WMBZ | |
City: | West Bend, Wisconsin |
Country: | US |
Area: | Northern Milwaukee suburbs |
Branding: | 92.5 Buzz Country |
Airdate: | (as WBKV-FM) |
Format: | Country |
Erp: | 17,500 watts |
Haat: | 164m (538feet) |
Class: | B |
Facility Id: | 71542 |
Licensing Authority: | FCC |
Coordinates: | 43.429°N -88.301°W |
Callsign Meaning: | "Buzz" |
Affiliations: | Westwood One |
Owner: | David Magnum |
Licensee: | Magnum Communications, Inc. |
Sister Stations: | WRYU, WVTY |
WMBZ (92.5 MHz "Buzz Country 92.5") is a commercial FM radio station in West Bend, Wisconsin, serving Milwaukee's northern suburbs. WMBZ and sister station WVTY, which serves Milwaukee's southern suburbs, are co-programmed and air a country music radio format. They are owned by David Magnum, through licensee Magnum Communications, Inc., along with sister WRYU in West Bend.
WMBZ is a Class B FM station, with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 18,000 watts. The transmitter tower is on Wisconsin Highway 33 at Aurora Road in Addison.Radio-Locator.com/WMBZ
The station signed on the air in September 1958 as WBKV-FM, co-owned with WBKV (1470 AM). WBKV-FM was an easy listening station, playing quarter-hour sweeps of soft instrumentals and mellow vocals. WBKV-FM was later known as "V92" and featured an automated mix of adult contemporary and country music.
On September 16, 1988, the station picked up the WBWI-FM call sign. WBWI-FM flipped to its current country format in late 1989/early 1990. For a few years it was known as "92 Country Rock" then "92 Country" before it was renamed to "Pure Country". In 2004, the station rebranded to simply "92.5 WBWI".
On June 25, 2014, Bliss Communications announced that it would sell WBWI-FM and WBKV, along with WRJN and WVTY (then WEZY) in Racine. The buyer was David Magnum's Magnum Communications, Inc. Bliss had owned WBWI and WBKV since 1970 (when WBWI was still WBKV-FM).[1] The sale, at a price of $2.25 million, was consummated on October 31, 2014.
On February 9, 2015, WBWI-FM rebranded as "Buzz Country".[2] On February 18, 2015, WBWI-FM’s callsign was changed to WMBZ. WMBZ and co-owned 92.1 WVTY air separate commercials but have the same DJs and play the same country music.