WMAD

WMAD

City	Cross Plains, Wisconsin
Broadcast area	Madison and South Central Wisconsin
Branding	96.3 Star Country
Slogan	#1 For New Country
Frequency	96.3 MHz FM (also on HD Radio)
Format	96.3: Country music 96.3-HD2: Coffee shop radio (Acoustic rock)
ERP	5,100 watts
HAAT	213 meters
Class	B1
Facility ID	50055
Transmitter coordinates	43° 12' 44.00" N 89° 35' 59.00" W
Callsign meaning	MADison
Former callsigns	WVLR WSEY (9/1987-11/1987) WMLI (11/1987-6/1994 and 2/1996-3/2002) WMXF (6/1994-2/1996) WCJZ (3/2002-12/2003)
Owner	iHeartMedia (Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations	WIBA (AM), WIBA-FM, WTSO, WXXM, WZEE
Webcast	Star Country live stream Coffee Shop Radio live stream
Website	963StarCountry.com

WMAD (96.3 Star Country) is a radio station serving the Madison, Wisconsin metropolitan area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and has been running a country music format since December 23, 2005.

History

WMAD call sign history

The call letters WMAD originally were on AM 1550 and later simulcast with 106.3 WMAD-FM Middleton (now WWQM). That version of WMAD started as a country format and remained country until 1977 when the call letters on 1550 were dropped (WWQM "15Q" oldies replaced country). WMAD-FM continued as WMAD-Middleton/Madison until early 1978 when the calls were dropped from 106.3. The WMAD calls would resurface in 1979 on the station at 92.1 FM (licensed to Sun Prairie and current home to WXXM).

Early 96.3 music history

The 96.3 FM frequency in Madison has had a varied format history. In the 1970s the station was WVLR. In the mid 1990s the station played 1970s music as Mix96.3 WMXF. Following this format, the station returned to a soft rock format as WMLI, which eventually morphed into adult contemporary "Star 96.3." In March 2002, the station shifted to a smooth jazz format as "Smooth Jazz 96.3 WCJZ," filling a niche in the Madison market filled only by the "Magic Sunday Morning" smooth jazz program on WMGN (Magic 98).

"MAD Radio 96.3"

WCJZ and its smooth jazz format never made any inroads among Madison radio listeners, which led management to make another change in format. At 12 Noon on December 31, 2003, WCJZ began a 6-hour stunt with a ticking clock and synthesized voice announcing station ID and jokes.^[1] This stunting ended promptly at 6:00 PM that night, with an announcement heralding the return of the alternative rock-formatted "MAD Radio".^[2] Fourteen months earlier, iHeartMedia (then known as Clear Channel Communications) replaced alternative rock on 92.1 WMAD in favor of a Hot AC station, "Mix 92.1." Fans of that "MAD Radio" incarnation were left disappointed by the change. Acknowledging the outcry, management resurrected "MAD Radio" at the 96.3 frequency. With this change, the WMAD call letters were moved to 96.3, while 92.1 changed their call letters to WXXM.

Despite an early peak in interest from Madison radio listeners, the new "MAD Radio" did not build as strong a following as the old version had. An increase of older alternative hits in the playlist (highlighted by the "Sunday Morning Resurrection" program) and the addition of the syndicated Rover's Morning Glory failed to bump up the station's fortunes. With WMAD's Arbitron ratings near the bottom of the Madison market, Clear Channel would make yet another change on the frequency, ending "MAD Radio 96.3" on the night of December 22, 2005,^[3] after 2 hours of songs with a "goodbye" or "end" theme, ending with "Last Goodbye" by Jeff Buckley and the Jimi Hendrix version of "The Star-Spangled Banner." "MAD Radio" would resurface once again in 2007, airing a commercial-free alternative format on a HD Radio subchannel of sister station WIBA-FM.

"Star Country"

former logo, 2005-2015

At 12AM on December 23, 2005, WMAD launched a new contemporary country format under the branding, "96.3 Star Country," beginning with a montage of its liners and jingles followed by Gretchen Wilson's "All Jacked Up," the first of 10,000 songs played without interruption for commercials or DJs on "Star Country."^[4]

Originally using the tag line "Now you have a choice," Clear Channel took an aggressive approach in promoting "Star Country" and in targeting the long-time country station in Madison, WWQM. The aggressiveness included luring away the WWQM morning team of John Flint and Tammy Lee, who would helm "Star Country's" morning shift from November 2006 until June 2011, when they departed for San Diego's KSON.^[5] The following September, WMAD tapped Tracy Dixon and Mike Heller as their new morning team; Dixon came from Clear Channel-owned KMFX-FM in Rochester, Minnesota, Heller from sister sports station WTSO (where he continued as afternoon host). "Tracy & Mike" remained paired in mornings until they were replaced by the Premiere Networks-syndicated Bobby Bones Show in February 2013.^[6]

