WRXS
| File:Wfmr.jpg | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Frequency | 1956-1983: 96.5 MHz 1983-2000: 98.3 MHz 2000-present: 106.9 MHz |
| Branding | "Classical 106.9 WFMR" |
| Programming | |
| Format | classical music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Saga Communications |
| History | |
First air date | June 26, 1956 |
Call sign meaning | W Fine Music Radio |
| Technical information | |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 6,000 watts (construction permit for 4,400 watts) |
| Links | |
| Website | www.wfmr.com |
WFMR (106.9 FM) is a classical music radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, licensed to the suburb of Brookfield, with transmitter facilities in suburban Menomonee Falls. The station is owned by Saga Communications, which also owns WKLH, WJMR-FM, WHQG and WJYI. Originally at 96.5 on the FM dial, WFMR signed on the air on June 26, 1956 from the Bayshore Shopping Center in Glendale. The next year, the studios moved to downtown Milwaukee. A subsequent move put the studios on the north side of the city. In 1983, the station was sold and was flipped to an adult contemporary format. The owner of a class A radio station in Menomonee Falls (at 98.3 FM) immediately picked up the classical format and call letters, and it remained there at that frequency until December 12, 2000, when current owner Saga Communications moved WFMR to its current 106.9 FM dial position, and WJMR-FM's urban AC format and call letters to 98.3. This was done primarily to boost WJMR-FM's signal in the urban areas of Milwaukee, and to target WFMR toward the west and north suburbs. Saga moved the studios to Milwaukee in 1999.
WFMR is a four-time finalist for the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Award for Classical Station of the Year, and celebrated its 50th year as a classical station in 2006.
Saga anoounced that at 12 midnight CDT June 25, 2007, that WFMR will switch to a smooth jazz format.
Frequency history
The 106.9 frequency came into being in Milwaukee when it was licensed as WLJU on February 10, 1993. The new station was owned by Harris Classical Broadcasting, which also owned WFMR. It formally signed on for the first time in August 1995 as WFMI, playing a satellite-fed smooth jazz format. A more powerful and resourceful station, WJZI, signed on with its own smooth jazz format in 1996, giving WFMI stiff competition. Both stations were sold to Saga Communications and WFMI was quickly switched to a modern AC format, becoming WXPT on May 14, 1997. They were known on the air as "106.9 The Point". When Chicago's WPNT changed formats a few months later, 106.9 picked up the WPNT call sign. They had modest success for a small station, but a few of the bigger stations in the market took notice and adjusted their playlists to fight off the young suburban upstart. Again, due to stiff competition for the 6 kW station, the format was changed again in April 1999, this time to a trendy new format known as Jammin' Oldies, and the call letters became WMJO (Milwaukee's Jammin' Oldies). The calls were changed a month later to WJMR and tag line to "Jammin' Hits" due to legal issues. The call sign for 106.9 became WFMR on December 12, 2000, after the station swap with WJMR-FM.
On April 24, 2007, the FCC granted WFMR a construction permit to move its transmitter from its current site in Menomonee Falls to the WJYI tower in Milwaukee. This move to a more central location in the market should improve WFMR's coverage in the area. While the station's power will be reduced to 4.4 kW, the antenna will be higher on its new tower, with about the same reach as its current signal.
External links
 | This article about a radio station in Wisconsin is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |