WXMA

WXMA

Louisville, Kentucky
Broadcast area	Louisville metropolitan area
Frequency	102.3 MHz
Branding	102.3 The Rose
Programming
Format	Soft adult contemporary
Affiliations	Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner	Alpha Media (Alpha Media Licensee LLC Debtor in Possession)
Sister stations	WDJX, WGHL, WGZB-FM, WMJM
History
First air date	1964 (as WLRS)
Former call signs	WLRS (1964–2000) WULV (2000–2002)
Call sign meaning	W MAX (A previous moniker)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	37236
Class	A
ERP	6,000 watts
HAAT	87 meters (286 feet)
Transmitter coordinates	38°14′37″N85°45′34″W / 38.24361°N 85.75944°W / 38.24361; -85.75944
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	1023therose.com

WXMA (102.3 FM) is a commercial radio station in Louisville, Kentucky. It is owned by Alpha Media and broadcasts a soft adult contemporary radio format known as "102.3 The Rose". WXMA's radio studios and offices are on South 4th Street in Downtown Louisville.

WXMA has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 6,000 watts. The transmitter site is atop The 800 Apartments building, a few blocks from the studios. ^[2]

Station history

102.3 FM signed on as WLRS in 1964 as a stand-alone FM station for Louisville Radio School (hence the call-letters for the station). The station was used as a training ground for the school's broadcast students in its early years and had a studio at the school's premises on 1701 S. 3rd Street ^[3] in Louisville. In the late 1960s, station owner Clarance Henson entered into an agreement to sell WLRS to crosstown AM Top 40 WAKY, but the deal fell apart when WAKY did not meet the six-month deadline to complete the transaction. By 1970, WLRS was noted as being one of only nine stand-alone FMs in the state of Kentucky.

WLRS moves to AOR

In 1974, under the aegis of Henson Broadcasting, Henson's daughter Louisa Henson became more involved in the family station, WLRS, and the music became hit or album-oriented rock. ^[4] This format brought them top ratings in 1978 and some said it marked the first time in the nation an FM rock station had placed first in an Arbitron survey, a trend that would continue as the era of FM dominance got under way. ^[5]

Media personalities at WLRS

The WLRS program director during the 1970s and early 80s was Jarl Mohn, known then as Lee Masters, who went on to become general manager of MTV. ^[6] Henson Broadcasting later hired high-spirited disc jockeys Ron Clay and Terry Meiners, although in 1983 both were hired away by competitor WQMF after a brief legal dispute. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} The duo's show "Morning Sickness" was broadcast from the 800 Building daily, ^[11] and the when the pair left, a judge ruled that the name of the show and their sketches would remain WLRS's intellectual property. ^[12]

Creative marketing

WLRS began using a "walrus" mascot to personify its call letters in the 1970s. The station hired local artists Danny Messex ^[13] and Victor Troutman, Jr. ^[14] to make the walrus art. Under the helm of manager Louisa Henson, the station began a series of memorable promotions that lasted over a decade. In 1981, DJ Terry Meiners memorably promoted "sex with Mick Jagger" during the Rolling Stones' only regional appearance in a WLRS-promoted concert. ^[15] A promotion with Pepsi-Cola included a giant vintage fire truck painted in the station’s signature gold and blue and dispensing Pepsi, lighting up Louisville's Big Four railway bridge at Christmastime with the station logo and call sign ^{[16] [17] [18]} , helicopter drops of 3,000 dollar bills onto a 15,000 person crowd, Some promotions included, and epic barge-based fireworks displays in collaboration with Zambelli that presaged Thunder Over Louisville. Henson also geared promotions toward "102" symbolism (such as giving our concert tickets when summer temps reached 102 F or having giveaways at 1:02AM) and produced a series of "homemade" albums featuring local artists. The station also sponsored an impressive array of concerts, bringing luminaries such as Rod Stewart, Nazareth, and the Rolling Stones to Louisville and commemorating events with t-shirts. WLRS often broadcast from the Phoenix Hill Tavern, and the association was so strong that the station often used the "ph" as a stand-in for the "f" in many jokey promotions such as an annual Spring Phling or Monday night National "Phootball" League ("NPhL") events. The station was also known for annual collage-style calendars, t-shirts, and a variety of button and others memorabilia, some of which are highly-sought after today. In 2018, an online shop used unauthorized "Morning Sickness" throwback shirts and mugs to raised money for WHAS's Crusade for Children. In 2022, several local t-shirt companies began re-issuing unauthorized t-shirts with the "classic" station logo and walrus mascot. ^{[19] [20] [21] [22]}

Nonprofit legacy

For ten years, the station conducted the Christmas toy drive, Bridge the Gap, distributing as many as 50,000 toys to the needy each year, and would broadcast from Louisville’s Phoenix Hill Tavern for the event. ^[23] Louisa Henson continued charity work after the station folded, and spun Bridge the Gap off as a nonprofit. ^{[24] [25]}

Ratings struggle and eventual sale

By 1981, WLRS was beaten by rival album rock station WQMF in the ratings, and in 1984, the station switched to a Top 40/AOR format or CHR for short as "The Flamethrowing LRS 102". The station was adding pop and urban artists like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston to its playlist (while still leaning toward Rock), to fill the void left when WKJJ abandoned Top 40 for adult contemporary in 1982 and WJYL dropped Top 40 for urban contemporary in 1984. Eventually, WKJJ switched back to CHR as WDJX, and both WLRS and WDJX (which leaned more toward R&B and dance) battled each other for the next few years before WLRS evolved back to their album rock format in 1986, because, at that time, LRS' ratings were poor. The station would later flip back to Top 40/CHR in 1988 before being sold to Toney Brooks' One Broadcasting.

