After his first year on WXDX, Cox was hired by Pittsburgh's PBS affiliate WQED to provide a young, liberal face and voice for a new weekly panel segment on a newsmagazine show called On Q. The segment, which placed Cox onstage with local conservative host Fred Honsberger, radio host Lynn Cullen, and think-tank advisor Jerry Bowyer became so popular that it was spun off into a separate show called Off Q. The show provided the perfect complement to Cox's radio show and his visibility in the market grew dramatically, as it introduced his intelligence and humor to an older audience unfamiliar with his work on WXDX. In June 2004, The Alan Cox Radio Show was moved to mornings after WXDX's parent company, Clear Channel, dropped The Howard Stern Show for content issues. While Cox's show took some time to reboot for a new audience, his popularity provided an easier transition than most stations losing Stern. Cox also returned to his stand-up comedy roots by hosting open mic nights at area clubs and frequently worked new material for live audiences. In June 2006, Cox was informed by WXDX management that his contract would not be renewed. Despite solid ratings and an extremely loyal audience, speculation was that Clear Channel Communications simply wouldn't justify Cox's increasingly lucrative contract and dumped the show in a cost-cutting move. Q101 Chicago In August 2006, Cox was hired to return to Chicago as the host of The Morning Fix, a new conceptual ensemble show at heritage alternative WKQX-FM (Q101). (Ironically, this put Cox down the hall from his former mentor Brandmeier, who returned to host mornings at sister station WLUP after the station was purchased by Emmis in 2005.) The Morning Fix combined the sensibilities of improv and stand-up comedy with traditional radio elements and replaced the outgoing Mancow Muller, who had been Q101's morning host for nearly a decade. In November 2007, after 14 months of turbulence, the ensemble members of the Morning Fix were let go, due to the show's high cost and insufficient ratings. Cox and sports anchor Jim Lynam were asked to stay and create a more music-intensive show. The new show was a more conversational and caller-intensive incarnation of the former show, and more reminiscent of Cox's solo show. On August 1, 2008, Cox & Lynam's "Morning Fix" was canceled. They were replaced temporarily by Q101 weekend DJ Alex Quigley until