WOXL-FM
| City | Biltmore Forest, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Asheville and Western North Carolina |
| Branding | Mix 96.5 |
| Slogan | Asheville's Hit Music Station |
| Frequency | 96.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | 1994 |
| Format |
Hot AC HD2: AAA |
| ERP | 2,100 watts |
| HAAT | 339 meters |
| Class | C3 |
| Facility ID | 37242 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°35′23.00″N 82°40′26.00″W / 35.5897222°N 82.6738889°W |
| Former callsigns | WZLS (1994-1997 and 1998-2002) WZRQ (1997-1998) WOXL (2002-2003) |
| Owner | Saga Communications of North Carolina, LLC |
| Sister stations | WTMT, WYSE |
| Website | 965woxl.com |
Coordinates: 35°35′23.00″N 82°40′26.00″W / 35.5897222°N 82.6738889°W
WOXL-FM (known on-air as Mix 96.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Biltmore Forest, North Carolina, USA, the station serves the Asheville area and broadcasts an Hot adult contemporary music format. The station is currently owned by Saga Communications of North Carolina, LLC.
In August 1987, the FCC allocated a new frequency, 96.5 FM, to the town of Biltmore Forest, near Asheville. Thirteen applicants filed during the filing window. One of the applicants was Orion Broadcasting, a small family-owned company headed up by Zeb Lee. Lee had operated 1230 AM WSKY in Asheville for many years and had felt that the FM was the future medium for radio listening.
Because of the number of applicants, the FCC arranged a hearing in 1989. During that time Orion tried to negotiate with the other applicants, offering up to 2 million dollars at one point, which they declined. In 1990 and 1991, the FCC's Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and Review Board had both ruled in favor of Orion Broadcasting based on their track record of public affairs with WSKY and awarded the station's construction permit on the condition that WSKY was sold. The station signed on July 29, 1994 under test authority as WZLS with a classic rock-leaning album rock format under the "Z96.5" handle (The call sign for the station stood for "Z"eb "L"ee's "S"tation).
In the meantime, some of the other applicants for the license had merged together to form a group called Biltmore Forest Radio Inc., headed up by US House Representative Mel Watt. The group was successful in pointing out in the US Court Of Appeals in a separate case Bechtel v. FCC (10 F.3d 875) that the FCC's "interrogation preference" was "arbitrary and capricious". This ruling eventually forced the FCC to place a freeze on new station licenses for a time and to revoke Orion's construction permit for WZLS.
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