WSDX AM 1130 has been broadcasting since 1959. From 1959 to 1972 it was called WITE, and was on 1380 khz, with a 3-tower directional patern. In 1972 when WSDM-FM was built, the owners changed to a non-direction pattern by moving to 1130 khz, losing nighttime authorization. The day signal on 1130 is much better than it was on 1380, covering a radius of about 60 miles from our Brazil, Indiana tower site. WSDX has 500 watts during daylight hours, with 29 watts from 6am to sunrise in months of morning darkness, and 13 watts for two hours past sunset.   Even with the low power settings, WSDX covers a radius of about 10 miles! Call letters changed from WITE to WWCM, then to WBZL in 1985, and WSDM in 1991, under new owners, Equity One Media, (now Crossroads Communications)who purchased the station along with WSDM-FM in July of 1990.

EQ Media at first kept the existing country format on WBZL (AM).  In the spring of 1991, WBZL changed it’s callsign to WSDM, and changed its format to news/talk, utilizing CNN Headline News as a base format.

While the decision to change formats to Solid Gospel was made in 1996, no specific date had been set for the change.  On November 22, 1996, a fire destroyed the entire studio/transmitter site of WSDM AM and FM (See WSDM-FM history below), and WSDM was off the air until April, 1997, when it went back on the air with a new transmitter facility in Brazil, IN.  From April until July 4th, WSDM-AM broadcast a talk format from Talk America, and the Mike Pence Show from Network Indiana.
On July 4th, the format changed, after some fanfare, to Solid Gospel, with the Mike Pence Show and For The People being left as talk features on weekdays.

On March 1, 2000, AM 1130 WSDM became WSDX with a format change to All Sports.  It simulcasts with AM 1300, WBOW.

What is now WBOW went on the air in 1958 in Terre Haute as WMFT.  Call letters changed to WAAC, WPFR-AM,  WJSH, and in 2002 to WBOW.  We are able to put Terre Haute's heritage call letters on AM 1300 after the "old" WBOW (under different ownership) went off the air and gave up the call letters.   At one time the station, coupled with now-defunct WPFR-FM, was owned by the country group, The Oak Ridge Boys.

When WPFR AM/FM went bankrupt and "dark" in 1990, the station was indeed off the air for almost a year.  But Ronn Mott, who had been program director and morning personality at WBOW AM coupled his radio expertise with Terry Tevlin, marketing director at Terre Haute First National Bank, and the two purchased the station and returned it to the airwaves as a "stand-alone" AM with a locally produced nostalgia music format.  Studios were built on the 5th floor of the Tribune Star Building in downtown Terre Haute.  From 1992-94 WJSH has the highest ratings of any AM station in the market.  So in 1994 Mott and Tevlin sold the station to an independent owner who moved from Connecticut to Terre Haute to operate the station.  The new owner immediately automated the station and changed format to ABC's "Real Country."

The new owner, being unfamiliar with Terre Haute, and with stand-alone AM's having a tougher and tougher time, was unable to make a profit, and abandoned the station in early 1996, leaving a string of creditors behind.  Tevlin and Mott succeeded, with the help of the bank, in  getting the station back, but in mid 1996 Tevlin approached WSDM-FM owner/manager, Mike Petersen, about purchasing the station.  Petersen and his partner, Dan Lacy, agreed on a price and the deal was made.  Papers were signed just two days before the tragic fire at WSDM's studios in November, 1996.

WJSH was returned to the air on January 6, 1997, simulcasting the WSDM-FM format.  Fortunately, the previous owner, who had by now gone bankrupt, had installed a new BE500 solid state transmitter at WJSH, and the good news...it was paid for!  This made going back on the air a simple matter.  For about 5 months, the simulcast was accomplished with a simple car radio at the WJSH transmitter site tuned to 97.7.  But a studio-transmitter link was built for WJSH in the then-new headquarters at 1215 Wabash Ave., and it went into use in May of 1997.  While the Solid Gospel format began on WSDM AM on July 4 of 1997, the simulcast of WSDM-FM to WJSH did not end until February 1, 1998, when WSDM-AM began simulcasting to WJSH.  Our two AM stations  simulcast the Solid Gospel format until February 29, 2000, when they changed to All Sports.  All stations in our group were moved to 1301 Ohio Street in July, 2002.

WSDM-FM went on the air with 3000 watts at 97.7 mhz in 1972. The original call letters were WWCM-FM. The station’s format changed from country to rock in 1979, and the call letters changed to WBDJ.

The owners went bankrupt in 1983, and both WBDJ and WWCM (AM) went off the air for about two years.

In 1985 the station was purchased by Mark Lange and Bruce Smith from Vincennes, and put back on the air as WBZL-AM, playing country music, and WSDM-FM, playing soft adult contemporary. Although they enjoyed early success, the station again experienced financial difficulties, and WSDM-FM began simulcasting with the AM, playing country music. The owners took advantage of an opportunity to double the power of the FM to 6000 watts in April of 1989 and then another opportunity to sell the station to  Equity One Media Partners (Now Crossroads Communications) in late July, 1990.

EQ Media at first kept the country format on WBZL (AM), but on October 31, 1990 at 6:00pm changed the FM format, keeping the call letters and slogan “Wisdom 98,” to oldies rock and roll, utilizing ABC’s Pure Gold format which is deilvered via satellite from Dallas.

In the spring of 1991, WBZL changed it’s callsign to WSDM, and changed its format to news/talk, utilizing CNN Headline News as a base format. Although the stations share the same name, they were programmed separately. The advertising, however, was sold by one sales staff, and the stations were marketed as a “forced combo.”

On Nov. 22, 1996,  the "Great WSDM Fire" took place destroying the facilities of WSDM AM and FM! A young man named Joseph George broke into the station early that morning and set it ablaze. He was caught immediately, and was sentenced to serve 18 year in April of 1997. WSDM's staff immediately moved into the WJSH facility in downtown Terre Haute, and had WSDM-FM on the air on Thanksgiving day, Nov. 29...only 6 days after the fire. WJSH AM 1300 returned to the air, simulcasting WSDM-FM on January 6.  WSDM AM 1130 returned to the air on April 15 with a talk format, but on July 4th changed its format to "Solid Gospel," reflecting the desires and musical tastes of many living in the Brazil area where the WSDM AM tower is located. In mid August, 1997, WSDM opened a news studio at 9 N. Walnut Street in downtown Brazil to meet the FCC's main studio requirement, and  to better serve the citizenry of Brazil, WSDM's city of license. In March, the main office of WSDM/WJSH moved to 1215 Wabash Avenue in Terre Haute.  In September of 1998 the FCC recinded its main studio rule, and the Brazil studio was closed, with the news room moved to Terre Haute.

In April of 1998, Equity One Media Partners was dissolved because original investors Mike Petersen and Dan Lacy purchased the shares of other partners previously involved.  The name of the company was changed to Crossroads Communications, Inc.

In June, 1998, Crossroads Communications completed the purchase of WAXI-FM in Rockville, IN from Covered Bridge Broadcasting.  A new studio was immediately installed and renovations to the WAXI transmitter were made.

In July of 2002, Crossroads moved all stations to a stand-alone building at 1301 Ohio Street in Terre Haute.  It had been offices and studios for WBOW for many years, prior to the "old" WBOW's leaving the air.

In May of 2003, Crossroads purchased 50,000 watt WLEZ (102.7), and change call letters to WBOW-FM, upgrading the soft adult contemporary format to a "mainstream" current song-based contemporary format.

Crossroads Communications  hopes to continue to make broadcasting history in the Terre Haute market!