• home
• blog
• music
• vintage
• boards
• store
• about

• Mini Playlist
• Request a song
• Studio Cam

• History
• Q & A
• Advertise
• Link to Us
• Staff / Contact

As Dustin Hoffman said in the movie Rain Man, "97X--Bam!--The Future of Rock & Roll"...launched our Alternative (Modern Rock) format in September, 1983. Entrepreneurs Doug and Linda Balogh had bought Oxford, Ohio's WOXY 97.7 FM for $375,000 with hopes to try something completely different from the station's struggling Top 40 format. That "something different" was Alternative and Modern Rock, and our archivist's best record-keeping indicates we were the sixth commercial Modern Rock station in the country. On Labor Day weekend in 1983, we kicked off our new format with U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday."

Over the years, we've accumulated quite a bit of praise from the popular music press including Rolling Stone, Spin, Alternative Press, Esquire, USA Today, Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati CityBeat, Dayton Daily News and countless radio industry publications. But the most important praise to us comes from our listeners, both our best cheerleaders and sometimes harshest critics and without whom none of this would be possible.

September of 1998 marked a new era for 97X, when we starting simulcasting our FM broadcast on the Internet. Listening to Internet radio in 1998 over a 33.6k dial-up connection (56k if you were lucky) was a less than excellent experience, but we had people listening around the country and as far away as the United Kingdom. Every year, our online listenership has doubled and today, we use the Internet to broadcast to tens of thousands of people from around the world. Loyal 97X listeners have reported in from Melbourne to London, Tokyo to Edmonton, Sweden to Nepal, and Anchorage to the South Pole. Thanks to an article in São Paulo's Folha de S. Paulo by Álvaro Pereira Júunior, we have quite the following in Brazil.

In January 2004, after 23 years, the Baloghs announced the sale of the broadcast license and assets of WOXY-FM to First Broadcasting Investment Partners of Dallas. All rights and ownership of the intellectual property of 97X The Future of Rock and Roll, woxy.com and the music library were retained with plans of taking 97X Internet-only. With the deteriorating state of commercial broadcast radio and the growth of broadband Internet access, it seemed like the perfect plan. The search for funding for the project began immediately while a sign-off date of May 13th loomed on the horizon. When Thursday, May 13th came but no funding had been secured, 97X signed off shortly after midnight, thought never to be heard from again.

The following morning can only be described as a Frank Capra moment. In the parking lot while packing our cars with the contents of our emptied desks, we were approached by an acquaintance of our two, anonymous angel investors. On July 16th, after a few months of sorting out paperwork and buying new equipment, 97X signed on once again and began a new life as possibly the first terrestrial radio station to make the move to an Internet-only entity.

More 97X history:
About.com - From FM To Internet: Radio Station Survives Online
Cincinnati Enquirer - 97X took flight from humble start
Cincinnati Enquirer - 97X Farewell
Cincinnati CityBeat - Bam! 97X Is Sold
Cincinnati Enquirer - WOXY May Be Gone
Cincinnati Post - Oxford's WOXY Bought By Dallas Firm

» Read common questions we get at the station

Entertainment Weekly
The 100 Greatest Websites: Music
January 2008

Cincinnati CityBeat
Music: (Not) Only in It for the Money
"Hard-working staffers at Web radio outlet WOXY do it for the love of music."
August 2007

Wall Street Journal
Can an Ohio Radio Station Reinvent Itself Yet Again?
March 2007

Q Magazine
100 Best Places To Get Free Music
March 2007

Entertainment Weekly
The 25 Best Music Websites
"A casualty of FM radio consolidation, Cincinnati's WOXY went off the air in 2004, but it soon reemerged on the Web. The delivery system might have changed, but the message hasn't. WOXY remains dedicated to alternative acts like the Walkmen and Bloc Party. Also check out their 'vintage' stream, where Generation-Xers can reminisce to a soundtrack of the Smiths, R.E.M., and other not-so-modern 'modern rock' acts."
May 2006

Penthouse Magazine
Matt Pinfield digs WOXY.com
When Matt Pinfield was asked "How do you find the bands you sign?" in a recent interview with Penthouse magazine, Matt replies, "There's no set way. It's demos. It's friends who turn you on to something. It could be some link in your email. It could be what I hear on the radio, on WOXY."
April 2006

On Tap Magazine
Links: Music Website Of The Month
"The results of operating as an independently run, online exclusive station have been a fiercely independent playlist that features up-and-coming artists from around the country as well as a contagious do-it-yourself ethic."
April 2006

LA Weekly
Pandora.com vs.WOXY.com
"In late January, a raft of stories appeared about the customizable online radio station Pandora.com. You enter the name of any artist or album and it creates a personal 'station' based on that selection’s musical qualities (e.g., mild rhythmic syncopation, major-key tonality). It’s a neat party trick that doesn’t work all that well. ... I prefer Cincinnati’s WOXY.com, which sponsors live sessions and programs an eclectic mix of new music rivaling KCRW or Seattle’s KEXP."
March 2006

LA Weekly
"...print mags like Spin and Rolling Stone no longer set the agenda for rock and pop; instead, hype is driven by free Web outlets like MP3 blogs (Music for Robots, Stereogum), Webcasters (KEXP, WOXY) and Webzines (Pitchfork, Tiny Mix Tapes).""
December 2005

Cincinnati Magazine
Best Of The City - Best Webcaster
"Who knew disappearing from the FM dial could be such a savvy business move? Freed from the constraints of ratings, Oxford's alt-rock 97X has been transformed into the even more adventurous WOXY.COM, with listeners around the world and recognition from the likes of Entertainment Weekly..."
December 2005

Entertainment Weekly
Great New-School Radio
"WOXY.COM - One of the first modern-rock broadcasters, this Ohio station went Web-only in 2004. They still turn out great programming -- without the Creeds and Nickelbacks that dominate FM alt-rock."
Issue 846 - October 21, 2005

Cincinnati CityBeat
Cincinnati's Best Radio Station
"The Oxford-based Modern Rock station has been racking up national accolades for years, thanks to its adventurous playlist and staunch independence..."
March 2002

CitySearch
Best Independent Radio Station
2001 Audience Winner
"...This indie-credible, modern rock station became a permanent institution. Since 1983, WOXY has been one of the most critically acclaimed modern rock stations in the world..."
September 2001

"Doug and Linda Balogh are living proof the American Dream still exists. They are a proud couple who stand with the last of the independent radio owners after the veritable tidal wave of radio consolidation."

"Recent national and local media coverage has elevated the site woxy.com further so that disenfranchised listeners around the world can now count on a choice that serves their needs: a truly Alternative station that foreshadows trends instead of riding them."
Alex Cosper - May 2001
Virtually Alternative Magazine

"An Oxford station earned a national reputation...thousands of alternative music lovers disenfranchised by corporate radio are finding 97X." John Eckberg - October 2000
Cincinnati Enquirer

One of 5 "Stations of the Decade" in the Modern Rock format.
January 2000
FMQB

"Thanks to the Web, listeners have options."

"Popular stations such as WOXY-FM are now on the world's wavelength."

"E-mails are flowing in from elated listeners; one wrote that tuning in WOXY was like having Lassie come home."