WIIL (95.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Union Grove, Wisconsin Union Grove is a village in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,806 at the 2020 census. History Governor Henry Dodge named the area that became Union Grove, combining the word “Union” with “Grove” because of the ...

. The station serves

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...

(its original

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American b ...

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

, the southern suburbs of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

and the northern suburbs of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. WIIL is owned and operated by

Alpha Media Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

and airs an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. The

call letters 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 assign ...

stand for

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

for its dual-state coverage area. The station is branded as "95 WIIL Rock," with "WIIL" pronounced on air the same as 'will.' The station has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ...

(ERP) of 50,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s, the maximum output for the region in which it operates. The studios, offices and

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

are off Green Bay Road (

Wisconsin Highway 31 State Trunk Highway 31 (often called Highway 31, STH-31 or WIS 31) is a state highway in Kenosha and Racine counties in the US state of Wisconsin that runs north–south as a suburban route passing Racine and Kenosha. With the exceptio ...

) at 85th Street in

Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin Pleasant Prairie is a village in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Kenosha County along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan, Pleasant Prairie was home to 21,250 people at the 2020 census. The village is positioned directly south o ...

. WIIL serves as a complement to Alpha's station licensed to

Coal City, Illinois Coal City is a village in Grundy and Will Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is considered a fringe town of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 5,587 at the 2010 census. Its school district serves an area with over 11,000 r ...

, and broadcasting from Crest Hill,

WRXQ WRXQ (100.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an active rock format. Licensed to Coal City, Illinois, United States, it serves the Joliet area. The station is currently owned by Alpha Media and features programming from ABC Radio. WRXQ's ...

(100.7), which serves the southern and southwest suburbs of Chicago.

History

Beautiful Music WLIP-FM

On December 22, 1962, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

as WLIP-FM, licensed to Kenosha. It was owned by William Lipman, with the first letters of his last name used in the station's

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 assig ...

. WLIP-FM was powered at only 4,000

s, a fraction of its current output. The station

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simult ...

co-owned

WLIP WLIP (1050 AM) is a radio station located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Chicago-Milwaukee metropolitan region along the west shore of Lake Michigan with 250 watts, and also streaming worldwide at www.wlip.com. The station is ...

(1050 AM). After a few years, the simulcast ended and WLIP-FM began running its own music programming from 6 a.m. to midnight, offering a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator m ...

format. In the mid-1970s, WLIP-FM began playing

Progressive Rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

in the evenings, and was known as ''"Rock 95 LIP-FM"''. By 1978, the station had converted to a fulltime

album oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...

(AOR) format and changed its call letters to WJZQ.

Top 40 WJZQ

In the early 1980s, ''Rock 95'' changed to a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

/ CHR format. In 1990, it became a

rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...

-leaning Top 40 station, first as ''FM 95 WJZQ'', and then later as ''Power 95 WJZQ''. The station returned to mainstream top 40 by late 1991/early 1992. The transition to ''Power 95'' was marked by a day-long

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery sp ...

with a continuous loop of " The Power" by

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea Austin, Turbo B, N ...

, for 24 hours without interruption or explanation.

WIIL Rock

In September 1992, the call letters changed to WIIL, using the moniker ''95 WIIL ROCK'' with a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format. For a short period in the summer of 2003, WIIL was renamed ''95.1 The Rock Station'', but returned to "95 WIIL Rock" not long after. In 2000, the

NextMedia Group NextMedia Group was an out-of-home media company headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. NextMedia owns and operates 33 AM and FM stations, 5,700 outdoor advertising display across several regions and markets, as well as an interactive divi ...

acquired WIIL and WLIP. In 2004, WIIL shifted in an

Active Rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge ...

direction, while continuing to report to radio trade publications as a

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

station. In November 2009, the station officially changed to active rock status.

Switch to Union Grove

In April 2010, the station received

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

(FCC) approval to change its

from Kenosha to Union Grove. That technically put the station in

Racine County Racine County (, sometimes also ) is a county in southeastern Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 197,727, making it Wisconsin's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Racine. The county was founded in 1836, then a p ...

