WBFM
Encyclopedia
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
station licensed to Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
-Airport:Sheboygan is served by the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, which is located several miles from the city.-Roads:Interstate 43 is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S...
. The station broadcasts at 93.7 MHz, on the FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
dial. WBFM-FM is owned and operated by Midwest Communications
Midwest Communications
Midwest Communications, Inc. consists of Midwest Communications, Inc. and WRIG, Inc., which collectively own forty-six radio stations. The Company got its start in Wausau, Wisconsin, with WRIG, Inc. and the acquisition by the D.E. Wright family of a 1400 kHz, 250 watt AM facility from the...
under the sub-branding of Sheboygan Radio Group, which owns seven radio stations in Northeast Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and three other radio stations in the Sheboygan market. It shares studios with WHBL, WXER
WXER
WXER is a Hot AC FM radio station broadcasting on 104.5 MHz in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, which is owned by Midwest Communications. The station is licensed to the city of Plymouth and broadcasts from a tower southwest of the city....
, and WHBZ
WHBZ
WHBZ is a Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin--licensed radio station based in Sheboygan that plays a Active Rock format. The station is currently owned by Midwest Communications and features the syndicated The Bob and Tom Show in the mornings, with some Fox News Radio updates and forecasts provided by...
on Washington Avenue in Sheboygan, with the station's transmitter and antenna based behind the studios.
History
The station was created as the second iteration of heritage station WHBL's FM sister WWJR in 1993 as part of a large frequency swap in northeastern Wisconsin that also involved WKTTWLKN
WLKN is a radio station serving the lakeshore cities of Sheboygan and Manitowoc/Two Rivers, Wisconsin, along with Manitowoc and Sheboygan Counties in general...
moving from 103.1 to 98.1, and WWJR from 97.9 to the new 93.7 frequency to facilitate the creation of Kaukauna
Kaukauna, Wisconsin
Kaukauna is a city in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, on the Fox River, approximately 100 miles north of Milwaukee, with a population of 12,983. It is a part of the Appleton, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin Combined...
-licensed WOGB on 103.1. For the first four years of 93.7's history as WWJR, it carried a basic adult contemporary format.
In early 1997, the Walton family, the longtime owners of WHBL and WWJR acquired the license for a new station licensed to Sheboygan Falls
Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
Sheboygan Falls is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States whose population was 6,772 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
at 106.5, which would transmit, like WHBL and WWJR, from their Washington Avenue tower site on Sheboygan's south side. The Waltons determined that Sheboygan County was underserved by the lack of a locally-based country music station, and at that time country listenership in the area was mainly split several ways in all areas of the county among WKTT and WCUB
WCUB
WCUB is a Country formatted radio station licensed to Two Rivers, Wisconsin, that serves the Two Rivers, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan areas. The station is owned by Cub Radio, Inc....
to the north from Manitowoc County, and West Bend's WBWI-FM
WBWI-FM
WBWI-FM is a country music-formatted radio station in West Bend, Wisconsin. They serve the greater Milwaukee area. WBWI is owned by Wisconsin-based Bliss Communications, along with sister WBKV and Racine-based WRJN and WEZY.-History:...
and WMIL-FM
WMIL-FM
WMIL-FM is a country music-formatted radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, licensed to Waukesha, Wisconsin. They are known on-air simply as "FM 106.1". WMIL is owned by Clear Channel Communications....
from Waukesha-Milwaukee to the south.
On April 7, 1997, another frequency swap took place with the launch of 106.5. WWJR's format and calls were moved to 106.5, with 93.7 becoming a new radio country station, "B-93", taking the calls WBFM and mainly airing live programming during the day and voicetracked programming in the overnight hours. WWJR would switch to an active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
format at the end of 2000 as "The Buzz" under the calls WHBZ, while WKTT would end up converting to adult contemporary in 2003 as WBFM's stronger signal in Manitowoc reduced the ratings for WKTT after their launch and to fill the AC hole left by WWJR's demise.
Besides the purchase of the Walton stations by Midwest Communications
Midwest Communications
Midwest Communications, Inc. consists of Midwest Communications, Inc. and WRIG, Inc., which collectively own forty-six radio stations. The Company got its start in Wausau, Wisconsin, with WRIG, Inc. and the acquisition by the D.E. Wright family of a 1400 kHz, 250 watt AM facility from the...
in 2000, the addition of some voicetracked shifts from Midwest stations in Green Bay and Wausau, along with a current weather forecasting agreement with WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area and Northeastern Wisconsin. Licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Scray's Hill in Ledgeview; the station also broadcasts in...
in Green Bay, WBFM has remained relatively unchanged in format since April 1997.