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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Milwaukee metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 920kHz |
| Branding | Fox Sports 920 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | August 31, 1947; 78 years ago (1947-08-31) (as WEXT at 1430) |
Former call signs | WEXT (1947–1950) |
Former frequencies | 1430 kHz (1947–1950) |
Call sign meaning | Mil-WOKY, phonetically pronounced like Milwaukee |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 63917 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 42°58′32.05″N88°3′56.32″W / 42.9755694°N 88.0656444°W /42.9755694; -88.0656444 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | fsr920 |
WOKY (920kHz, "Fox Sports 920") is acommercialAM radio station inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, owned byiHeartMedia, Inc. The station airs asports radio format, featuring programs fromFox Sports Radio, includingDan Patrick andColin Cowherd. WOKY's studios and offices, which became the home of all iHeart Milwaukee stations in 2000 after a building expansion, are on West Howard Avenue inGreenfield.
By day, WOKY is powered at 5,000 watts. To protect other stations on920 AM from interference, it reduces power at night to 1,000 watts. It uses adirectional antenna with a four-tower array. Thetransmitter site is behind the studios in Greenfield.[2] WOKY broadcasts usingHD Radio technology.[3]
The history of WOKY can be traced back to WEXT, a 1,000-wattdaytimer radio station at 1430 kHz in Milwaukee.[4] It was founded by what would become theBartell Group: Lee, David, Gerald, and Rosa Bartell (later Evans) which began operations on August 31, 1947. WEXT, the Milwaukee market's fifth radio station, did fairly well with a broadcast schedule that included popular music and ethnic programming, including apolka music show hosted by local radio legend John Reddy. Gerald Bartell and Rosa Bartell met Ralph Evans II while the three worked at the student radio station of theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison. Gerald and Rosa worked on programming and Evans was an electrical engineering student.
In the wake of WEXT's success, the Bartell family applied for full-time broadcast operations, and the result was a move down the dial to AM 920 in September 1950 and a newcall sign, WOKY.[5] (The 1430 frequency was reassigned in 1951 toWBEV inBeaver Dam, Wisconsin, 50 miles northwest of Milwaukee.) WOKY initially aired afull-service variety format similar to WEXT's, including popular music shows and programs oriented toward housewives and children.
Over time, contemporary music became the primary component of WOKY's schedule, with disc jockeys choosing the songs they played based on theBillboard andCash Box best-seller charts and on local record sales. WOKY soon became Milwaukee's secondTop 40 music station after WRIT (nowWJOI).
WOKY served as the city's premier Top 40 station during most of the 1960s and 1970s. It was known for much of that time as the "Mighty 92." Along with Chicago Top 40 giantsWLS andWCFL, the Mighty 92 was also a favorite of teenagers in WesternMichigan who picked up the signal from acrossLake Michigan.
Popular disc jockeys on WOKY, during the Top 40 years, included Bob White, "Mad Man" Michaels, "Lucky" Logan, Mitch Michael, Sam Hale, Ron Riley (later with WLS Chicago), Bob Barry, Carl Como, Paul Christy, Michael Lee Scott, Jim Brown, Pat McKay, Jack McCoy, Ronnie Knight, Johnny Dark, Craig Roberts, Jack Lee, Robb Edwards, Gary Price, Gene Johnson, Jon "Rock 'n Roll" Anthony,Big Ron O'Brien, Barney Pip (later with WCFL Chicago) andBob Collins (later with Chicago's full-service giantWGN). A popular station catchphrase during the early 1970s was "WOKY Plays Favorites". WOKY is also noteworthy for being the first station in Milwaukee to broadcast traffic reports from a helicopter, courtesy of air personality Art Zander and his feature "The Safer Route".[6]
As FM stations became the choice for radio listeners looking for contemporary music, WOKY shifted to anadult standards format in early-1982. It became a full-timeaffiliate ofAl Ham'sMusic of Your Life format, based inConnecticut.
To keep up with demographic trends, WOKY tweaked the format over the years, gradually shifting to amiddle of the road-oldies hybrid that mixed 1950s–1970s pop hits with classic and currentadult contemporary music, with artists such asFrank Sinatra,Neil Diamond andThe Carpenters being mainstays of the format. Starting in 2005, WOKY began programming oldies all day on Fridays, complete with the station's old jingles and other elements. For many years, WOKY was a success in the ratings, though many of its listeners were older than the demographics that many advertisers actively seek. Starting in 1993, the station was known for pioneering marathons ofChristmas music beginning onThanksgiving Day and continuing through the holiday season.
