WMBZ (92.5

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 ...

"Buzz Country 92.5") 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 ...

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 ...

, serving

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. WMBZ and

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 ...

WVTY WVTY (92.1 MHz "92.1 VTY Country") is a commercial FM radio station in Racine, Wisconsin. It serves Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee's southern suburbs. WVTY airs a country music radio format and is co-programmed with sister station 92.5 WMBZ i ...

, which serves Milwaukee's southern suburbs, are co-programmed and air a

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 ...

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, ...

. They are owned by David Magnum, through licensee Magnum Communications, Inc., along with sister

WRYU WRYU (1470 kHz) is a commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station licensed to West Bend, Wisconsin, and covering Milwaukee's northern suburbs. The station is owned by David Magnum, through licensee Magnum Communications, Inc., and features a clas ...

in West Bend. WMBZ is a Class B FM station, with 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 18,000

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

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 ...

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

is on Wisconsin Highway 33 at Aurora Road in Addison.

History

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 September 1958 as WBKV-FM, co-owned with

WBKV WBKV (102.5 FM) is a radio station in Buffalo, New York. It is owned by Educational Media Foundation and is a part of its K-Love network. The license currently on 102.5 has been operating since 1946, with predecessors dating to 1932; it is ...

(1470 AM). WBKV-FM was an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

station, playing quarter-hour sweeps of soft instrumentals and mellow vocals. WBKV-FM was later known as "V92" and featured an

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

mix of

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

and

. On September 16, 1988, the station picked up the WBWI-FM

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 ...

. WBWI-FM flipped to its current country format in late 1989/early 1990. For a few years it was known as "92 Country Rock" then "92 Country" before it was renamed to "Pure Country". In 2004, the station rebranded to simply "92.5 WBWI". On June 25, 2014, Bliss Communications announced that it would sell WBWI-FM and WBKV, along with

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 WVTY (then WEZY) in Racine. The buyer was David Magnum's Magnum Communications, Inc. Bliss had owned WBWI and WBKV since 1970 (when WBWI was still WBKV-FM). The sale, at a price of $2.25 million, was consummated on October 31, 2014. On February 9, 2015, WBWI-FM rebranded as "Buzz Country".WBWI Relaunches as Buzz Country
/ref> On February 18, 2015, WBWI-FM’s callsign was changed to WMBZ. WMBZ and co-owned 92.1 WVTY air separate commercials and on-air playlists, share staff and DJs and have a common playlist. In the past as its own operation, station has not served as a direct competitor of Milwaukee's main country station,

WMIL-FM WMIL-FM (106.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and serving the Greater Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin radio market. It carries a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studio ...

(106.1), but with the early 21st century growth of Washington County and WMIL now carrying out-of-market voicetracked hosts outside mornings, WMBZ and WVTY have seen listener growth as an alternative in the Milwaukee market.

References

External links

WMBZ Website
* {{Country Radio Stations in Wisconsin MBZ Radio stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Wisconsin Country radio stations in the United States Washington County, Wisconsin