WBSX-FM 979X

Licensed to Hazleton, Pennsylvania, this active rock station serves the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton radio market and is branded on air as "97-9 X." Its origins trace to May 6, 1949, when test broadcasts began under the call sign WAZL-FM as the FM sister to WAZL AM. Official broadcasts commenced on July 9 of that year. The station has undergone numerous format and identity changes across its history. In the early 1970s it adopted a "beautiful music" automated format as WVCD, without live on-air talent. By 1985 the call letters changed to WWSH, branding as "Wish 98." A dramatic pivot came in 1994 when the station moved to rock music under the calls WZMT as "The Mountain," followed by a rebrand to "98 Rock" in 1996. Under Citadel Broadcasting in 1997, the station became WXBE and carried the syndicated Howard Stern Show mornings as "The Bear." In October 2001 it shifted to classic hard rock as "Z-Rock" (WAOZ), then returned to a current-based rock format in May 2002 under WBSX and the "97-9 X" branding, initially with an alternative rock format. By 2007 the station had settled into its present active rock identity. Citadel Broadcasting merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. The station holds a distinction in the local music scene for being among the first commercial outlets to play Breaking Benjamin, the alternative metal band that formed in Wilkes-Barre. The station's promotion of the band is briefly visible in Breaking Benjamin's music video for "Breath," filmed at Stabler Arena in Lehigh Valley in early 2007. Current programming includes the Free Beer and Hot Wings Morning Show.