| WKXW | |
| City: | Trenton, New Jersey |
| Country: | US |
| Area: | New Jersey |
| Branding: | New Jersey 101.5 |
| Subchannels: | HD2: Beach Radio (oldies) |
| Language: | English |
| Haat: | 275m (902feet) |
| Class: | B |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
| Facility Id: | 53458 |
| Coordinates: | 40.2829°N -74.686°W |
| Callsign Meaning: | Two "W's" bookending "Kix" (former branding) |
| Owner: | Townsquare Media |
| Licensee: | Townsquare License, LLC |
| Sister Stations: | WCHR, WPST, WNJE |
WKXW (101.5 FM, "New Jersey 101.5") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Trenton, New Jersey. The station is owned by Townsquare Media with studios and offices located in Ewing[1] and its transmitter facility, which is shared with WPRB, located near the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence Township in Mercer County, New Jersey.[2]
The station went on the air on August 27, 1962, as WBUD-FM with an easy listening format. 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 5 pm, "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 to 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.[3]
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 edited 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."[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] The hosts were suspended for 10 days.[7] [8]
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."[9]
Some of the station's personalities have garnered attention for their promotion of anti-vaccination viewpoints (including opposition to COVID-19 vaccines and COVID-19 vaccine mandates), including morning host Bill Spadea, and host Dennis Malloy of the midday show The Dennis & Judi Show.[10] [11] [12] [13] In September 2022, Spadea and station owner Townsquare Media were sued for defamation by Steven Tobias—a child psychologist who had made appearances on the station to discuss the impact of the pandemic on schools—after Spadea called for him to be "indicted for child abuse" for promoting the wearing of face masks in schools.[14]
The station strongly brands 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 streaming options do allow full-state and even out-of-state reach of the station through other means.
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 WPST in Trenton, WOBM-FM in Toms River, WJLK (AM) in Lakewood, WCHR-FM in Manahawkin, WJLK-FM in Asbury Park, WOBM (AM) in Asbury Park, WFPG in Atlantic City, WSJO in Egg Harbor City, WPUR in Atlantic City, and WENJ in Atlantic City. Various bureaus throughout the state share stories with the Ewing headquarters.
On May 31, 2024, WKXW launched an oldies format branded "Beach Radio" on its HD2 subchannel.[15]