local radio service after WPME signed off at sunset. Changes: as WPXZ Both stations were sold in 1981 to Anthony F. Renda, a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania, about 25 miles south of Punxsutawney. Renda had owned two other radio stations in McKeesport and Eastcentral Ohio before purchasing WPME-AM-FM for $300,000. Upon purchasing the station, Renda changed the call letters of both stations to WPXZ, to more accurately reflect the station's image as that of a Punxsutawney community-based radio station. The station still continued its AM-FM simulcast until 1989, when the stations split off into separate programming entities. WECZ: AM and FM go separate ways WPXZ retained its call letters for the FM station, but the AM adopted the calls WECZ and an easy-listening format of satellite-delivered MOR and nostalgia music. The new station became known as "Easy 1540" and continued operating under this format for about six years. The station also aired Pittsburgh Pirates baseball day games, and syndicated talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The station underwent another image overhaul in the late 1990s, switching to a classic country satellite-delivered format and taking the new name "The Groundhog AM 1540." Outcry from the community over the loss of the older music resulted in another format shift back to the MOR and Nostalgia music, but the Groundhog moniker was retained. In 2002, the music was again dropped, with the increasing popularity of syndicated talk show hosts Laura Ingraham and Tom Martino. The station operated as "Groundhog Talk" for about a year until the moniker was dropped altogether and rebilled as "News/Talk AM 1540". WECZ today Sometime in the first quarter of 2019, WECZ AM 1540 and W265DI 100.9 FM became Fox Sports Punxsutawney, with an all-sports format by Fox Radio. The "Polka" Mike show moved to sister station WPXZ 104.1 FM. References 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook 1956 Broadcasting Yearbook 1967 Broadcasting Yearbook External links Mike's Polka Party ECZ News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1953 Renda Broadcasting radio stations 1953 establishments in Pennsylvania ECZ