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| Broadcast area | South Central Wisconsin |
| Frequency | 104.1MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Z104 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Top 40 (CHR) |
| Subchannels | HD2: IHeartRadio's The Standard (adult standards/golden oldies) HD3:Air1 (contemporary worship music) |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | 1949 (1949) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | American English phonetic sound of the letterZ |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 41980 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 12,000 watts |
| HAAT | 306 meters (1,004 ft) |
| Translator | HD3: 103.3 W277AE (Madison) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | |
WZEE (104.1 FM) is a radio station licensed toMadison, Wisconsin, and serving South CentralWisconsin. Known on-air as "Z104", the station is owned and operated byiHeartMedia and broadcasts atop 40 (CHR) music format.
The station was first licensed on November 1, 1949, as WFOW, owned by Earl W. Fessler. Thecall sign was changed to WMFM on July 15, 1952.[2] In 1974, the station converted fromclassical music to its currentTop 40 (CHR) format, adopting the WZEEcall sign and "Z104" on-air brand as well. During its early years, "Z104" ran an automated Top 40 format XT40 fromDrake-Chenault programming, but live-and-local content would be added to the station over the years.
In June 1987, Z104 was one of several Top 40 stations in the United States to banGeorge Michael's top-charting songI Want Your Sex entirely by the station's music director Matt Hudson. Hudson replied toThe Capital Times that the station's huge teenage audience made the recording too hot to handle, and he did not want to be responsible for putting out the message that is okay to say the title of the song, especially for the 12-year-olds who listened to Z104.
Z104 was original home to the popular morning drive-time pairing of "Connie and Fish" during the 2000s; the pair would move to Clear Channel'sMilwaukee classic rock sister station WQBW in 2008, with the show remaining on WZEE in a simulcast. When WQBW became Top 40 stationWRNW in 2010, "Connie & Fish" became "Connie & Curtis" after "Fish" Calloway left Clear Channel to work for the competitorWJQM. On September 4, 2012, "Connie & Curtis" (who had left forWLHT inWest Michigan) would be replaced on both WZEE and WRNW by the nationally syndicatedElvis Duran and the Morning Show. "Z104" schedule features voicetracked or syndicated programming (includingElvis Duran and fellowPremiere Networks showOn Air with Ryan Seacrest).
WZEE broadcasts aHD radio signal, with its HD2 subchannel originally carrying anurban contemporary/hip-hop format to complement the main "Z104" format; that format was replaced in fall 2013 by a simulcast of "Classical Highlights", a classical music channel that is heard on iHeartMedia'siHeartRadio platform. By December 2022, Classical Highlights would be replaced with "The Standard", iHeartRadio's channel devoted to music and artists of theadult standards andgolden oldies genres.
WZEE briefly aired a simulcast of sister sports stationWTSO on its HD3 subchannel in 2012.[3] The HD3 signal would be restarted by July 2021, carrying thecontemporary worship music networkAir1 and serving as the originating signal of low-power simulcast W277AE, which is owned by Air1 parentEducational Media Foundation.[4][5]
43°03′04″N89°29′13″W / 43.051°N 89.487°W /43.051; -89.487