In 1997, WOKY and co-ownedWMIL-FM were bought for $40 million byClear Channel Communications, the forerunner of iHeartMedia.[7]
WOKY was briefly the Milwaukee outlet forDelilah in aburn off move aftersister station WLTQ (nowWRNW) converted to aclassic rock format (Delilah was later heard in Milwaukee onWMYX-FM). WOKY also carriedMilwaukee Panthers basketball game broadcasts from 2003 to 2007 when the team moved toWISN. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball games can be heard on WOKY.
On January 2, 2007, after concluding its Christmas holiday programming, WOKY came back with a new approach: an oldies format emphasizing hit songs from the 1960s and 1970s. The "Mighty 92" name returned full-time, as did many of the classicjingles the station played in its Top 40 heyday. On nights and weekends, the station usedDial Global's satellite-delivered "Oldies Channel" (nowKool Gold fromWestwood One). With the new format, WOKY did not flip to all-Christmas music in 2007. Instead, like sister stationWRIT-FM, WOKY played a few Christmas tunes every hour.
On September 18, 2008, after playing "Hello, Goodbye" byThe Beatles, the station changed toclassic country music as "The Wolf".[8] The format was already being heard on sister station 106.1 WMIL-FM'sHD Radio subchannel. The subchannel version had beenautomated but when it debuted on AM 920, it featured several of WOKY's airstaff.[9] The Wolf was sub-branded asMIL-WOKY, Milwaukee's Country Connection.
On December 1, 2011, the station announced it would become the Milwaukee home ofNASCAR radio coverage from all threeNASCAR radio networks and theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network for theIndianapolis 500 andBrickyard 400. NASCAR moved to WOKY fromESPN Radio outletWAUK, which days before announced the removal of all auto racing programming to focus on solely on traditional sports. In September 2012, WOKY also added nationally broadcast college football andNFL from theWestwood One Network, including "TheNFL on Westwood One."
On January 2, 2013, Clear Channel Milwaukee announced that WOKY would drop classic country and adopt asports radio format on January 7.[10] (In reality the branding launched on January 5 during the station's broadcasts of Wild Card Weekend games from Dial Global.) Branded as "The Big 920," the new WOKY schedule became a near-simulcast of itsMadison sister station,WTSO ("The Big 1070"), featuring Wisconsin-based local sports shows hosted by Brian Posick, Mike Heller,Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas. Also heard were national shows featuringJay Mohr,The Dan Patrick Show, andNBC Sports Radio, along with live event broadcasts that have been airing previously on WOKY, notably football,NASCAR, and theMilwaukee Panthers.[11] The move made WOKY the third English-language all-sports station in the Milwaukee market, joiningWAUK,WSSP, along with news/talk-formattedWTMJ's commitment to evening sports talk and play by play coverage ofMilwaukee Brewers baseball andGreen Bay Packersfootball.
On December 2, 2013, Learfield Sports and the University of Wisconsin–Madison announced that WOKY would become the Milwaukee station forWisconsin Badgers broadcasts, replacing longtime affiliate WTMJ, effectively making the team exclusive to iHeartMedia in the two largest cities in Wisconsin, with iHeart'sWIBA-AM-FM in Madison acting as theflagship stations of the Badgers. As part of the deal, WOKY will air all Badgers sports broadcasts. Football andmen's basketball are simulcast with WRIT-FM due to WOKY's weak nighttime signal.[12]
In 2018, Milwaukee got two FM sports stations. On November 1,WKTI (94.5 FM), owned byGood Karma Brands, became "ESPN 94.5 Milwaukee." Four weeks later on November 27, iHeart flippedWRNW from Top 40 to sports radio as97.3 The Game. All of WOKY's local programming was moved to 97.3 FM, with 920 AM mostly carrying Fox Sports Radio's daily lineup.[13]
In 2018, WOKY acquired the rights to theMilwaukee Admirals. The team had previously been heard on sports talk rivalWSSP 1250 AM (then known as “105.7 The Fan”).
The station became known as "Fox Sports 920" on November 18, 2024, as the station dropped its remaining local programming from WTSO for all-national content.[14]
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