The nation's first commercial classical radio station began in 1936 when W2XR owner and founder John Hogan joined with advertising executive Elliott Sanger to create the Interstate Broadcasting Company. The company's chief asset was W2XR. In December 1936, W2XR's call letters were changed to WQXR. The FM station signed on in 1939 and both were sold to The New York Times Company in 1944. The Times Company completed the sale of the AM station to Radio Disney in 2007. The sale of WQXR-FM to WNYC was approved by the FCC on September 8, 2009 in a multipart deal including Univision, which closed on October 8, 2009. On July 29, 2013 WQXR completed purchase of a repeater station located in Ossining, NY. The new station with call letters WQXW broadcasts WQXR to Westchester Country. To learn more about WQXR through the ages, see our Visual History Slideshow.
