WRYU (1470

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to

West Bend, Wisconsin West Bend is a city in Washington County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,752. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History Early history and settlement Northeastern Washi ...

, and covering

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

's northern suburbs. The station is owned by David Magnum, through licensee Magnum Communications, Inc., and features a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

format. The radio studios and offices are on South Main Street in West Bend. WRYU carries the syndicated program '' John Tesh - Intelligence for Your Life''. WRYU is a Class B AM station powered at 2,500 watts. To protect other stations on

1470 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1470 kHz: 1470 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * LT20 in Junin, Buenos Aires. * LT26 in Colon, Entre Rios. * LT28 in Rafaela, Santa Fe. * LU26 in Coronel Dorrego, Bu ...

from interference, it uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a four-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. The signal covers

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and Ozaukee Counties. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is on Hron Road in West Bend. Programming is also heard on FM translators W230DJ at 93.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

and W267CL at 101.3

History

MOR and classic country

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air in . Its original

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was WPJM, changing shortly afterward to WBKV. It was a 1,000-watt

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

, required to go off the air at night. WBKV aired a full service format featuring local news, talk and middle of the road (MOR) popular music. The schedule included local

high school sports Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing a ...

and Wisconsin

college sports College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non-professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries. College sports tra ...

. In 1958, a

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

was added, 92.9 WBKV-FM (later WBWI and currently WMBZ). Around 2001, WBKV flipped to a satellite-delivered classic country format to complement sister WBWI-FM, which has a contemporary

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

sound. The local morning show was retained but other shows were cancelled. Most of the dayparts during the classic country period were covered by

Jones Radio Network Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio suc ...

's classic country feed. There were voicetracked breaks from local staff in afternoon drive during the week for a few years. Classic country lasted for 12 years.

Talk radio

The station flipped to a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format around March, 2013. WBKV was branded as "LOCAL News/Talk". In addition to covering local high school sports – football, basketball, and baseball – WBKV was also an

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

of the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

Radio Network. On June 25, 2014, Bliss Communications announced that it would sell WBKV and WBWI-FM, along with sister stations

WRJN WRJN (1400 AM) is a full service oldies radio station in Racine, Wisconsin, serving Racine and Kenosha Counties. The station is owned by Civic Media, Inc., along with sister station WAUK in Milwaukee. WRJN features live sports including Gre ...

and WEZY in Racine. The new owner was David Magnum's Magnum Communications, Inc. Bliss had owned WBKV and WBWI since 1970. The sale, at a price of $2.25 million, was consummated on October 31, 2014.

Classic hits - oldies

On February 7, 2015, WBKV changed its format to classic hits and

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

, branded as "Kool Variety 1470". The station's

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

consisted of the hits of the 1960s, '70s and '80s. WBKV also carried updates from Westwood One News until the network ceased operations in 2020. On October 28, 2016, WBKV changed its call sign to WIBD. It also added an

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

at 101.3 FM. The station rebranded as "101.3 and 1470 WIBD".

Classic rock

The station changed its call sign to WRYU on January 10, 2024. On February 11, 2024, WRYU changed its format from classic hits to classic rock, using the tagline "We Rock You".WIBD is Now Ready to Rock You
Radioinsight - February 11, 2024

Previous logos

References

External links

* * * * {{Classic Rock Radio Stations in Wisconsin RYU Radio stations established in 1950 1950 establishments in Wisconsin Classic rock radio stations in the United States