WIIL (95.1 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) 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 part ...

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 th ...

. The station serves

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 census. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Ke ...

(its original

city of license In U.S., 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 broadcast ...

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 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 tra ...

, the southern suburbs of

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 ...

and the northern suburbs of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. WIIL is owned and operated by

Alpha Media Alpha Media LLC is a radio broadcasting company based in Portland, Oregon, and led by Bob Proffitt. The group does business under the Alpha Media name. It was formed from the merger of Alpha Broadcasting, L&L Broadcasting, and Main Line Broadc ...

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 o ...

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 broadcasting, ...

. 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

stand for

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

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 ha ...

(ERP) of 50,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, the maximum output for the region in which it operates. The station's

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 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 exception ...

) at 85th Street in

Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin Pleasant Prairie is a village in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. Located along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan, Pleasant Prairie was home to 21,250 people at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The village is positio ...

, while its studio is based in the north end of the Gurnee Mills mall in

Gurnee Gurnee ( ) is a Village (United States), village and suburb in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 30,706 as of the 2020 census. It borders the city of Waukegan, Illinois, Waukegan, and is a popular tourist attraction within ...

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

Coal City, Illinois Coal City is a village in Grundy County, Illinois, Grundy and Will County, Illinois, Will Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is considered a Rural–urban fringe, fringe town of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 5,705 at t ...

, and broadcasting from Crest Hill,

WRXQ WRXQ (100.7 FM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting an active rock format. Licensed to Coal City, Illinois, it serves the Southland suburbs of the Chicago metropolitan area including Joliet. The station is owned by Walnut Radio Ill ...

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

History

Beautiful music WLIP-FM

On December 22, 1962, 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 ...

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 as ...

. WLIP-FM’s effective radiated power was 4,000

s, a fraction of its current output. The station

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

co-owned

WLIP WLIP (1050 AM) is a commercial radio station in Kenosha, Wisconsin, serving parts of the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas, along the west shore of Lake Michigan. The station airs a talk radio format and is owned by Alpha Media, throu ...

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

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

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 late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US radi ...

(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 a list of the 40 currently 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. "To ...

CHR CHR or chr may refer to: Organisations * Canadians for Health Research, a national not-for-profit organisation * Centre for Human Rights, an organisation promoting human rights in Africa * Christ Church Secondary School, a government-aided school ...

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 Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor ...

-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, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...

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 undergone several lineup changes over the years, featuring American singers, songwriters, and rappers such as Thea Austin, Turbo ...

, 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 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. 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 owned and operated 33 AM and FM stations, 5,700 outdoor advertising display across several regions and markets, as well as an interactive div ...

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

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 a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

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

Move 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 government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) approval to change its

from Kenosha to Union Grove. That technically put the station in Racine County, and outside

Kenosha County Kenosha County () is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,151, and was estimated to be 168,754 in 2024, making it the eighth-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its co ...

. This was to allow 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 until 2020, when upon the repeal of the Main Studio Rule, Alpha was able to re-locate the studio operations of WIIL and WLIP into a combined facility with

WXLC WXLC (102.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station based in Waukegan, Illinois. The format is currently country music and its owned by Alpha Media. WXLC broadcasts throughout Lake County, Illinois and Kenosha County, Wisconsin. WXLC also pene ...

and

WKRS WKRS (1220 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish sports format. Licensed to Waukegan, Illinois, United States, the station is currently owned by Alpha Media, through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC, and features programming from TUDN R ...

within Gurnee Mills; the studios coincidentally opened on March 12, 2020, one day after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

was declared.

Ownership changes

In 2013,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

-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 A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

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 {{Infobox settlement , name = Grayslake, Illinois , settlement_type = Village , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = Grayslake.PNG , image_caption ...

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

Saliva Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which ...

Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. 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 nu metal band formed in 1992 and based in San Diego, California. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval, bassist Mark "Traa" Daniels, lead guitarist Mar ...

Filter Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...

Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American Rock music, rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips (musician), Scott Phill ...

and

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

as headliners, with

12 Stones 12 Stones is an American hard rock band, formed in 2000 in Mandeville, Louisiana, consisting of Paul McCoy, Richard Labranche, Sean Dunaway, David Troia and Jon Rodriguez. History The band members met in Mandeville, Louisiana, a small city no ...

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 f ...

. 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 Jason Null and Jared Weeks. 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), ''10 Years'' (2011 film), a film starring Channing Tatum *Ten Years (2015 film), ''Ten Years'' (2015 film), a Hong Kong film Music *10 Years (band), a ...

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American industrial 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 industrial met ...

Static-X Static-X is an American industrial 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, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until his d ...

, 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 guitarists Jon Donais and ...

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

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

, HIM, Airbourne,

Nonpoint Nonpoint is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band currently consists of vocalist Elias Soriano, drummer Robb Rivera, rhythm guitarist Rasheed Thomas, bassist Adam Woloszyn, and lead guitarist Ja ...

Trapt Trapt is an American rock band formed in Los Gatos, California. Nine studio albums have been recorded to date: ''Amalgamation'' (1999), '' Trapt'' (2002), '' Someone in Control'' (2005), '' Only Through the Pain'' (2008), '' No Apologies'' (2 ...

Hurt Hurt may refer to: * Suffering * Pain * Injury Film and television * ''Hurt'' (2003 film), a Canadian drama film * ''Hurt'' (2009 film), an American horror film * ''Hurt'' (2015 film), a Canadian documentary film * ''Hurt'' (2018 film), an ...

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

, Red Line Chemistry, and

Smile Empty Soul Smile Empty Soul is an American Rock music, rock band, originally from Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California, United States. It was started in 1998 by Sean Danielsen (vocals and guitar), Ryan Martin (bass), and Derek Gledhill (dru ...

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

Racine County, Wisconsin Racine County ( ) is a County (United States), county in southeastern Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 197,727, making it Wisconsin's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Racine, Wisconsi ...

. 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 goaltender mask, hockey goalten ...

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 has several songs that to ...

Royal Bliss Royal Bliss is an American rock band formed in 1997 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were previously signed to Capitol Records and have released ten studio albums. History Background Formed in 1997 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Royal Bliss regularly p ...

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 guitarist Jeff George, who was formerly Eminem's and Sebastian Bach's guitarist. The lineup also includes ...

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 was 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 (Red Sun R ...

Starset Starset is an American Rock music, rock band from Columbus, Ohio, formed by Dustin Bates in 2013. They released their debut album, ''Transmissions (Starset album), Transmissions'', in 2014 and their second album, ''Vessels (Starset album), Vesse ...

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 inactiv ...

Texas Hippie Coalition Texas Hippie Coalition (often abbreviated to 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 Aranda may refer to: Places * Aranda, Village in Goh Block, Aurangabad, Bihar * Aranda, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in Canberra, Australia, named after the Arrernte or Aranda Indigenous people * Aranda (comarca), a ''comarca'' (county) ...

Butcher Babies Butcher Babies is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, consisting of frontwoman Heidi Shepherd, guitarist Henry Flury (Amen), bassist Ricky Bonazza, and drummer Dave Nickles. Their debut album, ''Goliath'', was released on July 9, 20 ...

, Failure Anthem and

Psychostick Psychostick is an American comedy metalcore band from Tempe, Arizona, 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 review sites as "humorcore". To dat ...

References

External links

WIIL WebsiteLake County Journal
* {{coord, 42.552780, -87.893825, type:landmark_region:US-WI, display=title IIL Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Wisconsin Alpha Media radio stations Racine County, Wisconsin Kenosha, Wisconsin