WRNW
iHeartMedia, Inc. | |
WISN, WKKV-FM, WMIL-FM, WOKY, WRIT-FM | |
History | |
First air date | January 1961 | (as WISN-FM)
Former call signs | WISN-FM (1961–78) WLPX (1978–84) WBTT (1984–85) WLTQ (1985–2004) WQBW (2004–10) |
Call sign meaning | "Radio Now" (previous format) |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 26609 |
Class | B |
ERP | 15,500 watts |
HAAT | 278 meters (912 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°06′40″N 87°55′37″W / 43.111°N 87.927°W |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | 973thegame.iheart.com |
WRNW (97.3
WRNW is a
Programming
On weekdays, WRNW features local sports shows during the day and evening. Steve Czaban and Brian Butch are heard in morning drive time. He's followed by former Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn and Bill Schmid. In afternoons, Mike Heller, Nick Bruesewitz, Drew Olsen, Kevin Brandt, Matt Schneidman, and Doug Russell host shows focused on Wisconsin and national sports. Nights and weekends, programming from Fox Sports Radio is heard.
WRNW "97.3 The Game" is the flagship radio station for the Green Bay Packers Radio Network. In addition, it is the Milwaukee affiliate for the Wisconsin Badgers Radio Network through Learfield Sports. It also carries Westwood One Sports, Milwaukee Admirals AHL Hockey and weekend motor races.
History
Beautiful Music (1961-1978)
The station
At the beginning, 1130 AM and 97.3 FM mostly
Rock (1978-1983)
In January 1978, the station flipped to
The station became an immediate success in the ratings. WLPX pushed rival 98.3 WZMF to tighten its format, and later drop it altogether for beautiful music. WLPX also sponsored future NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Alan Kulwicki on local racetracks on the ASA, ARTGO, and regional circuits, which led to the association of his car number 97 in the Midwest with the radio station.
Top 40 (1983-1985)
In the summer of 1983, WLPX abruptly switched to
Adult contemporary (1985-2004)
WLTQ featured the popular syndicated call-in and request show
The station enjoyed high ratings through the late 1980s, 90s and early 2000s, particularly in the "at-work" audience. But by 2003, WLTQ's ratings started dropping. The station's "Light" image turned many younger listeners away.[5][6]
Classic Rock and Adult Hits (2004-2010)
On September 17, 2004, at Noon, "Light 97.3" signed off with "
When the new format was revealed, it turned out the station was adopting a 1980s-based
WQBW immediately experienced ratings success with the new format, which led to direct competitors
Top 40 (2010–2018)
At 9 a.m. on May 28, 2010, after playing "
.A day earlier, WJZX ended its smooth jazz format and began a stunting, calling itself "Tiger Radio." WJZX was apparently ready to flip to Rhythmic Top 40 under the new call sign WNQW. That prompted 97.3 FM to act quickly and begin using the "Now" name and brand before WJZX owner Saga Communications could claim it.[13] The airstaff and the morning show returned to the station on July 26, though the title of the morning show changed to "Connie and Curtis".[14]
On June 10, 2010, WQBW's call letters were officially changed to WRNW. That call sign had previously been used from 1960 until 1982 for WXPK in the New York City suburb of Briarcliff Manor, the station where Howard Stern first hosted mornings.
WRNW's format change gave longtime top 40 powerhouse 103.7 WXSS its first in-market competition since WKTI's switch to country music. WRNW's Top 40 musical direction favored a pop/rock approach, as it plays less Rhythmic/Hip-Hop than WXSS and most other large market contemporary hit stations.[15]
On August 31, 2012, the Connie and Curtis morning show ended on both WRNW and Madison sister station WZEE. It was replaced with Premiere Networks' syndicated Elvis Duran and the Morning Show on September 4. That same week, WRNW picked up new competition from WZBK-FM, which made the switch to Rhythmic Top 40 as "Energy 106.9." It took the new call sign WNRG-FM on September 7, 2012.[16]
In late April 2015, the station re-branded as "97-3 Now". It began using a logo similar to KISS-FM branded stations. On September 14, 2016, the station announced that the morning show would be brought back to being hosted locally in-house, with former WXSS morning personality Rahny Taylor returning to Milwaukee after a three-year stint on the national K-Love network to host the new show, starting the next day.[17]
Sports (2018-present)
Just after midnight on November 27, 2018, after playing "
It was able to make use of local sports programming from sister AM station WOKY 930 AM. That included such shows as Drew & KB, The Crossover, The Mike Heller Show, and The Double Team. Fox Sports Radio programs began airing nights and weekends.[18] With this change, WOKY shifted to a largely syndicated lineup, carrying most of the national Fox Sports Radio lineup.[19] WRNW also carries coverage of Wisconsin Badgers sports from Learfield Sports, along with WOKY's former national rights to carry Westwood One Sports and the three NASCAR radio networks, MRN, PRN and IMSRN. It also picked up Wisconsin Badgers football and basketball. Those games continue to also air on WOKY.
