After flipping to a country format in 2020, CIMX-FM is currently hyping a “revolution” at 8:08 a.m. Thursday.
A familiar favorite is rumored to be returning to Detroit’s FM airwaves.
Windsor’s CIMX-FM (88.7), which has been “Pure Country 89” for the past five years, is teasing a return of “Canada’s greatest export,” among other verbiage that insiders say points to a return of 89X, the alternative rock format that ruled the station’s airwaves from the heyday of grunge through the station’s dissolution in 2020.
CIMX-FM is currently airing Spanish-language promos between songs, pointing toward a switch at 8:08 a.m. Thursday. “Please wait. Ladies and gentlemen, a revolution is coming,” is how one of the ads translates.
That revolution is said to be the return of 89X, which officially launched in May 1991. Jane’s Addiction’s “Stop” was the first song played on the station, which exploded just as alternative rock, brought in on the shoulders of bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden, launched a revolution in rock and roll.
The Windsor-based, Bell Media-owned station stuck with the alt-rock format through the ’90s, ’00s and ’10s, switching formats in November 2020, when it flipped to country. By that time, the station had closed its American office and cut most of its airstaff after a restructuring in 2017.
“89X was a unique station and we have some great memories,” a statement on the station’s website read at the time of the format change. “Thirty years is a long time, though, and it’s time for a change.”
The station’s social media pages are currently promoting an image that reads “8/28, 8:08 a.m.” Rumors of an 89X return have been circulating in Detroit radio circles for several weeks, although it’s unclear if any of the station’s former talent will be brought back to the airwaves.
A request for comment from the station’s sales staff was not returned.
agraham@detroitnews.com
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