WIXE
| Broadcast area | Charlotte metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1190 kHz |
| Branding | The Mighty 1190 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country/Talk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Monroe Broadcasting |
| Technical information | |
| Class | D |
| Power | 5,000 watts (Daytime) 70 watts (Nighttime) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | WIXE Live Feed |
| Website | wixe.com |
WIXE (branded as The Mighty 1190) in Monroe, North Carolina is a radio station at 1190 AM. It broadcasts a country music as well as a local talk format and is currently under ownership of Monroe Broadcasting. The station has been continuously on the air since 1968.
WIXE is not automated and still uses local announcers.
History
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2009) |
Ray Atkins became co-owner of WIXE in 1971 after rock and roll did not work, switching to country, the second Charlotte-area station to do so after WSOC-FM. Atkins had previously played country music as a DJ on WMAP in Monroe, As a musician, he played steel guitar with Arthur Smith and Bill Hefner.
In Summer 1988, for the first time in its 20 years on the air, WIXE ranked second only to WBT among AM radio stations in the Charlotte market.[1]
On July 10, 2008, a truck accidentally backed into one of the guy wires of the station's nearly-190-foot-tall tower, bringing the tower down and knocking the station off the air. While the AM broadcast signal was off, WIXE continued streaming online.
Monroe Broadcasting owner Archie Morgan and his team began the construction of a new tower for the station.[2] By 11 pm that same night, the broadcast signal was back on the air thru the use of a horizontal dipole antenna. The plan was for this antenna to be used until the new tower could be built.
As of September 21, 2008, WIXE was back up to full power with the new tower, as well as a new ground system. The station already reached 9 counties, but the replacement of the 40-year-old ground system made a vast improvement in coverage into Mecklenberg and surrounding counties.
References
- ^ Gene Stowe, "No. 2 with a Bullet: WIXE Climbs AM Radio Survey with Hot Country," The Charlotte Observer, October 30, 1988.
- ^ "Truck brings down tower of WIXE "Mighty 1190" in NC". Radio-Info.com. July 11, 2008.
External links
- WIXE in the FCC AM station database
- Template:AML
34°57′41″N 80°32′40″W / 34.96139°N 80.54444°W
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