WAXX FM 104.5

A country music formatted radio station broadcasting at 104.5 FM, licensed and serving the Eau Claire area of Wisconsin. The station's studios and offices are located in Altoona, Wisconsin, while its transmitter sits near Fairchild, Wisconsin, sharing a tower with WEAU television. The station has its origins as WEAU-FM, which originally operated at 100.7 FM before shifting to 104.5 FM in 1967. Following the acquisition of WAXX 1150 AM under common ownership with WEAU-TV, WEAU-FM began simulcasting the AM station's country format. In September 1977, the callsign changed to WAXX-FM, and the country format migrated exclusively to the FM signal. The AM counterpart was subsequently renamed WAYY in 1978 and shifted through oldies, news/talk, and eventually sports/talk formats by 2014. WAXX and WAYY were sold to Central Communications in 1984. The stations were later acquired by Maverick Media, LLC in 2003 along with sister stations WIAL-FM, WEAQ, WECL-FM, and WDRK-FM. The station was notable as the first in the Eau Claire market to stream live 24 hours a day on the internet, a milestone reached on March 31, 2006. WAXX has received multiple NAB Marconi Radio Awards, including Small Market Station of the Year in both 2000 and 2007. Its morning show, Alex and Cora Morning, won the Wisconsin Broadcaster's Award for Best Medium Market Morning Show in 2013 and received a Marconi Award nomination that same year. Station voice John Willyard, who has served as the signature voice of the CMA Awards since 1996, is heard across numerous country radio stations in North America. In March 2011, a 2,000-foot transmission tower near Fairchild collapsed, forcing the station to broadcast at reduced power from a backup tower near its studios until the main infrastructure was restored.