Later history

On December 26, 1990, at 2 a.m., WLRS began stunting with Macintosh's Talking Moose counting down from 70,000 to 1. On January 1, 1991, at approximately 9:27 a.m., WLRS flipped to adult contemporary as "Mix 102". The first song on "Mix" was "This Is It" by Kenny Loggins. The station still used the legal calls of WLRS, but despite this, complemented its branding with the fake calls, "WMIX". ^[26] However, the "WMIX" branding was dropped by June 1991, as Withers Broadcasting, which owns two actual WMIX stations in Mount Vernon, Illinois (WMIX AM and WMIX-FM), registered the "WMIX" branding as a registered trademark, ^[27] and had threatened WLRS with a Cease and Desist letter for use of a trademark without permission. ^[26] The format was unpopular, with local press complaining that it was hard to differentiate from other big FM stations in the market. ^[28]

On May 19, 1997, at 6 p.m., after playing "The Last Song" by Edward Bear, WLRS began stunting with a loop of "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles, as well as promotions for other Louisville radio stations and teaser formats. One of the teaser formats was country as "Hot Country 102, The Bull". ^[29] On May 26, at 1:02 p.m., WLRS flipped to alternative rock as "LRS 102.3". The first song on "LRS" was "Spoonman" by Soundgarden. ^[30]

On July 30, 1999, at 3 p.m., WLRS flipped to soft adult contemporary as "Love 102.3" under the WULV call letters. (The WLRS call letters would be resurrected on 105.1 FM in February 2000, with that station featuring an active rock format.) ^[31]

On May 17, 2002, WULV flipped to Hot AC as "102.3 The Max" WXMA. ^[32]

Logo as 102.3 Jack FM

On August 31, 2017, at Noon, WXMA changed formats to adult hits, branded as "102.3 Jack FM". ^[33]

On August 30, 2022, at Noon, WXMA flipped back to soft AC, this time branded as "102.3 The Rose". ^[34]

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WXMA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Radio-Locator.com/WXMA
3. https://lkyradio.proboards.com/thread/62/wlrs-early-days-1967-69
4. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995-ARH--2020-04-28-21-35-30.pdf
5. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995-ARH--2020-04-28-21-35-30.pdf
6. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995-ARH--2020-04-28-21-35-30.pdf
7. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995-ARH--2020-04-28-21-35-30.pdf
8. https://terrymeiners.wordpress.com/about/
9. https://www.heyterry.com/blog/uncategorized/about/
10. https://ohc.library.louisville.edu/interviews/record.php?q=Meiners%2C%20Terry
11. https://x.com/terrymeiners/status/1808242856169009333
12. https://www.heyterry.com/blog/uncategorized/about/
13. https://www.facebook.com/groups/69124523476/
14. https://www.facebook.com/groups/69124523476/
15. https://courier-journal.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-terry-meiners-promo/127563909/
16. https://wikimapia.org/20930797/Big-Four-Bridge
17. https://speeddemon2.com/tag/big-four-bridge/
18. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10215989247284527&set=gm.10159035011913477
19. https://oldschoolshirts.com/products/wlrs-the-walrus-102-fm?srsltid=AfmBOoqQ33s8JrravcLckAEjAcj_lcVbjvXfK3-vPdX3FQYVpbHxuIDq
20. https://theuncommonwealthofkentucky.com/search?q=wlrs
21. https://tirkbd.shop/campaign/20240820-174551?s=gildan-18500&c=Black&p=FRONT
22. https://utran.shop/sgn-08-20-2024-1724107768917?s=hanes-5250&c=Black&p=FRONT
23. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995-ARH--2020-04-28-21-35-30.pdf
24. https://archivescatalog.library.louisville.edu/repositories/2/accessions/4731
25. https://b2bhint.com/en/company/us-ky/bridge-the-gap-inc--0143186
26. LKYRadio: WLRS
27. Justia Trademarks: "WMIX - Trademark Details"
28. http://lkyradio.com/WLRS.htm
29. Heaven's Gate Opens For Lex And Terry (Radio & Records, 05/23/1997, page 31)
30. WLRS/Louisville Flips To Alternative (Radio & Records, 06/06/1997, page 10)
31. WLRS/Louisville's In `Love' With AC (Radio & Records, 08/06/1999, page 20)
32. Clowning For Clones Tickets (Radio & Records, 05/24/2002, page 26)
33. Max Out; Jack In at 102.3 Louisville Radioinsight - August 31, 2017
34. A Rose Blooms in Louisville RadioInsight - August 30, 2022

External links

• 102.3 The Rose official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 37236 (WXMA) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WXMA in Nielsen Audio's FM station database