, and outside

Kenosha County Kenosha County is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 169,151 as of the 2020 census, making it the eighth most populous county in Wisconsin. The county shares the same name as the city of Kenosh ...

. This was to allow then-owner NextMedia Group to stay within ownership caps with its Chicago cluster. Kenosha County is classified as being within the Chicago radio market by Arbitron/Nielsen Audio, while Racine County is within the Milwaukee radio market; moving the city of license to Union Grove placed WIIL within the Milwaukee Nielsen ratings service market. The actual location of the transmitter and studios were not changed. They remain in Pleasant Prairie in Kenosha County.

Ownership changes

In 2013,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

-based Digity Media acquired the NextMedia Group, including WIIL and sister station WLIP. In 2015, Alpha Media spent $264 million to acquire the 116 radio stations of Digity Media, including the NextMedia Group. That put WIIL and WLIP, its AM sister station, under Alpha Media ownership.

Music Festivals

AugustFest was a music festival created and produced by Lakeside Productions, Inc, and sponsored by WIIL. It was held in August 2007 and 2008 at the Lake County Fairgrounds in

Grayslake, Illinois Grayslake is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Chicago's downtown, 14 miles (23 km) west of Lake Michigan, and 15 miles (24 km) sout ...

. The all-day festival featured two stages and multiple bands. The 2007 AugustFest was held on August 25 and featured performances from Chevelle, Saliva,

Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of Dreve, his previous band. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original ...

, Crossfade, and PreZence. The 2008 AugustFest took place on August 9.Lakeside Productions presents August Fest 08'
/ref> This iteration featured performances from Shinedown,

P.O.D. P.O.D., an initialism for Payable on Death, is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992 and based in San Diego, California. The band's line-up consists of drummer and rhythm guitarist Wuv Bernardo, vocalist Sonny Sandoval, bassist ...

Filter Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component tha ...

Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former ba ...

and

Black Stone Cherry Black Stone Cherry is an American rock band, formed in 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky. They were signed to Roadrunner Records until 2015; the band is now signed to Mascot Label Group. The band consists of Chris Robertson (lead vocals, lead guitar) ...

as headliners, with

12 Stones 12 Stones is an American hard rock band, formed in 2000 in Mandeville, Louisiana, and currently consisting of Paul McCoy, Eric Weaver and Sean Dunaway. History The band members met in Mandeville, Louisiana, a small city north of New Orleans, ...

performing on a second stage. The WIIL Rock Fest is an annual music festival produced and sponsored by FM Entertainment, 95 WIIL Rock and Route 20 Outhouse in

Sturtevant, Wisconsin Sturtevant is a village in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,919 at the 2020 census. History Sturtevant was originally known as Parkersville, after the Parker family, early settlers in the area. Other former names for ...

. The 2012 WIIL Rock Fest was held on August 11 and featured performances by All That Remains,

Saving Abel Saving Abel is an American rock band from Corinth, Mississippi, founded in 2004 by Jared Weeks and Jason Null. The band is named after the biblical story of Cain and Abel, in which a man named Cain kills his brother Abel. Band member Jason Nul ...

10 Years 10 Years or Ten Years may refer to: *Decade, a period of ten years Film * ''10 Years'' (2011 film), a film starring Channing Tatum * ''Ten Years'' (2015 film), a Hong Kong film Music *10 Years (band), an American alternative metal band * ''10 Ye ...

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of ...

Static-X Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until h ...

, Black Stone Cherry, and

Shadows Fall Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Jon Donais (lead guitar, b ...

and others. The 2013 WIIL Rock Fest was held on August 24 and featured a partial lineup of

Volbeat Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal, and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon ...

, HIM, Airbourne,

Nonpoint Nonpoint is an American rock band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band currently consists of vocalist Elias Soriano, drummer Robb Rivera, lead guitarist Jaysin Zeilstra, rhythm guitarist Rasheed Thomas, and bassist Adam Woloszyn. History ...

