WMIL-FM
WMIL-FM (106.1 FM) is a country music-formatted radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that is licensed to Waukesha. They are known on-air simply as "FM 106.1, Milwaukee's Best Country". WMIL is owned by iHeartMedia. Its studios are located in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield and the transmitter site is in Milwaukee's North Side near Estabrook Park.
City | Waukesha, Wisconsin |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Milwaukee Area |
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 (Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses, Inc.) |
Sister stations | 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 |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | fm106.iheart.com |
Current local programming is heard during the morning show with "Ridder, Scott, and Shannen". Mid-days are voice-tracked by Billy Greenwood and afternoons are live with Quinn, who also serves as Assistant Program Director and Music Director. Nights are handled by Tige & Daniel out of WSIX in Nashville. Current Program Director and Senior VP of Programming is Kerry Wolfe who started with the station in August 1989.
History
The station launched January 1, 1962 with the WAUX-FM call sign, sister station to WAUX (1510 AM). A few years later in 1965, they became WAUK and WAUK-FM respectively, both simulcasting programming 100%.
During the 1970s, WAUK-FM aired a beautiful music format. The station adopted the WMIL-FM call sign (originally used by 95.7 FM) in December 1975. WMIL-FM went silent for a time when the owners, Stebbins Communications, which had acquired the two stations in 1975, 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 both stations to Sundance Broadcasting in June 1983, as WMIL-FM launched its present country format, competing against WBCS. As a country station, WMIL-FM has long been successful in the local ratings. In 2007, WMIL-FM was voted "Top Country Station in a Large Market".
HD Radio
In 2006 WMIL-FM installed a new transmitter with HD Radio capability on the MPTV Tower.
The station's second HD Radio subchannel carries a format of classic country music since August 2009.
On December 1, 2018, WMIL switched its HD3 subchannel to 2000's alternative rock, branded as "ALT2K".[1]
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