WRZX (FM)
WRZX (106.5 FM, "Big 106.5") is a radio station licensed to Greenville, Ohio serving most of the Dayton metropolitan area with a rimshot signal. The station is owned by the Aloha Station Trust II, LLC. Its studios are located in Kettering, Ohio (with a Dayton address) and its transmitter is in Greenville.
 | |
| City | Greenville, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Dayton, Ohio |
| Frequency | 106.5 MHz |
| Branding | Big 106.5 |
| Slogan | Dayton's '60's and '70's Hits |
| Programming | |
| Format | Oldies |
| Affiliations | Premium Choice iHeartRadio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Aloha Station Trust II, LLC |
| Operator | iHeartMedia |
| WCHD, WYDB, WMMX, WONE, WTUE, WZDA | |
| History | |
First air date | 1990 |
Former call signs | WDRK (1964–1989) WLSN (1990–1997) WBKI (1998–2003) WDJO (2003–2005) WDSJ (2005–2014) WOLT (5/2014-6/2014) |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 67615 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 146 meters (479 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40.147°N 84.610°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | big1065 |
WRZX is licensed by the FCC to broadcast in the hybrid digital HD format.[1][2]
History
The station's history dates back to 1962 as WDRK "The Brightest Spark In Darke (County)" known for its upper-case "W-spark" logo (possibly inspired by a similar logo used by the former WIFE in Indianapolis) when its studios were located in Greenville, Ohio (its city of license) and was operated by Lewell Broadcasting.
The station switched from traditional middle of the road to adult contemporary in 1972 when it aired the automated "Hitparade" package produced by Drake-Chenault Enterprises throughout a good part of the 1970s. The adult contemporary format however was tweaked by switching to locally produced automation tapes before the end of the decade. It later switched to a satellite country music format in the 1980s and later an oldies format in the late 1980s.
During this time WDRK was cited by the FCC in the late 1970s for leaving the transmitter unattended overnight and making false entries on its logs claiming otherwise. The station's owners fought a long battle with the FCC to keep it on the air until around 1989 when WDRK went silent and never returned to the air.
A newer station in its place emerged in 1990 as WLSN, owned by Treaty City Broadcasting airing beautiful music mixed with smooth jazz with a taller and more powerful transmitter installed north of Greenville replacing the less powerful WDRK tower on the south edge of town. Around this same time the former WHIO-FM switched from a similar format to country as WHKO "K-99.1 FM."
In 1997 WLSN was sold to Jacor Communications, later becoming WBKI ("Buckeye Country 106.5") in 1998 competing with WHKO until the merger with Clear Channel becoming WDJO (a call sign used previously at 1230 AM in Cincinnati) as "Dayton's Jammin' Oldies 106.5." But eventually, the late 1960s and '70s rhythmic oldies format failed to attract sizeable listeners. The WDJO calls themselves have since moved back to a station licensed to Cincinnati at 1480 AM, as a 1950s' and '60s' oldies station.
When a group of listeners of the former WLSN joined together and complained about the lack of smooth jazz in the Dayton market, it was recommended that it would go back to what it was a decade earlier. Thus it became WDSJ which enjoyed a considerably large following in the Dayton market, eastern Indiana and the northern suburbs of Cincinnati since its switch to smooth jazz. WDSJ aired programming from Broadcast Architecture's "Smooth Jazz Network."
On Friday May 1, 2009 the smooth jazz format ended at 5pm Eastern time according to the WDSJ website. It became "106.5 The Bull" with a country music format and a new website which went online on the morning of May 2, 2009.[3]
On March 25, 2010, WDSJ changed their format to classic hits, branded as "Big 106.5". They are using Premium Choice with voicetracked DJs.[4]
On May 26, 2014, 106.5 changed callsigns from WDSJ to WOLT.[5]
On June 20, 2014 106.5 changed callsigns from WOLT to WRZX. The WOLT callsign is now assigned to the former WRZX 103.3 FM in Indianapolis.
In 2014, BIG 106.5 became Dayton's Christmas Music Station. After LITE 94.5 became B94.5, MIX 1077 became Dayton's Christmas Music Station, until 2014. Since 2014, Dayton's Christmas Music Station has been Big 106.5, and has been featured on Channel 2 (WDTN). BIG normally plays Christmas Music from mid November through Christmas Day.
In 2019, due to the events in Dayton, Big 106.5 officially flipped to Christmas Music as of Noon on November 1. Normally, Big 106.5 would flip anywhere from the 8th of November, or as late as the 17th/18 November.
On May 4, 2020 at 12:17AM, the station changed from 70's and 80's based Classic Hits to 60's based Oldies. The final song from the Classic Hits format was Survivor's "High On You." The first song from the new format was Aretha Franklin's "Think." No explanation on the website or in social media was given for the change. The new slogan for the station is "Dayton's '60s and 70's Hits."