Jax Radio: Rock 104.5 Has Officially "Retired"

A 33-year First Coast tradition of rock ‘n’ roll has been silenced.

WFYV 104.5 FM “Rock 105” for most of the station’s lifetime in the Jacksonville market, is in the process of changing formats.  Cox Media is currently stunting telling listeners that Rock 104.5 has “officially retired” and urging listeners to listen to sister station WXXJ.

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The other two rock-oriented Cox stations in Jacksonville – Alternative WXXJ 102.9 FM and  Classic Hits WJGL 96.9 FM The Eagle splintered the rock audience and drew listeners away from Rock 104.5.

The station was a stalwart of rock standards since it was founded in 1980, but ratings have slumped recently, which 104.5 programmers say forced them to make a format switch. In the February 2013 Arbitron PPM monthly the station recorded a 2.6 share making it the lowest rated station in the Cox cluster.

“A lot of that has to do with the lack of listener support that the radio station has had in recent years,” said Todd Shannon, the operations director for the Cox Media Group, which owns a cluster of six radio operations in Jacksonville, told jacksonville.com.

The station broadcasts with 100 kilowatts of both horizontal and vertical power.

WFYV 104.5 FM 60 dBU Coverage 

The format change comes on the heels of Rock 104.5’s last major music event, The Welcome to Rockville festival. That event is being held at Jacksonville’s Metropolitan Park and features dozens of bands this past weekend.  Local legend Lynyrd Skynyrd closed the festival at the park’s main stage Sunday night and Shannon said that’s when the 104.5-FM rock format officially ended.

The three employees who were on air for Rock 104.5 have been reassigned to other duties.

Other radio stations that Cox owns in Jacksonville include; Top 40 WAPE 95.1 FM, which plays contemporary hits and N/T WOKV 106.5-FM / 690-AM.