WRIT-FM
Encyclopedia
WRIT-FM is a radio station
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, owned by Clear Channel Communications. Branded as "Oldies 95.7", it airs a 60s-70s Oldies format.
The WRIT call sign
previously belonged to a Top 40 station on 1340 AM
from 1955 to the 1970s. The WRIT name was resurrected at midnight on January 1, 2000, to ring in the new millennium
. The oldies format has been on 95.7 since the late 1980s, originally as WZTR.
/polka
format, simulcasting full time with their AM sister station
. Following the purchase of both stations by Malrite Broadcasting, on May 12, 1968, the ethnic and polka
music programming aired on the AM station shifted to WMIL-FM, allowing the AM station to continue with the country format full-time.
The FM station became WMVM in 1971, airing a beautiful music
format. On June 1, 1972, consultant Mike Joseph switched WMVM and its AM sister station to Top 40 under the new calls WZUU and WZUU-FM. Ironically, one of its chief rivals at the time was the original WRIT
, as well as WOKY
. WZUU's all-currents, no-oldies "Super Hits" format, which featured a tight playlist of 30 current songs, was a forerunner of Joseph's later Hot Hits
stations of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
WZUU switched in 1986 to Adult Album Alternative
WBGK and in 1987 to Adult Contemporary-formatted "Star 95.7" and the WZTR call sign
. WZTR eventually switched to oldies
amid heavy AC competition.
The station was known for a long time as "Oldies 95.7", even after it tweaked its format slightly and resurrected the WRIT call sign
. In 2003 WRIT dropped the "oldies" designation from its name in favor of "95.7 WRIT". (Some Milwaukee area billboards displayed only "95.7" without the WRIT call letters.)
programming, which lasted until after the holiday, competing with WMYX-FM
, WFZH
and WRIT's sister station, WOKY
. For subsequent holiday seasons, WRIT switched to Christmas music. In 2008, WRIT began playing Christmas music at 3:13 PM on October 31 (Halloween
). They first played "Too Late to Turn Back Now" by Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, and then they played "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by Johnny Mathis
. Seven minutes later, crosstown Christmas rival WMYX went all Christmas, also. Presently, its Christmas station rivals are WMYX and WLDB. In 2009, rival WMYX won the Christmas music race by switching over at 7:00 pm on November 13 according to music logs on yes.com. WRIT started playing Christmas about 20 minutes later.
In 2010, WRIT won the Christmas music race, starting to air all-Christmas music on November 18 at 5:15 pm. Their rival, WMYX, started airing all-Christmas music on November 22 at 12:00 am. In 2011 the race started earlier on November 10, with WMYX going at 5pm, followed by WRIT at 5:55pm .
.
in Detroit.
The station unveiled their tweaked format on Tuesday September 5 at 6AM, after playing a set of songs containing the word "Magic". They became "Milwaukee's 95.7, The Greatest Top 40 Hits of All Time", under a Classic Hits
/Gold AC format. The station has added a few pop music
selections from the 1980s to the 1960s and 1970s oldies
already being played. In 2007, the station transitioned to the "My 95.7" moniker, and the oldies
moved to sister WOKY-AM
. WOKY has since switched to Classic Country
music.
, the station returned to "Oldies 95.7" with an oldies format based on music from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s The station has since enjoyed consistent top 5 ratings finishes (12+) in the market.
The format was switched to 50s-60s Oldies in May 2009, branded as The Mighty 92 and featuring heritage jingles from WOKY
in the 60's and 70's, along with imaging from WOKY's oldies format, which ran from January 2007-September 2008.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, owned by Clear Channel Communications. Branded as "Oldies 95.7", it airs a 60s-70s Oldies format.
The WRIT call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
previously belonged to a Top 40 station on 1340 AM
WJYI
WJYI is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It runs a Christian format with Contemporary Christian Music from Salem Radio Network's Today's Christian Music network. It also features brokered teaching and preaching programs from both local Churches and national ministries. It also airs...
from 1955 to the 1970s. The WRIT name was resurrected at midnight on January 1, 2000, to ring in the new millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
. The oldies format has been on 95.7 since the late 1980s, originally as WZTR.
History
The 95.7 frequency signed on May 10, 1961 with the WMIL call sign. They aired a country musicCountry 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...
/polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
format, simulcasting full time with their AM sister station
WMCS
This article is about the radio station, for the school, see West Memphis Christian SchoolWMCS is an African-American-oriented talk and music radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
. Following the purchase of both stations by Malrite Broadcasting, on May 12, 1968, the ethnic and polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
music programming aired on the AM station shifted to WMIL-FM, allowing the AM station to continue with the country format full-time.
The FM station became WMVM in 1971, airing a beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
format. On June 1, 1972, consultant Mike Joseph switched WMVM and its AM sister station to Top 40 under the new calls WZUU and WZUU-FM. Ironically, one of its chief rivals at the time was the original WRIT
WJYI
WJYI is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It runs a Christian format with Contemporary Christian Music from Salem Radio Network's Today's Christian Music network. It also features brokered teaching and preaching programs from both local Churches and national ministries. It also airs...
