Radio 101.5 WEXP

WEXP (101.5 FM, "The Fox") is a radio station licensed to Brandon, Vermont, that broadcasts a classic rock format with an effective radiated power of 350 watts with a directional antenna located atop "Grandpa's Knob" near Castleton, Vermont. WEXP's on air slogan is "Vermont's Best Rock". WEXP is currently owned by Nassau Broadcasting Partners. The station previously carried "Imus in the Morning" when it was syndicated by Westwood One. The current morning show is the "Free Beer and Hot Wings".The station's construction permit was originally owned by Tim Hoehn, Gary Savoie, and local resident Michael Carr who wound up selling a controlling interest to Jeff Shapiro. Although the transmitter is located a distance from Brandon, the tower site on Grandpa's Knob in Castleton, Vermont was the only place that would be suffice to get a city grade signal over the majority of Brandon. An FCC waiver permitted this operation. A story in the Rutland Herald depicted a large type balloon being raised over a hilltop in Pittsford to depict how high a proposed tower could be. What made the story enticing was that a series of hunters shot the balloon down, since the people there did not want a tower erected in their town.WEXP went on the air in April 1999 under "Program Test Authority" from the FCC with no sales staff, no disc jockeys and only a Technics CD player play the same constantly repeating dance music CD with a legal ID imbedded calling itself "Express 101". . A contract engineer, Neil Langer, was the keeper of the operation, and kept the stations public file at his residence. Langer built the facility where the station is currently housed in the Howe Center complex in Rutland. . In October 2000, WEXP began to simultcast its signal over WVAY 100.7 (now WTHK) in Wilmington, Vermont and its translator W284AB Jamaica, Vermont.On May 16, 2000 at noon, WEXP, 101.5 FM in Rutland, VT became Classic Rock 101, The Fox. The very first song played was "Long Live Rock" by The Who[citation needed].The station's initial lineup included the syndicated Imus In The Morning show. Alicia Ty hosted the midday slot. Baker (from the famous Mason and Sheehan Show in Albany NY) was the first program director and afternoon host. John Roberts was hired a bit later, and handled the nighttime programming. "The Janitor" was around for the overnights, and was platooned with "Rachel Lee" in the overnight lineup. "Blade Michael" was the stations first part time announcer hired, and remains with the station to this day. The station became very popular in a short amount of time. A $1.01 Gas promotion at a Citgo gas station in Fair Haven, Vermont that brought in hundreds of vehicles, and lots of traffic in a three hour time span was a major catalyst in establishing the station quickly as a major player in the local marketplace.Several early disc jockey's at the station have moved on to other stations such as Baker going to launch the former WRCZ, "Moose" Waters KAZR Des Moines, Iowa and "Sloppy" Joe going to KDAT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.The station's signal is directional to the southwest since it is short spaced to WNYQ 101.7 Glens Falls, NY and slightly to the southeast to protect WRSY 101.5 in Marlboro, Vermont. At one time all three radio stations were owned by Vox Radio Group. The original allocation for the Brandon, Vermont frequency was 101.9 FM, and was moved to its current 101.5 frequency when WCVR-FM in Randolph, Vermont upgraded from a class A at 102.3 FM to a class C3 at 102.1. The original call sign for WEXP was WADT which was used from 1993 to 1998, though the station never made it on the air under the WADT calls. The WEXP calls were previously used on WKOL Plattsburg, New York until 1995, and on WSGN-FM in Gadsden Alabama from 1975 until 1984.