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==History== ===CKWW-FM=== What is now CIMX first [[sign-on|signed on]] the air on July 10, 1967, as '''CKWW-FM'''.<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1969/B%20All%20Radio%201969%20BC%20YB.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1969 page B-201]</ref> It was co-owned with [[CKWW]] but was separately programmed. The stations shared studios and offices at 1150 Ouellette Avenue. CKWW-FM had an [[middle of the road (music)|MOR]]/[[easy listening]] format. The station added evening [[progressive rock]] programming in the fall of 1970. ===Om FM=== The following April, the station changed its [[call sign]] to '''CJOM-FM''' and the progressive format went full-time. ''Om FM'' (pronounced "Ohm FM") distinguished itself from its Detroit competitors [[WRIF]], [[WLLZ (FM)|WWWW]] and [[WYCD|WABX]] by emphasizing Canadian talent. By 1976, the [[album rock]] sounds of "Om FM" had faded away and the station was again programming [[middle of the road (music)|MOR]] and [[easy listening]] music. ===Top 40 Era=== In 1982, CJOM and CKWW were acquired by [[Geoff Stirling]]'s company, Stirling Communications International, which also owned [[CKGM]] in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]] and [[CHOZ-FM]] in [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]], [[Newfoundland and Labrador]]. CJOM made an abrupt switch to a [[contemporary hit radio|CHR/Top 40]] format. In the evening hours, 1983-85, DJ Karen Evans played more alternative music with an introduction of British new wave music to the market. In the late 1980s, the station went by the moniker "Laser Rock," a reference to becoming one of the first radio stations in the Detroit area to program music solely from [[compact disc]]s. CJOM ran afoul of the [[Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission|CRTC]] in the summer of 1983 for its format change to [[contemporary hit radio|CHR/Top 40]]. Then as now, all radio station format changes in Canada must be approved by the CRTC. CJOM had been approved for a "contemporary [[middle of the road (music)|MOR]]" (a.k.a. [[adult contemporary]]) format, but analyses of the station's programming in May 1983 showed that almost all of the music being played was rock-oriented, that the station was playing 78% "hit" music rather than the allowed <50%, and that the station was not meeting its licence commitments for "foreground", "mosaic", spoken word, or [[all-news radio|news]] programming. Stirling maintained that the station was "experimenting" with its programming and that such a format was necessary in order to make the station competitive with Detroit-based broadcasters. [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/PB84-23.HTM] Stirling and the CRTC finally reached a compromise in August 1985. CJOM was granted an "experimental" licence which would enable the station to play more harder-edged [[rock music|rock]] and [[pop music]] with higher repetition, although a proposal to reduce the station's Canadian Content quotient to 5% from 15% was denied. [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1985/DB85-666.HTM] Under this experimental licence, CJOM remained a [[contemporary hit radio|CHR]]-formatted radio station for most of the rest of the decade. Most [[rock music|rock]] songs played were [[Top 40]] based like songs from [[Def Leppard]] and [[Billy Squier]] or Canadian artists such as [[Platinum Blonde (band)|Platinum Blonde]], [[Haywire (band)|Haywire]], and [[Gino Vannelli]]. CJOM would occasionally include several songs by one artist in a "star set" during the day. On Sunday evenings, CJOM would broadcast an "album countdown" in which the station would play several songs from the same album in the countdown. ===Studios and tower=== In 1987, CJOM increased its transmitting power to 100,000 watts from a tower in [[McGregor, Ontario|McGregor]]. Before this, the station's signal did not extend much further than the Detroit/Windsor area and the station's Detroit area ratings were minimal. The station's studios changed a few times in the years. It was originally located in the Macabee's Building next to the Wandalyn Viscount Hotel on Ouellette Avenue between Erie Street and Giles Boulevard. In late 1982, CJOM and [[CKNW]] moved to the Bob Pedler Building, located on Cabana Road East near Howard Avenue in the southern part of Windsor. Eventually, the station relocated to the former "Big 8" CKLW building, at the corner of Ouellette Avenue and Tecumseh Road West when CHUM Limited purchased the station. <gallery> Image:Om_Fm_Jacket_Front.jpg|Station logo circa 1982, on employees' jackets Image:Om_Fm_Disc_Logo.jpg|Station public promo decal mid-1980s Image:Om Fm Jacket Logo.jpg|Rear of employees' jackets, while Stirling owned the station </gallery> ===The Mix to 89X=== CJOM-FM became '''CIMX-FM''' in 1990. CIMX was first known as ''The Mix'' with an [[adult contemporary]] format, but [[disc jockey]] Greg St. James began playing [[modern rock]] on his evening show (8 to midnight) beginning in September 1990. This program was called "The Cutting Edge" and was eventually hosted by four different DJs, Greg St. James, Darren Revell, Michelle Denomme and Mr. Vertical.