WDKX Radio
Andrew A. Langston obtained his radio license in 1973 with plans to start an urban contemporary format FM radio station serving the Greater Rochester area.The station, WDKX, has been broadcasting 24 hours and day, seven days a week, since and today is the only locally owned broadcast media outlet in Rochester. Now being run by a second generation Langston family member, WDKX is a 2000 recipient of a Galanis Award for Excellence in Family Business.
In only 26 years, WDKX has grown to be the number four radio station in the Rochester market.
Andrew Langston has handed the presidency of the company down to his son, Andre Langston, who also serves as the station’s program director. Andrew Langston and his wife, Gloria, retain prominent roles with the company: Andrew as CEO, general manager and general sales manager; Gloria as chairperson of the board and station manager. Mrs. Langston also hosts a community issues radio program, “People To People.”
WDKX has grown steadily in the last quarter century and today employs 35 workers. The company offers benefits and training programs, as well as paid internships.
Minority owned and operated, the radio station’s call letter reflect its urban contemporary format: “W” is the first letter in stations located east of the Mississippi; “D” stands for Frederick Douglass; “K” for Martin Luther King; and “X” for Malcolm X.
The company is deeply involved in community service. Family members serve as board members on the following organizations: Otetiana Council of Boy Scouts of America, Salvation Army, American Heart Association, Women’s Hall of Fame, Black Business Association of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and Michigan State University.