Airwave studios, the 5 points south music hall, and many other venues. I recently went back to Birmingham and was NOT impressed with the city as i once knew at all. Dont get me wrong I have a huge heart for Birmingham but am just at a loss for words as to what happened to all the wonderful vibes you used to feel in Birmingham.