Trapt Trapt is an American rock band formed in Los Gatos, California. Eight studio albums have been recorded to date: ''Amalgamation'' (1999), '' Trapt'' (2002), ''Someone in Control'' (2005), ''Only Through the Pain'' (2008), '' No Apologies'' (20 ...

Hurt Hurt may refer to: * Suffering, pain or injury Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Hurt'' (2003 film), a Canadian drama film * ''Hurt'' (2009 film), an American horror film * ''Hurt'' (2015 film), a Canadian documentary fi ...

SOiL Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

Red Line Chemistry Red Line Chemistry was an American hard rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Kansas City, Missouri. The band went on hiatus in 2014, but has since re-released their first album and performed at select shows. History Originally named Penumbra, ...

, and

Smile Empty Soul Smile Empty Soul is an American rock band, originally from Santa Clarita, California, United States. It was started in 1998 by Sean Danielsen (vocals and guitar), Ryan Martin (bass), and Derek Gledhill (drums). Following the departure of Gled ...

. There was no 2014 Rock Fest. The 2015 WIIL Rock Fest was held at Franksville Memorial Park in

Racine County, Wisconsin Racine County (, sometimes also ) is a county in southeastern Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 197,727, making it Wisconsin's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Racine. The county was founded in 1836, then a par ...

. Performing bands included

Hollywood Undead Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2005. All of the band members use pseudonyms and previously wore their own unique mask, most of which were based on the common hockey goaltender design. The ...

Pop Evil Pop Evil is an American rock band that was formed in North Muskegon, Michigan, in 2001 by Leigh Kakaty. The band's roots reside in TenFive, a group formed in the late-1990s by Kakaty and guitarist Jason Reed. Pop Evil won the Radio Contrab ...

Royal Bliss Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

We Are Harlot We Are Harlot, often shortened to just Harlot, is a hard rock supergroup organized by singer Danny Worsnop, of Asking Alexandria and Jeff George who was formerly Sebastian Bach's guitarist. The lineup also includes bassist Brian Weaver from Silv ...

Saint Asonia Saint Asonia (stylized as SΔINT ΔSONIΔ) is a Canadian-American rock supergroup consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Gontier, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Cale Gontier, and drummer Cody Watkins ...

Red Sun Rising Red Sun Rising is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio that is currently on hiatus. The band has released two studio albums through the Razor & Tie record label; their first, '' Polyester Zeal'', in 2015, and their second, ''Thread'', on March ...

Starset Starset is an American rock band from Columbus, Ohio, formed by Dustin Bates in 2013. They released their debut album, '' Transmissions'', in 2014 and their second album, ''Vessels'', on January 20, 2017. The band has found success in expanding ...

Devour the Day Devour the Day is an American hard rock band founded in 2012 by singer/guitarist Blake Allison and bassist Joey "Chicago" Walser after the breakup of their previous band Egypt Central. History Formation (2012) After more than a year of inactivi ...

Texas Hippie Coalition Texas Hippie Coalition (sometimes stylized THC) is an American heavy metal band from Denison, Texas. History The band was formed in Denison, Texas by Big Dad Ritch, along with his friend John Exall and other friends. Several lineup changes ...

, Aranda,

Butcher Babies Butcher Babies is an American groove metal band from Los Angeles, consisting of frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, guitarist Henry Flury (Amen), bassist Ricky Bonazza, and drummer Chase Brickenden. Their debut album, ''Goliath'', was r ...

Failure Anthem Failure Anthem is an American hard rock band from Greensboro, North Carolina. Forming in 2013, they worked on recording a debut album for two years before signing to Razor & Tie, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, in late 2015. Their debu ...

and

Psychostick Psychostick is an American comedy metal band from Tempe, Arizona, now residing in Chicago, Illinois, known for their comical image and usage of humor in their songs and lyrics. Their style is referred to by themselves and some online album revie ...

References

External links

WIIL WebsiteLake County Journal
* {{coord, 42.552780, -87.893825, display=title Recurring events established in 2007 IIL Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Wisconsin Alpha Media radio stations