WXER

Infobox Radio station
name = WXER


city = Plymouth, Wisconsin
area = Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
branding = "104-5 & 96-1 The Point"
slogan = "The Music Station"
airdate = 1990
repeater = W241AG
96.1 MHz, Sheboygan
frequency = 104.5 (MHz)
format = Top 40 (CHR)
power =
erp = WXER - 5.1 kW
W241AG 0.25 kW
class = A
callsign_meaning = W EXtra Easy Listening Radio (launch slogan & format)
owner = Midwest Communications
sister_stations = WHBL, WBFM, WHBZ
webcast =
website = [http://www.1045thepoint.com/ 1045ThePoint.com]
affiliations = American Top 40
ABC News (breaking news events only)

'WXER is a Top 40 FM radio station broadcasting on 104.5 MHz in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, which is owned by Midwest Communications. The station is licensed to the city of Plymouth and broadcasts from a tower southwest of the city.

History

WXER originally broadcast from studios with then co-owned WPLY (1420, now WJUB) on Highway 57 east of the city, but in 1994 after WPLY was sold off, moved them to Falls Plaza, a small shopping center off Fond du Lac Avenue in Sheboygan Falls, which were shared by former sister station WCNZ/WCLB (950 AM). Finally, the station moved to the Washington Avenue facilities of Midwest's other stations in Sheboygan when bought by the group in 2005.

The station also has a translator station with the calls W241AG broadcasting at 96.1 FM from the tower site behind the Midwest studios in Sheboygan, which was launched in June 2006 due to ongoing interference problems with WBFM and WHBZ within the city on the 104.5 frequency.

The station launched in 1990 with an easy listening format, then slowly over the years went more towards a more adult contemporary format. In 1999, the transition was complete, and the station took on "The Point" branding, then a popular brand for radio stations using that format. After then-soft rock WWJR became a hard rock station in 2000 under the calls WHBZ, the station became the market's sole AC station until 2003, when Cleveland-based WKTT switched from country to AC as WLKN. At this time, the station was owned by Mountain Dog Media. The station carried syndicated programming on the weekends, including radio-optimized programming from the VH1 Radio Network, Nina Blackwood's "Absolutely 80's", and "The Retro Pop Reunion".

In 2005, Mountain Dog sold the station to Midwest while keeping ESPN Radio affiliate WCLB, which is restricted by a non-compete agreement until 2010 [http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/archive/news0905.html] . Shortly after, Midwest ended syndicated programming on the station (except for a Sunday airing of "American Top 40"), and replaced the station's airstaff with new personalities, including voice tracked personalities from other Midwest stations in Green Bay and Wausau. In September 2008, the station took a contemporary hit radio/Top 40 format, adding current hip-hop/R&B songs to their playlist and narrowing it down to music after 2001, with a few pre-2001 tracks sprinkled in through the playlist.

External links

* [http://www.1045thepoint.com/ WXER official website]
*FMQ|WXER
*FML|WXER
*FMQ|W241AG
*FMXL|W241AG