, as well as WOKY
WOKY
WOKY is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, radio station. They broadcast a classic country radio format emphasizing country from the 50s-80s...
. WZUU's all-currents, no-oldies "Super Hits" format, which featured a tight playlist of 30 current songs, was a forerunner of Joseph's later Hot Hits
Hot Hits
Hot Hits was a radio format created by consultant Mike Joseph in the 1970s. That concept, which helped spur the birth of what is now known as CHR, also revitalized the Top 40 format and would play a role in bringing the format to the FM band throughout the 1980s.The concept was to play only the...
stations of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
WZUU switched in 1986 to Adult Album Alternative
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
WBGK and in 1987 to Adult Contemporary-formatted "Star 95.7" and the WZTR call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
. WZTR eventually switched to oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
amid heavy AC competition.
The station was known for a long time as "Oldies 95.7", even after it tweaked its format slightly and resurrected the WRIT call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
. In 2003 WRIT dropped the "oldies" designation from its name in favor of "95.7 WRIT". (Some Milwaukee area billboards displayed only "95.7" without the WRIT call letters.)
Christmas music
On November 17, 2005, WRIT began airing all-Christmas musicChristmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
programming, which lasted until after the holiday, competing with WMYX-FM
WMYX-FM
WMYX-FM is a Hot AC formatted radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Identifying themselves on the air as "The Mix", WMYX-FM was the first station in the U.S. to use the "Mix" moniker. WMYX-FM has been airing roughly the same format since late 1981. The station is owned by Entercom, along with...
, WFZH
WLVE
WMIA-FM is a rhythmic AC radio station that is licensed to Miami Beach, Florida. Its slogan is "Your Feel Good Variety"-History:93.9 has been WMBM-FM , WGOS , WBUS, "The Magic Bus", progressive rock, then a full time traditional jazz station. In 1976, the station became "Love 94", changing to a...
and WRIT's sister station, WOKY
WOKY
WOKY is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, radio station. They broadcast a classic country radio format emphasizing country from the 50s-80s...
. For subsequent holiday seasons, WRIT switched to Christmas music. In 2008, WRIT began playing Christmas music at 3:13 PM on October 31 (Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
). They first played "Too Late to Turn Back Now" by Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, and then they played "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
. Seven minutes later, crosstown Christmas rival WMYX went all Christmas, also. Presently, its Christmas station rivals are WMYX and WLDB. In 2009, rival WMYX won the Christmas music race by switching over at 7:00 pm on November 13 according to music logs on yes.com. WRIT started playing Christmas about 20 minutes later.
In 2010, WRIT won the Christmas music race, starting to air all-Christmas music on November 18 at 5:15 pm. Their rival, WMYX, started airing all-Christmas music on November 22 at 12:00 am. In 2011 the race started earlier on November 10, with WMYX going at 5pm, followed by WRIT at 5:55pm .
.
Transition to "My 95-7"
On September 1, 2006, WRIT went into stunting mode, playing a wide assortment of songs and directing listeners to 95.7needshelp.com to request and vote for songs online. This is similar to a format flip Clear Channel did with WDTW-FMWDTW-FM
WDTW-FM is a classic rock formatted radio station in Detroit, Michigan. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications. WDTW-FM is licensed for HD Radio operations; its secondary channel carries Clear Channel's "Pride Radio" format, which features music geared toward the LGBT audience...
in Detroit.
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
/Gold AC format. The station has added a few pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
selections from the 1980s to the 1960s and 1970s oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
already being played. In 2007, the station transitioned to the "My 95.7" moniker, and the oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
moved to sister WOKY-AM
WOKY
WOKY is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, radio station. They broadcast a classic country radio format emphasizing country from the 50s-80s...
. WOKY has since switched to Classic Country
Classic country
Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country hits from past decades.This genre generally follows one of two formats: those specializing in hits from the 1920s through the early 1970s, and focus primarily on innovators and artists from country music's Golden...
music.
Return To Oldies 95.7
At Midnight on December 26, 20102010 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2010.-Events:*Date Unknown: CHOI/Quebec City flips from Alternative Rock to News/Talk.*January 4: KJCS/Lufkin, Texas goes silent....
, the station returned to "Oldies 95.7" with an oldies format based on music from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s The station has since enjoyed consistent top 5 ratings finishes (12+) in the market.
WRIT HD2
On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that WRIT-FM's HD2 subchannel will carry the Classic Dance channel from their Format Lab, focusing on classic dance and disco hits from the 1970s and 1980s.The format was switched to 50s-60s Oldies in May 2009, branded as The Mighty 92 and featuring heritage jingles from WOKY
WOKY
WOKY is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, radio station. They broadcast a classic country radio format emphasizing country from the 50s-80s...
in the 60's and 70's, along with imaging from WOKY's oldies format, which ran from January 2007-September 2008.