Much of WRNW's daytime schedule has been subsequently syndicated across the state of Wisconsin, to other sports radio stations. Some of WRNW's programming is heard on
On October 27, 2021, the Green Bay Packers announced that WRNW would become the team's Milwaukee affiliate for the Packers Radio Network in 2022. That ended a 93-year run on WTMJ 620 AM, which had served as flagship station for most of that time. The team was already airing on iHeartMedia stations in Madison, Eau Claire, and Moline, Illinois.[22]
WRNW-HD2
On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that WQBW's HD2 subchannel would carry Radio Radio from the company's "Format Lab". The music would include modern rock hits of the 1980s and 90s. It was later replaced by the Rock Nation feed from "Format Lab," which features active rock. Later on, from February 2011 until August 2012, the HD2 signal carried iHeartRadio's "Spin Cycle" Dance and EDM tracks.
At the beginning of August 2012, the HD2 signal began to carry the talk radio programming of co-owned WISN 1130 AM. This returns what had begun as WISN-FM to carrying its AM sister station in some form for the first time in decades.[23]
References
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WRNW
- ^ "WISN-FM Starts" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 19, 1949. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1979-04-28). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
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has generic name (help) - ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1985-04-27). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
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has generic name (help) - ^ "WLTQ - Light 97 FM 97.3 - While You Work (1993 Milwaukee) [15 sec]". Retrieved 31 July 2023 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Light 97.3 FM - WEZW is gone. [15sec] (1996 Milwaukee)". Retrieved 31 July 2023 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "'Light 97' gone; new format Monday". Milwaukee Business Journal. September 17, 2004. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- ^ "Light 97 off; Air America may land Monday". 17 September 2004.
- ^ "Light 97.3 WLTQ becomes The Brew". 20 September 2004. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ "WQBW 97.3 The Brew changes to more familiar retro hits". Archived from the original on 2018-10-07.
- ^ "Flip Wars Brewing In Milwaukee Now - RadioInsight". 28 May 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ "97.3 The Brew Milwaukee Becomes Radio Now". 28 May 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel(May 28, 2010)
- ^ "'Fish' Leaves 'Connie & Fish' Radio Show - Entertainment News Story - WISC Madison". www.channel3000.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-06.
- ^ Ross, Sean (June 10, 2010). "Punch Wars #5 – Milwaukee's New CHR Battle". Radio-Info.com.
- ^ "Saga Gives Milwaukee An Energy Boost" from Radio Insight (September 7, 2012)
- OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Find 97.3 The Game's Sunday Live On-Air Schedule". 97.3 The Game. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Venta, Lance (27 November 2018). "iHeartMedia Flips 97.3 Now to Sports". Radio Insight]. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Ellis, Jon (31 October 2020). "iHeart's "Game" To Be Heard in Four Markets". Northpine.com. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
- ^ Venta, Lance (18 March 2021). "97.3 The Game Milwaukee Programming Comes To Madison". RadioInsight. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- Milwaukee Business Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=32 HD Radio Guide for Milwaukee
External links
- Official website
- "Connie & Curtis" website
- "New format is going to party like it's 1989" (JSonline.com)
- "WLTQ-FM changed on its own, honest" (JSonline.com)
- WRNW in the FCC FM station database
- WRNW in Nielsen Audio's FM station database