A new station was constructed in Marysville, Ohio at 105.7 MHz in 1990, known as WNRJ. The call letters signified "energy", as "Energy 105.7" was originally considered as a brand but never used. When the station finally signed on the air February 6, 1991, it was known as "The Power Pig" and featured a contemporary hit radio format. This short-lived format quickly evolved to rhythmic contemporary as WWHT, "Hot 105". In March 1993, sister stationWTLT in Circleville began simulcasting WWHT's signal and changed its call sign to WAHC. Together the two stations were branded as "Hot 105/Hot 107" and served the entire Columbus market. In an effort to again re-image the station, in early 1994 WWHT was changed to WAKS, "105.7 Kiss-FM", playing mainstream hits with a more adult lean. Kiss-FM failed to become a viable competitor to top 40 leader WNCI due to WAKS' relatively poor signal and undifferentiated format. The next format change in April of that year saw WAKS and WAHC flip to all-1970s oldies as "Arrow 105.7". The first song on Arrow was "Stayin Alive" by the Bee Gees. The late 1990s saw frequent changes at the station. In December 1996, Jacor Communications purchased WAKS and WAHC for approximately $9.5 million. The new owner flipped the station to country music the following month as WHQK, "Kicks Country 105-7", ending the simulcast with WAHC. WHQK dropped its programming in April 1997 after only a few months in favor of simulcasting WHOK-FM's country format. in an attempt to "surround" leading country station WCOL-FM A third format change came late in 1997 when the station gave all-1970s another try; it was branded "105.7 The Chicken" in reference to its mascot, a giant whole broiled chicken dressed in seasonal clothing. Also late in the year, after a day of stunting with Ohio State University themes, WHQK flipped to urban adult contemporary. Urban programming lasted until 1998, when modern rock-formatted WZAZ-FM swapped formats and call signs with WHQK. WZAZ-FM, now on 105.7 FM, was rebranded as "Channel Z 105.7". On June 6, 2000, WZAZ-FM relocated its transmitter closer to Columbus and became WJFX, a classic rock outlet branded "The Fox". A listeners petition to "Bring Back Channel Z" was started after the station switched to 1970s and 1980s rock, but nothing materialized from this effort. Although many liked the music variety played by "Channel Z", it was not competitive in the ratings with Grove City's alternative station, WWCD. On September 19, 2005, after a week of stunting again, The Fox relaunched as WBWR, "The Brew @ 105.7". Later that year, WBWR began broadcasting in HD Radio. On December 1, 2014 at noon, after playing "Heard It on the X" by ZZ Top, WBWR dropped the "Brew" format and began stunting with music by the Ohio State University Marching Band. At 3 p.m., WBWR flipped to gold-leaning alternative rock as "105.7 The X", bringing back the former name and branding of sister station WCGX after it dropped the format two months earlier; a modern rock format branded as "X" aired on WBWR's HD2 digital subchannel in the interim. The first song on The X was "Gold on the Ceiling" by Akron-based band The Black Keys. On July 8, 2015, WBWR changed its call letters to WXZX to match the new branding. On November 21, 2016, at 3 p.m., after briefly stunting with audio from past Ohio State–Michigan football games, WXZX flipped to sports radio as "105.7 The Zone". On February 8, 2019 at 3 p.m., WXZX returned to its previous classic rock format and "The Brew" branding. By that July, the station shifted to mainstream rock, adding acts such as Korn, White Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, and Pantera. On March 16, 2020, WXZX began airing Rover's Morning Glory, a syndicated morning drive program originating from WMMS in Cleveland.
HD Radio
WXZX broadcasts in HD Radio with two subchannels:
WXZX-HD1 is a digital simulcast of the analog signal.
WXZX-HD2 airs "Gen X Radio", a commercial-free channel from the iHeartRadio streaming radio platform that features hits from the 1980s and 1990s. The HD2 subchannel serves as the originating station for this service.