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverticalfiles.com/89x-archives.html|title=The End of the Cutting Edge|website=The Vertical Files|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214030601/http://www.theverticalfiles.com:80/89x-archives.html |archive-date=2015-02-14 }}</ref> On May 13, 1991, the [[modern rock]] format went full-time and ''89X'' was born. The first (and ultimately, the last) song on "89X" was "[[Stop! (Jane's Addiction song)|Stop!]]" by [[Jane's Addiction]]. CIMX-FM immediately took away many listeners from other youth-oriented stations in Detroit, particularly [[WDVD|WHYT]] and [[WYCD|WDFX]], and may have been at least partially responsible for WHYT's decision to switch to an alternative format a few years later. <gallery> File:Detroit radio 89X decal circa 1991.jpg|This decal shows the station's updated logo after its change to [[Modern Rock]] in 1991. File:CIMX-FM.png|CIMX-FM's long-running logo from 1999 to 2018 File:logo-89xradio.svg|89X logo from 2018 to 2020 </gallery> CIMX had been owned by Canada's [[CHUM Limited]] since the late 1980s, but was sold along with the rest of CHUM's radio stations to CTVglobemedia in 2007. Its sister station, [[CIDR-FM]], adopted an [[adult album alternative]] format in [[2006 in radio|2006]], thus forcing CIMX to add more [[active rock]] songs to its [[playlist]] and go up against [[WRIF]]. Throughout the 2000s, the format has moved between [[alternative rock]] and active rock, with the station playing more [[metal music|metal rock]] than might be found on other alternative stations. In the February 29, 2012, issue of ''[[Real Detroit Weekly]]'', 89X was rated the best radio station in [[Detroit]]. ''Real Detroit Weekly'' also crowned 89X's own Jay Hudson the best DJ in Detroit for the fourth consecutive year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Best Media|url=http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/detroit/best-media/Content?oid=1540467|website=Real Detroit Weekly|accessdate=27 April 2018|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830142338/http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/detroit/best-media/Content?oid=1540467|archivedate=30 August 2012}}</ref> On March 30, 2017, Bell Media announced that it would close its US-based sales office in [[Bingham Farms, Michigan|Bingham Farms]], canceled CIMX's morning show "Cal & Co.", and laid off around a dozen people as part of a restructuring of its Windsor cluster.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/television/2017/03/30/closes-american-office-cuts-morning-show-others/99835170/|title=89X closes American office, cuts morning show|work=Detroit News|access-date=2017-03-30|language=en|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331114501/http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/television/2017/03/30/closes-american-office-cuts-morning-show-others/99835170/|archivedate=2017-03-31}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=89X And 93.9 The River Windsor/Detroit Promoting Thursday Format Change|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/201484/89x-windsor-detroit-promoting-thursday-format-change/|access-date=2020-11-18|website=RadioInsight|language=en-US}}</ref> After the changes, CIMX began to once again experience more of an active rock lean.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Final Listen 89X, CIDR; First Listen, Alt 98.7, Virgin Radio|url=https://radioinsight.com/ross/201546/final-listen-89x-cidr-first-listen-alt-98-7-virgin-radio/|access-date=2020-11-21|website=RadioInsight|language=en-US}}</ref> On April 3, 2017, CIMX debuted their new morning show ''The Morning X'', hosted by long-time personality and music director Mark McKenzie. ===Pure Country 89=== On November 18, 2020, Bell announced on the 89X website that CIMX would adopt a new format the next day at noon; concurrently, the station's on air staff was let go.<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/headlines/201484/89x-windsor-detroit-promoting-thursday-format-change/ Bell Media Launches Pure Country 89 & Virgin Radio 93.9 In Windsor/Detroit]</ref> At that time, CIMX flipped to [[country music|country]] as ''[[Pure Country (radio network)|Pure Country]] 89'', launching with 10,000 songs in a row commercial free. In anticipation of the format change, [[Audacy, Inc.|Entercom]] flipped its Detroit station [[WDZH]] from [[soft adult contemporary]] to modern rock as ''Alt 98.7'' almost immediately afterward.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Entercom Launches Alt 98.7 Detroit|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/201540/entercom-launches-alt-98-7-detroit/|access-date=2020-11-20|website=RadioInsight|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Nationalization Takes Hold In Two Nations: Looking At Today's Three Station Format Shuffle In Detroit/Windsor|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/201551/nationalization-takes-hold-in-two-nations-looking-at-todays-three-station-format-shuffle-in-detroit-windsor/|access-date=2020-11-20|website=RadioInsight|language=en-US}}</ref> The current format competes locally with [[CJWF-FM]], as well as with Detroit's [[WYCD]]. In other nearby markets, it competes with [[WWWW-FM|WWWW]] in Ann Arbor. The station carries networked programming shared with other ''Pure Country''-branded stations,<ref name=":1" /> including ''[[The Bobby Bones Show]]''. Unlike the other Pure Country stations (which air it in the evening), CIMX also clears ''Bobby Bones'' in its normal timeslot in lieu of producing a local morning show.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bobby Bones Show Added For Mornings At Pure Country 89 Windsor/Detroit|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/202526/bobby-bones-show-added-for-mornings-at-pure-country-89-windsor-detroit/|access-date=2020-12-13|website=RadioInsight|language=en-US}}</ref>
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