92.5 The Fox has carried Cincinnati's classic rock format since 1995, but the frequency itself has been playing music since 1964, cycling through jazz, country, beautiful music and soft rock before The Fox brand ever reached it. The station's real origin story, though, is stranger than a simple format flip: The Fox started out as a rival on a different frequency entirely, then effectively swallowed the station that used to compete with it.
Four Formats Before Rock Ever Arrived
The station first signed on 19 August 1964 as WZIP-FM, playing jazz with hourly CBS Radio News updates, according to its call sign history. It flipped to country in 1966, then was bought by Woody Sudbrink in 1971 and relaunched as WWEZ, a beautiful music station built on instrumental cover versions and Broadway show tunes aimed squarely at office listeners rather than anyone tuning in for a particular artist. By 1990 it had drifted into soft adult contemporary, and on 1 January 1992 it rebranded again as WIMJ, "Majic 92."
The Fox Was Originally the Competition
None of that early history belonged to The Fox. That brand launched separately on 94.9 FM on 22 July 1988 as a classic rock station built specifically to compete against WIMJ. In 1994, Jacor Communications bought WIMJ outright, briefly ran it as WPPT with a 1970s hits format, then made an unusual move: rather than keep two competing stations alive, Jacor bought The Fox's intellectual property and call sign from its original frequency and relocated the entire brand to 92.5 FM at noon on 13 September 1995. The rival didn't just win, it took over its former competitor's dial position and call letters, WOFX, in one move.
A Station That Changed Owners, Not Format
Once The Fox landed on 92.5, the classic rock format stuck in a way none of the previous four identities had. Clear Channel Communications inherited the station through its later acquisition of Jacor, then sold WOFX-FM along with sister station WNNF to Cumulus Media on 3 January 2009. Three decades after the Fox brand first went to air on a different frequency, Cumulus still runs the same classic rock format under the same call letters today.
Bob and Tom, and 16,000 Watts Toward Kentucky
92.5 The Fox is Cincinnati's affiliate for the nationally syndicated Bob and Tom morning show, a comedy and music program that has anchored classic rock mornings across dozens of markets for decades. The station transmits at 16,000 watts from a tower near Interstate 71, a signal strong enough to carry classic rock across the Ohio River into parts of Northern Kentucky as well as the Cincinnati metro itself.
Sixty Years On, Under One Name Since 1995
Most stations that flip formats four times in three decades never settle into a stable identity. WOFX-FM did, but only after the format arrived from somewhere else entirely, brought in by a competitor that decided buying the rival's frequency was easier than continuing to fight it for listeners. Sixty years after WZIP-FM first signed on playing jazz, 92.5 The Fox is still on the air, still classic rock, still carrying a brand it inherited rather than built from scratch on this exact spot on the dial.