WQXR

WQXR-FM

Missing image WQXR_logo.gif WQXR's logo
First air date	1936
Frequency	96.3 MHz
Broadcast area	New York City
Style	Classical
Group	New York Times Company

WQXR is a radio station that broadcasts from New York City on 96.3 MHz FM, and is America's most listened-to classical music station. It was officially founded in 1936, when the station moved to 96.3 FM. The New York Times bought the station in 1944.

Contents

1 History 2 Broadcasting information 3 External links 4 See also

History

The founder of WQXR, John Vincent Lawless Hogan, was one of the abundant number of pioneers of video transmission via radio waves in the late 1920s. He began experimenting with the transmission of images on March 26, 1929, when he began an experimental broadcasting station on 2100kc. It was called W2XR: the "W" indicated that the station was east of the Mississippi River; at the time a "2" indicated that a station was educational rather than commercial; and "XR" was an abbreviation for "experimental radio." In 1933, the Federal Radio Commission (now the FCC) gave permission for W2XR to use double-wide channels on 1530, 1550, and 1570 kHz amplitude modulation. Hogan decided to supplement his experimental transmissions of images with classical music. The station soon developed a following of listeners who either didn't know about or weren't interested in the video transmission (many new radios had 1550 at the end of their dials). Hogan gave up his video transmission experiments, and a well-respected radio station soon developed out of what he had built.

Hogan partnered with Elliot Sanger in 1936, and together they turned W2XR into a commercial venture. On December 3, 1936, W2XR became WQXR and moved its studios to 730 5th Ave. in Manhattan. Arthur Hays Sulzberger (1891-1968), who was the son-in-law of New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs and the head of the Times at the time, helped them turn WQXR into a leading station for both news and music.

WQXR maintained its AM station until 1992, when the AM station became WQEW, "The Home Of American Popular Standards," (still owned by the Times). In 1998 ABC/Disney signed an agreement with The Times in which Radio Disney children's programming began airing on the station. The Times, however, continues to own 1560 AM.

W2XR was the first AM station in New York to experiment with broadcasting in stereo. During some of their live concerts, they used two microphones positioned six feet apart. The microphone on the right led to their AM feed, and the one on the left to their FM feed, so a listener could position two radios six feet apart, one tuned to WQXR AM and the other to WQXR FM, and listen in stereo.

As with most remaining classical music stations in the United States, WQXR's playlist has changed over the years to focus on shorter and more easily assimilated pieces and away from long pieces and most vocal music including opera. WQXR does however play a fair amount of 20th century classical works.

In addition to music, WQXR also broadcasts some religious services, including a live half-hour Shabbat service from Temple Emanu-El every Friday at 5:30 p.m., and less frequent services from Presbyterian, Unitarian, and Ethical Culture churches.

Broadcasting information

• Frequency: 96.3 MHz
• Maximum Power: 6.0 kW Horizontal; 6.0 kW Vertical (Equivalent to 50,000 watts at 500 feet)
• Antenna Site: Empire State Building, New York City
• Auxiliary Site: West Orange, New Jersey
• Broadcast range: c.90 miles

Broadcast translators:

• Asbury Park, New Jersey — 96.7 MHz FM
• Poughkeepsie, New York — 103.7 MHz FM

External links

• WQXR.com
• WQXR's Profile
• WQXR live audio stream (requires Microsoft Windows)
• Press Release: WQXR Celebrates Three Notable Anniversaries in 2004
• New York Daily News: Big Town Songbook: WQXR and how it got that way

See also

• Sanger, Elliot (1973). Rebel in Radio: The Story of WQXR. Hastings House. ISBN 0803863298, paperback ISBN 0811500160

See also: WQXR, 1891, 1920s, 1929, 1933, 1936, 1944, 1968