WMIL-FM (106.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and serving the Greater Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin radio market. It carries a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on West Howard Avenue in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield.
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| Broadcast area |
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| Frequency | 106.1 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | FM 106.1 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WISN, WKKV-FM, WOKY, WRIT-FM, WRNW | |
| History | |
First air date | January 1, 1962 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Milwaukee |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 63919 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 12,000 watts |
| HAAT | 304 meters (997 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°05′46″N 87°54′14″W / 43.096°N 87.904°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | fm106 |
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.[2] WMIL-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format. The HD2 digital subchannel formerly aired alternative rock from the 1990s and 2000s as "Alt 2K".
History
editWAUX-FM, WAUK-FM
editOn 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.[3] At the time, WAUX-FM’s effective radiated power was 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
editIn 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, purchased WMIL-FM in 1979. The company sold WOKY and WMIL-FM to Sundance Broadcasting in June 1983. The new owners had a different plan for WMIL-FM.
Country music
editThe present country music format was launched on WMIL-FM, competing against country rival 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.[4]
In 2007, WMIL-FM was voted "Top Country Station in a Large Market". The station now competes with country stations in surrounding suburbs (WMBZ in West Bend and WVTY in Racine), but generally has outdone any competitors in Milwaukee proper since the mid-1980s.
Programming
editThe station's local morning show is co-hosted by Scott Dolphin and Shannen Oestereich (Scott & Shannen) with Shanna "Quinn" Hoy heard in afternoon drive time. Other shifts are voicetracked by iHeart country DJs including Billy Greenwood in middays and Ric Rush evenings.
Syndicated programming from co-owned Premiere Networks includes After Midnite With Granger Smith in overnights, a weekly "best-of" compilation of the weekday morning The Bobby Bones Show on Sunday evenings (to maintain rights over the program in the Milwaukee market) and The Country House Party on Saturday evenings.
References
edit- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WMIL-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WMIL-FM
- ^ Information from the Broadcasting Yearbook 1964 page 179
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005 page D-576
External links
edit- FM 106.1
- Milwaukee radio: a retrospective
- Facility details for Facility ID 63919 (WMIL-FM) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WMIL-FM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database