WEEX
 |
|
| City |
WEEX: Easton, Pennsylvania WTKZ: Allentown, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Lehigh Valley |
| Branding | ESPN 1230 & 1320 |
| Slogan | Lehigh Valley Sports Radio |
| Frequency |
WEEX: 1230 kHz WTKZ: 1320 kHz |
| First air date |
WEEX: May 1956 WTKZ: 1948 (as WKAP) |
| Format | Sports |
| Language(s) | English |
| Power |
WEEX: 840 watts day 1,000 watts night WTKZ: 750 watts day 195 watts night |
| Class |
WEEX: C WTKZ: B |
| Facility ID |
WEEX: 8596 WTKZ: 27510 |
| Transmitter coordinates |
WEEX: 40°42′30″N 75°13′00″W / 40.70833°N 75.21667°W WTKZ: 40°35′33″N 75°28′42″W / 40.59250°N 75.47833°W |
| Callsign meaning |
WEEX: Easton EXpress WTKZ: TKZ = Talks (formerly a talk radio station) |
| Former callsigns |
WEEX: WODE (1991–1993) WIPI (1993–1996) WTKZ: WKAP (1948–1994) |
| Affiliations |
ESPN Radio New York Giants Radio Network IronPigs Baseball Radio Network |
| Owner |
Connoisseur Media (Connoisseur Media Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WBYN, WODE-FM, WWYY |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | espnlv.com |
WEEX (1230 AM) is a sports radio station in Easton, Pennsylvania branded as "ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320" and is owned by Connoisseur Media, through licensee Connoisseur Media Licenses, LLC. Programming is simulcast on co-owned WTKZ (1320 AM), licensed to nearby Allentown, Pennsylvania. As of January 2016, programming is also simulcasted on WBYN (AM) of Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
WEEX signed on in May 1956 with a popular music format, simulcast from WEEX-FM (99.9 FM); it is one of the few AM stations to sign on after its FM sister station, which went on the air in 1948. It was owned locally by Easton Publishing Company, who also owned the Easton Express newspaper. WEEX and WEEX-FM evolved into a Top 40 music format in the early 1960s. WEEX 1230 did not have a lot of power so they used their FM to simulcast much of their programming to areas where the AM could not be heard.
In the early 1970s, WEEX-FM's simulcast with the AM was broken off under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) changes which forbid full-time AM/FM simulcasts. The station switched to Beautiful Music under the WQQQ call-letters. The calls were chosen because the lower-case Q closely resembled the number 9, hence the station's frequency 99.9. The station offered an instrumental-based easy listening format, playing instrumental cover versions of pop songs. A few times per hour a soft vocalist was mixed in. WEEX evolved into more of an adult top 40 format and then more of an oldies format focusing on music from the late 1960s mixed in with a few pre-64 oldies an hour along with some '70s hits and current songs.
By 1980, WEEX moved into more of an adult contemporary format. In late 1982, longtime station owner Easton Publishing acquired The Globe Times, a newspaper in nearby Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. To satisfy media ownership rules, both WEEX and WQQQ were sold off to Wilks-Schwartz Broadcasting.
On April 4, 1983, WEEX swapped formats with its FM sister station, WQQQ. WEEX's airstaff and music library was moved to 99.9 FM. The former WEEX format was modified on FM into Mainstream CHR/Top 40. The station kept the WQQQ call letters but became known as "Q 100". Initially, the station focused on current pop music, but also played a moderate amount of 1960s' and 1970s' oldies until about 1985. WQQQ's Easy Listening format was moved to WEEX but would be more vocally-oriented than on FM. By 1987, WEEX evolved into more of an Adult Standards easy listening format.
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