WMIL-FM
WMIL-FM (106.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and serving the Greater Milwaukee - Southeast Wisconsin radio market. It carries a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia. The studios and offices are located in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield.
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City | Waukesha, Wisconsin |
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Broadcast area | Greater Milwaukee - Southeast Wisconsin |
Frequency | 106.1 MHz (HD Radio) |
Branding | FM 106.1 |
Slogan | Milwaukee's Best Country |
Programming | |
Format | FM/HD-1: Country HD-2: New Country HD-3: 2000's alternative rock "ALT2K" |
Ownership | |
Owner | iHeartMedia (iHM Licenses, LLC) |
WISN, WKKV, WOKY, WRIT, WRNW | |
History | |
First air date | January 1, 1962 |
Former call signs | WAUX-FM (1962–1965) WAUK-FM (1965–1975) |
Call sign meaning | W MILwaukee |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 63919 |
Class | B |
ERP | 12,000 watts |
HAAT | 304 meters (997 ft) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | FM106.com |
WMIL-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 12,000 watts. The transmitter site is in Milwaukee's North Side off Humboldt Boulevard near Estabrook Park and the Milwaukee River.[1] WMIL-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format. The HD2 digital subchannel carries New Country music. The HD3 subchannel airs Alternative Rock from the 2000s as "Alt 2K."
The weekday morning drive time show is hosted by "Ridder, Scott, and Shannen". Jamie Martin is heard in middays and afternoons are live with Quinn, who also serves as Assistant Program Director and Music Director. The Ant Man is heard evenings and WMIL-FM carries the syndicated overnight show CMT Nights with Cody Alan. Weekends feature Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 and a weekend version of The Bobby Bones Show. The Program Director and Senior VP of Programming is Kerry Wolfe who started with the station in August 1989.
History
WAUX-FM - WAUK-FM
On January 1, 1962, the station signed on as WAUX-FM, sister station to WAUX 1510 AM. The stations were owned by the Waukesha Broadcasting Company. [2] At the time, WAUX-FM was powered at only 3,800 watts, a fraction of its current output.
Because WAUX was a daytimer, the two stations simulcast during the day and programming continued on WAUX-FM at night. A few years later in 1965, they became WAUK and WAUK-FM respectively. During the 1970s, WAUK-FM aired a beautiful music format.
WMIL-FM
In December 1975, the station adopted the WMIL-FM call sign (originally used by 95.7 FM). Stebbins Communications acquired the two stations in 1975. For a time, WMIL-FM was dark when Stebbins went bankrupt. The AM station had already been sold to another company in 1977.
Charter Broadcasting, which already owned WOKY 920 AM, purchased WMIL-FM in 1979. The company sold WOKY and WMIL-FM to Sundance Broadcasting in June 1983. The easy listening format was starting to age in the 1980s and the new owners had a different plan for WMIL-FM.
Country Music
The present country format was launched on WMIL-FM, competing against 102.9 WBCS (now Active Rock station WHQG). As a country station, WMIL-FM has long been successful in the local ratings. Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner to today's iHeartMedia, bought WMIL-FM and WOKY for $40 million in 1997.[3] In 2007, WMIL-FM was voted "Top Country Station in a Large Market".
Starting in 2015, WMIL-FM had a Milwaukee competitor in 94.5 WKTI. But that station gave up the country format, switching to sports radio in 2018. While there are several country music stations in the Milwaukee suburbs, WMIL-FM is currently the market's only full-power outlet for country hits.
HD Radio
In 2006 WMIL-FM installed a new transmitter with HD Radio capability on the MPTV Tower. A format of classic country music was launched in August 2009. But in recent years, it switched to New Country.
On December 1, 2018, WMIL switched its HD3 subchannel to 2000's alternative rock, branded as "ALT2K".[4]
References
External links
- FM 106.1
- Milwaukee radio: a retrospective
- WMIL-FM in the FCC's FM station database
- WMIL-FM on Radio-Locator
- WMIL-FM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database