WSOX


WSOX is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Red Lion, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Cumulus Media through licensee Radio License Holding SRC, LLC and broadcasts a classic hits format. The station's service contour includes the metro areas of York, Harrisburg, Lebanon, Gettysburg and Lancaster, Pennsylvania as well as the northern suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. Its broadcast tower is located near Red Lion at.
WSOX uses HD Radio, and simulcasts the talk radio programming of sister station WSBA on its HD2 subchannel, while the sports programming of sister station WGLD is simulcast on its HD4 subchannel. HOPE FM branded christian radio programming is broadcast on the station's HD3 subchannel, which is simulcast on three FM translators.

History

The Federal Communications Commission granted John M. Norris a construction permit for the station on July 22, 1959 with the WGCB-FM call sign. The station was granted its first license on August 1, 1960. WGCB-FM aired a christian radio format.
The station's license was voluntarily assigned to Red Lion Broadcasting Company, Inc., effective May 23, 1963.
In 1969, Red Lion Broadcasting lost a landmark First Amendment case, after the station refused to grant free on-air time for a journalist to rebutt the claims made against him by an on-air evangelist.
In August 1997 the station's license was transferred from Thomas H. Moffit, Sr., to Pioneer Broadcasting Corporation, followed by a call sign change to WTHM-FM on December 5, 1997. On July 1, 1998, the call sign was changed to WSOX. In March 2003, the license was transferred from Pioneer Broadcasting Corporation to Lancaster-York Broadcasting, LLC and four months later, in July 2003, the license was transferred from Lancaster-York Broadcasting, LLC to Susquehanna License, LLC, which was owned by Susquehanna Radio Corporation.
On October 31, 2005, Cumulus Media announced the creation of a new private partnership, Cumulus Media Partners, LLC, formed with Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, to purchase Susquehanna Radio Corporation for approximately $1.2 billion. The purchase was completed on May 5, 2006, at which time the license for WSOX was transferred to Radio License Holding SRC, LLC., a licensee of Cumulus Media Partners Susquehanna Corporation.

Translators

The following three translators are licensed to Hope Christian Church of Marlton, Inc, and simulcast the programming of HOPE FM broadcast on WSOX-HD3:

Signal note

WSOX is short-spaced to two other stations: WHUR-FM 96.3 WHUR and WWIN-FM Magic 95.9.
WSOX and WHUR-FM operate on first adjacent channels and the cities they are licensed to serve are only 72 miles apart. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on first adjacent channels according to current FCC rules is 105 miles.
WSOX and WWIN-FM also operate on first adjacent channels and the cities they are licensed to serve are only 51 miles apart. The minimum distance between a Class B station and a Class A station operating on first adjacent channels according to current FCC rules is 70 miles.
WSOX uses a directional antenna to reduce its signal toward the south-southwest, in the direction of these two stations.