HD Radio

WMAD broadcasts a multiplexed HD Radio signal. The station's HD2 sidechannel originally aired a classic country format ("Star Country Classics") to complement the contemporary country music heard on WMAD's main channel. "Star Country Classics" was dropped in Fall 2013 in favor of a rotating succession of streams from Clear Channel's IHeartRadio platform; among the channels have been "Global Citizen Radio" (variety hits), "Nashville" (modern country), and, as of November 2014, "Coffee Shop Radio" (acoustic rock).^[7]

References

↑ http://wisconsinbroadcasting.com/Format%20Change%20Files/WCJZ_Stunt.m3u
↑ http://wisconsinbroadcasting.com/Format%20Change%20Files/WMAD_Debut.m3u
↑ http://www.wisconsinbroadcasting.com/Goodbye%20Message.mp3
↑ http://www.wisconsinbroadcasting.com/FlipWMAD.mp3
↑ "'John & Tammy' Sign Off In Madison," from WISC-TV/Channel 3000, 6/25/2011
↑ "Clear Channel replaces local morning show," from WISC-TV, 2/25/2013
↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=95 HD Radio Guide for Madison, Wisconsin

External links

Query the FCC's FM station database for WMAD

Radio-Locator information on WMAD

Radio stations in the Madison, Wisconsin market

By FM frequency	88.7 89.5 89.9 90.3 90.9 91.1 91.3 91.7 92.1 93.1 93.7 94.1 94.9 95.9 96.3 97.1 98.1 99.1 99.3 99.9 100.1 100.5 100.9 101.5 101.9 102.5 103.3 104.1 105.1 105.5 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.3 107.9

By AM frequency	810 970 1070 1190 1240 1310 1350 1480¹ 1550 1580¹ 1670

By callsign	W215AQ W216BL W265CV W270AU W277AE W300BM WBGR-FM WBKY WCNP WDDC WDMP WDMP-FM WERN WHA WHFA WHIT WHHI WIBA WIBA-FM WIDE-LP WIXL-LP WJJO WJQM WJVL WJWD WLMV WMAD WMGN WMHX WMMM-FM WNWC WNWC-FM WOLX-FM WORT WOZN WOZN-FM WPDR WSJY WSUM WTMJ WTTN WTLX WTSO WWHG WWQM-FM WXJ87 WXXM WZEE

NOAA Weather Radio	162.550

Nearby radio markets Dubuque Fox Cities Janesville–Beloit–Jefferson County La Crosse Milwaukee–Racine Rockford Wisconsin Dells–Baraboo See also List of radio stations in Wisconsin ¹Broadcast in Spanish (fulltime)

Country radio stations in the state of Wisconsin

By call letters	KDKE - Superior/Duluth MN WACD – Antigo WAQE – Rice Lake WATQ – Chetek WAXX – Eau Claire WBFM – Sheboygan WBKY – Portage WBSZ – Ashland WCOW-FM – Sparta WCQM – Park Falls WCUB – Two Rivers WCYE – Three Lakes WDDC – Portage WDEZ – Wausau WDKF – Sturgeon Bay WDLS – Wisconsin Dells WDMP – Dodgeville WDMO – Baldwin WDMP-FM – Dodgeville WDUX – Waupaca WEKZ – Monroe WFON - Fond du Lac WGEE – New London WGLR-FM – Lancaster WHDG – Rhinelander WHIT – Madison WHSM-FM - Hayward WHTL-FM – Whitehall WISS – Berlin WIXK – New Richmond WJMC-FM – Rice Lake WJMQ – Clintonville WJMT – Merrill WJVL – Janesville WKQH – Marathon WKTI – Milwaukee WLTU - Manitowoc WMAD – Sauk City WMBZ – West Bend WMIL-FM – Waukesha WNCY-FM – Neenah-Menasha WNFM – Reedsburg WNRG-FM – Brookfield WOBT – Rhinelander WOCO – Oconto WOKY – Milwaukee WPCK – Denmark WPKR – Omro WPLT – Spooner WQCC – La Crosse WQPC – Prairie du Chien WQRB – Bloomer WRCO-FM - Richland Center WRDN – Durand WRJC – Mauston WRLU – Algoma WSLD – Whitewater WTCH – Shawano WTMB – Tomah WVRE – Dickeyville WVRQ-FM – Viroqua WWQM-FM – Middleton WXCX - Siren WXRO – Beaver Dam WYTE – Marshfield

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Wisconsin

iHeartMedia

Corporate officers	Bob Pittman (Chairman/CEO)

Board of directors	Lowry Mays Irving Azoff B. J. "Red" McCombs J. C. Watts John H. Williams

Radio stations	List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia

Radio networks	Fox News Radio Fox Sports Radio NBC News Radio Premiere Networks Premium Choice Total Traffic and Weather Network

Miscellaneous	Clear Channel Outdoor Clear Channel UK iHeartRadio List of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia Mediabase Radio Computing Services

Coordinates: 43°12′43″N 89°36′00″W / 43.212°N 89.600°W / 43.212; -89.600

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.