WWDX was a short-lived Paterson, New Jersey commercial FM radio station, which operated from late 1947 until January 9, 1949.[1] During this time station licensees were not allowed to have more than one FM station in a given community, so WWDX was shut down after its owners made arrangements to purchase a more powerful station, WNNJ, also located in Paterson.
WWDX was owned by the Passaic Herald-News, which was controlled by the Dow H. Drukker family. The station, assigned to 107.1 MHz, began test broadcasts in mid-December 1947 from a temporary studio located at its Garrett Mountain transmitter site.[2]
In mid-1948 the newspaper purchased a 90 percent interest in AM station WPAT, which also held a construction permit for a Class B FM station, WNNJ, on 103.5 MHz.[3] This sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission in December 1948.[4] At this time FCC regulations did not permit licensees to operate more than one FM station in a given community. WWDX was only authorized to transmit with 190 watts, while WNNJ was authorized for 8,000 watts.[5] The decision was made to shut down WWDX, which made its final broadcast on January 9, 1949, with station management reporting that the "outstanding program features [of WWDX] will be incorporated into the schedule of WNNJ".[1] WWDX was formally deleted on January 18, 1949, "in fulfillment of condition to grant of purchase by Daily News of WPAT (AM) and WNNJ (FM) Paterson".[6]
Notable announcers who worked at WWDX included Bob Clayton[7] and Frank Marth.[8]