Editing CIMX-FM

{{short description|Radio station in Windsor, Ontario}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = CIMX-FM
| logo = File:Logo-PureCountry-Windsor.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| city = [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], [[Ontario]]
| area = [[Southwestern Ontario]]<br>[[Detroit–Windsor]]
| branding = [[Pure Country (radio network)|Pure Country]] 89
| frequency = 88.7 [[Hertz|MHz]] ([[FM broadcasting|FM]])
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1967|7|10}}
| format = [[Country music|Country]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| erp = 78,200 [[watt]]s average<br>100,000 watts peak
| haat = {{convert|188.5|meters}}
| class = C1
| sister_stations = [[CIDR-FM]], [[CKLW]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|42|10|14.88|N|82|59|29.01|W|type:landmark}}
| callsign_meaning = Station formerly branded as "Mix"
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|CKWW-FM (1967–1970)|CJOM-FM (1970–1990)}}
| owner = [[Bell Media]]
| licensee = [[Bell Media Radio|Bell Media Windsor Radio Partnership]]
| affiliations = [[Premiere Networks]]
| webcast = [https://www.iheartradio.ca/purecountry/windsor Listen Live]
| website = [https://www.iheartradio.ca/purecountry/windsor iheartradio.ca/purecountry/windsor]
}}
'''CIMX-FM''' (88.7 [[Hertz|MHz]], ''[[Pure Country (radio network)|Pure Country]] 89'') is a [[Commercial broadcasting|commercial]] [[radio station]] in [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], [[Ontario]], Canada. It primarily serves [[Essex County, Ontario|Essex County]], but has a signal that reaches the entire [[Detroit-Windsor]] metropolitan area. It is owned by [[Bell Media]] and airs a [[country music|country]] [[radio format|format]]. CIMX's [[radio studio|studio]]s and offices are located on Ouellette Avenue in Windsor.

CIMX has an [[effective radiated power]] (ERP) of 78,200 [[watt]]s, with a maximum of 100,000 watts. The [[transmitter]] is located off South Industrial Drive in [[Amherstburg, Ontario|Amherstburg]].<ref>[https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&canfm=CIMX-FM FCCdata.org/CIMX-FM]</ref>

==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>

==Live events==
In addition to the various annual shows, the station held many acoustic "Live-X" events when bands come to town. The acoustic renditions have even been used by many of the bands, including [[Soundgarden]]'s re-release of [[King Animal]], "King Animal Plus," when the band performed their song "Halfway There."<ref>[[King Animal#Track listing]]</ref>

