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WKOX
Everett, Massachusetts; United States;
Broadcast area	Greater Boston
Frequency	1430 kHz
Branding	Buenas Nuevas Boston
Programming
Language(s)	Spanish
Format	Christian radio
Ownership
Owner	Delmarva Educational Association
Operator	Global Ministries Foundation
History
First air date	January 20, 1952; 72 years ago
Former call signs	WHIL (1952–1973); WWEL (1973–1979); WXKS (1979–2010);
Call sign meaning	Carried over from the former WKOX (1200 AM) in Framingham/Newton, now WXKS (AM)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	53964
Class	D
Power	2,500 watts day; 26 watts night;
Transmitter coordinates	42°26′9.35″N 70°59′33.18″W / 42.4359306°N 70.9925500°W
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Webcast	Listen live
Website	buenasnuevas.fm

WKOX (1430 kHz, "Buenas Nuevas Boston") is a commercial AM radio station owned by the Delmarva Educational Association. It broadcasts a Spanish-language Christian radio format. The station is licensed to Everett, Massachusetts and targets Boston and its suburbs. It broadcasts from radio studios in Medford. The transmitter site is in Saugus.

History

The station signed on January 20, 1952,^[2] as WHIL, a daytime-only station based in Medford, Massachusetts. After an attempt to program pop music, the station flipped to country music in the 1960s, and added an FM station, WHIL-FM 107.9, which simulcast the AM during the day and continued with similar programming at night.

In 1972, the FM was changed from WHIL-FM to WWEL-FM, and both stations switched to a format of instrumental versions of pop hits and show tunes known as beautiful music, with the stations simulcast most of the day. On August 28, 1973, WHIL became WWEL,^[3] to match the FM station's call sign.

In January 1979, after the stations were sold, the call letters were changed to WXKS and WXKS-FM, with the "KS" in the call letters representing the word "Kiss". Both stations launched a disco format (mostly, but not completely, simulcast), with the FM ("Kiss 108") soon becoming one of Boston's most popular radio stations, although the AM had very few listeners.^[4] The FM side eventually made a very successful transition from disco to mainstream top 40; by that time, however, the AM no longer had the same format as the FM.

From December 31, 1979, until October 4, 2004, WXKS was an adult standards-format station, which at first carried the Music of Your Life format, with the music played by local personalities.^[5] For a time in the 1980s, WXKS became quite successful, especially among older listeners, in spite of its daytime status. Later, WXKS went to 24-hours-a-day operation and broadcast programming from both the Music of Your Life and AM Only/America's Best Music satellite networks, along with a local morning show during the early 2000s.

On October 4, 2004, WXKS made a format change to liberal talk, for the most part carrying programming from the Air America radio network. Since the WXKS nighttime signal is very directional, sister station WKOX (1200 AM) in Framingham also broadcast the same programming.^[6]^[7]

At noon on December 21, 2006, the stations dropped the progressive talk format in favor of a Spanish tropical format called "Rumba".^[8]

On September 4, 2009, WXKS split from the simulcast with WKOX and flipped to Spanish-language Top 40, branded "Mia 1430", using the format from Premium Choice. The two stations then swapped call letters on March 1, 2010, as part of 1200 AM's transition to a conservative talk format.

The conservative talk format that had been on WXKS reappeared on WKOX in 2015. WXKS had given up the format in 2012, and the two stations that had bought the programming that had been on WXKS, WRKO (The Rush Limbaugh Show) and WMEX (The Sean Hannity Show and the Glenn Beck Radio Program), discontinued the shows in two separate moves in 2015.^[9] WKOX confirmed the news on June 25, 2015, with the station opting for the Premiere Networks conservative talk lineup (which, in addition to Hannity, Limbaugh, and Beck's programs, included Buck Sexton and Jason Lewis) plus a tape-delayed broadcast of Westwood One's The Mark Levin Show; overnight and morning drive programming was supplied by Fox Sports Radio. While conservative talk shows were on the air, national news from Fox News Radio was heard at the beginning of each hour.

On November 1, 2017, iHeartMedia disclosed that it was selling WKOX to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership limits following its proposed acquisition of WBZ, WRKO, WKAF, and WZLX. The move followed the merger of CBS Radio and Entercom, with both companies needing to divest stations to different owners to meet ownership limits and revenue concentration limits set by the FCC and the Department of Justice. The divestment into the trust was completed on December 19.^[10] On March 1, 2018, iHeartMedia moved the conservative talk format back to WXKS; WKOX then switched to a Spanish-language hit music format and revived the "Rumba" branding.^[11]

On April 30, 2020, iHeartMedia announced that the trust would be donating WKOX to Delmarva Educational Association.^[12] On August 11, 2020, after the sale closed, WKOX flipped to gospel music as "1430 The Light".^[13] iHeart would revive the "Rumba" branding and Spanish CHR format on WKAF (now WZRM) in May 2021.^[14] On March 29, 2021, WKOX changed its format to Spanish Christian, branded as "Buenas Nuevas Radio".^[15]

HD Radio

WKOX is currently broadcasting in HD Radio. The station also broadcast on HD2 signal of sister station WBWL until December 19, 2017.

References

^ "Facility Technical Data for WKOX". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1981 (PDF). 1981. p. C-111. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
^ "WXKS (WKOX) history cards" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
^ McLean, Robert A. (January 24, 1979). "Takeover in the night". The Boston Globe. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
^ William A. Henry, "Critic's notebook," The Boston Globe, December 28, 1979.
^ Clea Simon, "Air America finds local home," The Boston Globe, October 1, 2004.
^ Clea Simon, "Franken turns dial to the left," The Boston Globe, November 4, 2004.
^ Clea Simon, "Two AM stations make switch to Latino music," The Boston Globe, December 20, 2006.
^ Fybush, Scott (June 15, 2015). Boston's talk mess shakes out. NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
^ Venta, Lance (November 1, 2017). "Entercom Trades Boston & Seattle Spin-Offs To iHeartMedia For Richmond & Chattanooga". RadioInsight. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
^ Venta, Lance (March 1, 2018). "iHeartMedia Relaunches Talk 1200 & Rumba 1430 Boston". RadioInsight. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
^ Venta, Lance (April 30, 2020). "iHeartMedia Trust Donates Boston AM". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
^ A Gospel Light Shines Into Boston
^ Venta, Lance (May 25, 2021). "Rumba 97.7 Boston Debuts". RadioInsight. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
^ Buenas Nuevas For WKOX Radioinsight - March 29, 2021