WMAD

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WMAD

City of license	Sauk City, Wisconsin
Broadcast area	Madison, Wisconsin
Branding	"96.3 Star Country"
Slogan	"The Biggest Hits, The Biggest Stars"
Frequency	(96.3 MHz)
Format	Country Music
ERP	5.1 kilowatts
Class	B1
Callsign meaning	"MADison" (Also for previous format, “MAD Radio 96.3“)
Former callsigns	WMLI (1996-2002), WCJZ (2002-2003)
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Website	963starcountry.com

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

[edit] History

The 96.3 FM frequency in Madison has had a varied format history. As early as the late 1990s, the station played 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).

WCJZ and its smooth jazz format never made any inroads among Madison radio listeners, which lead management to make another change in format. At 12 Noon on December 31, 2003, WCJZ began 6 hours stunting with a ticking clock and synthisized 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, Clear Channel replaced the alternative rock format 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 play list (highlighted by the “Sunday Morning Resurrection” program) and the addition of the syndicated morning program 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 made yet another change.

“MAD Radio 96.3” came to an end on the night of December 22, 2005,[3] after which a few hours of stunting with “goodbye” songs occurred (ending with the Jimi Hendrix version of “The Star Spangled Banner”). On the early morning hours of December 23, 2005, WMAD changed to a new country format under the branding, “96.3 Star Country.” Gretchen Wilson’s “All Jacked Up” was the first of 10,000 songs played without interruption for commercials or DJ’s on “Star Country.”[4]

Clear Channel aggressively promoted “Star Country” in billboard and television advertising, telling fans of country music in Madison that, “Now you have a choice” (an obvious reference to the long-time country station in Madison, WWQM). The agressiveness paid off, as sampling among listeners boosted WMAD’s Arbitron ratings significantly, while WWQM saw a bit of a decrease. Clear Channel continued the aggressive approach by luring away the WWQM morning team of John Flint and Tammy Lee. The duo officially joined “Star Country’s” morning show in November 2006.

[edit] External links

• WMAD’s website
• FCC Database Query for WMAD