89X celebrated its first birthday in May 1992 by holding two X-Fest shows. Peter Murphy, the Nymphs, Senseless Things were a few of the bands that played X-Fest. Then in 1993, 89X held a birthday show at Chene Park featuring the Tragically Hip. The next year, 1994, 89X started throwing annual "Birthday Bash" shows. The Birthday Bash in 1994 was held at the Phoenix Plaza Amphitheater during the World Cup competitions in Pontiac. The Afghan Whigs, Beck, and the Odds were some of the bands that played.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ Notable 89X Shows
! scope="col" style="width:8em;" | Year
! scope="col" style="width:18em;" | Event
! scope="col" | Bands
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 1998
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Garbage (band)|Garbage]], [[Placebo (band)|Placebo]], [[Beck]], [[Everlast (musician)|Everlast]], [[Marcy Playground|Marcy's Playground]], and [[Kid Rock]] was the MC.
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[My Chemical Romance]], [[Taking Back Sunday]], [[Angels & Airwaves]], [[OK Go]], and [[The Hard Lessons]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Paramore]] and [[Jimmy Eat World]], [[Mutemath]]. [[Coheed and Cambria]] and [[Plain White T's]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Fall Out Boy]], [[The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus]], [[The Academy Is...]], and [[Innerpartysystem]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| The 89X Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Incubus (band)|Incubus]] & [[The Duke Spirit]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Thirty Seconds to Mars]], [[Flyleaf (band)|Flyleaf]], [[Thousand Foot Krutch]], [[The Veer Union]], and [[After Midnight Project]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| The 89X Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Sublime With Rome]], [[The Dirty Heads]], [[Paper Tongues]], [[Neon Trees]], and [[Civil Twilight (band)|Civil Twilight]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[My Chemical Romance]], and also featured [[Sick Puppies]] and [[Middle Class Rut]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| The 89X Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Blink 182]], [[My Chemical Romance]], and [[Matt and Kim]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Rise Against]], [[Taking Back Sunday]], and [[Awolnation]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2012
| The 89X Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Evanescence]], [[Chevelle (band)|Chevelle]], [[Cavo]], and Kaleido
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2012
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[The Killers]] and [[Tegan & Sara]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2013
| The 89X Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Hollywood Undead|'''Day 1:''' Hollywood Undead]], [[Escape The Fate]], [[Middle Class Rut]], [[3 Pill Morning]], and Chaos Rains
[[311 (band)|'''Day 2:''' 311]], [[Cypress Hill]], [[G. Love & Special Sauce]], and Iamdynamite
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2013
| Cal & Co. and 89X 'Chill On The Hill'
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| Day 1: [[A Day To Remember]], [[Pierce The Veil]], [[All Time Low]], and [[The Wonder Years]]<br>Day 2: [[Thirty Seconds to Mars]], [[Billy Talent]], [[Biffy Clyro]], and [[New Politics (band)|New Politics]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2013
| The 89X Nutcracker
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;" |
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2013
| The Night 89X Stole Christmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Cage The Elephant]], [[Blue October]], [[Foals (band)|Foals]], and Iamdynamite
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2014
| The 89X Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Kings Of Leon]], [[Kongos (band)|Kongos]], and [[Ashes of Soma]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2014
| 89X and Bud Light 'Chill On The Hill'
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| Day 1: [[The Offspring]], [[A Day To Remember]], [[Bad Religion]], [[Grouplove]], [[Portugal The Man]], [[Sleeper Agent]], [[The Bots]], Smashing Satellites and more.<br>Day 2: [[Rise Against]], [[Chevelle (band)|Chevelle]], [[Awolnation]], [[Taking Back Sunday]], [[Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker|USS]], [[Brick + Mortar]], [[The Orwells]], [[SKATERS (band)|Skaters]], and more.
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2014
| The Night 89X Stole Xmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Bush (British band)|Bush]], [[Our Lady Peace]], [[You Me At Six]], and [[Smashing Satellites]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2015
| The 89X Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Death Cab For Cutie]] and [[The Antlers (band)|The Antlers]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2015
| 89X and Bud Light 'Chill On The Hill'
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| Day 1: [[Weezer]], [[Panic! at the Disco]], [[Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness]], [[We Came As Romans]], [[Thousand Foot Krutch]], [[Beartooth (band)|Beartooth]], [[The Wombats]], [[Night Riots]], Vinyl Theater, [[Coleman Hell]], and [[Arkells]].<br>Day 2: [[Cage The Elephant]], [[Coheed And Cambria]], [[Cold War Kids]], [[JR JR]], [[Robert Delong]], [[X Ambassadors]], [[The Glorious Sons]], [[Civil Twilight (band)|Civil Twilight]], [[The Struts]], Kaleido, and Five Hundredth Year.
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2015
| The Night 89X Stole Xmas
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| Day 1: [[Awolnation]], [[Metric (band)|Metric]], and [[PVRIS]]<br>Day 2: [[Sublime With Rome]], [[USS (band)]], [[MuteMath]], and [[Autumn Kings]]
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| 2017
| Mark McKenzie's Birthday Bash
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| [[Royal Tusk]], [[The Standstills]], and Texas King
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official website|https://www.iheartradio.ca/purecountry/windsor|Pure Country 89}}
* [https://broadcasting-history.ca/radio/radio-stations/ontario/ontario-south-western/CIMX-FM CIMX-FM] at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the [[Canadian Communications Foundation]]
*[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=CIMX&nav= Radio-Locator information on CIMX-FM]
*{{RecnetCanada|CIMX-FM}}
{{Southwestern Ontario Radio}}
{{CTVglobemedia}}

[[Category:Bell Media radio stations|IMX]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Windsor, Ontario|IMX]]
[[Category:Country radio stations in Canada|IMX]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1967]]
[[Category:1967 establishments in Ontario]]