WHQG

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WHQG
Broadcast area	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Branding	"102.9 The Hog"
Slogan	"Everything That Rocks!"
Frequency	102.9 (MHz)
Format	Album-oriented rock
ERP	50,000 watts
Class	B
Callsign meaning	HQG = HOG(A reference on Harley-Davidson motorcycles enthusiasts and the company's HQ in Milwaukee)
Owner	Saga Communications
Website	www.1029thehog.com

WHQG (102.9 FM) (aka "The Hog") is a hard rock radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are owned by Saga Communications, along with sisters WKLH, WJMR-FM, WFMR and WJYI. On air, they are known as "102.9 The Hog". Interestingly, The Hog is also a reference to fans and riders of Harley-Davidson motorcycles (which has its headquarters in Milwaukee), as evidenced by the station's 'inspired' logo (as seen below). This logo would be dropped in 2005.

For many years, this station was WLZR, aka "Lazer 103". WLZR went on the air with a hard rock format in 1987. Lazer 103 dominated the highly-rated album-oriented rock station of the day, WQFM, so much that WQFM switched to smooth jazz in 1996. Their longtime morning show of Bob and Brian has been a dominant force in Milwaukee radio since debuting in the late 1980s.

Even with the show's success, during the station's last few years, the aging audience of Bob and Brian's show did not listen to the station's younger-skewing active rock format the rest of the day. Ratings dropped drastically after 10:00. In 2004, WLTQ suddenly dropped their light adult contemporary format and switched to 80s-oriented classic rock as "97.3 The Brew. The station was an immediate success, and took away many of WLZR's listeners after Bob and Brian signed off for the day. Not to mention that The Brew also took listeners away from WLZR's successful classic rock sister, WKLH. It was decided to rebuild the station around its popular morning show, and aim for an older demographic turned off by Lazer 103's current musical offerings. On August 15, 2005, WLZR started stunting with wide-ranging music and teasers. They even played songs with the word "Jack" in them (in reference to the rapidly growing Jack FM format). The next day, just after 10:00, Bob and Brian signed off their morning show by signing on a new radio station -- "102.9 The Hog". The station reimaged itself, dropped much of the younger-skewing rock music from bands like Slipknot, Mudvayne and Linkin Park, added more rock from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and widely expanded the playlist. The new slogan was "Everything That Rocks", and serves as a harder rocking counterpart to its classic rock sister, WKLH. The results were immediate. "The Hog" took WQBW's spot as the top-rated station in the market, stealing back listeners as "The Brew" had not really updated its playlist much in the previous year.

The 102.9 frequency started out as WRIT-FM, eventually simulcasting its sister station's Top 40 format. Then, when the FCC mandated splitting up AM-FM simulcasts, they became WFWO (For Women Only), and played light adult contemporary music. Finally, they were country music-formatted WBCS for many years before becoming WLZR.

Original WHQG logo (with Christmas theme), December 2005. The logo was changed due to its resemblance to Harley-Davidson's logo.

Previous WLZR logo

The Hog's mascot hog was named "Dr. Squealgood" in a contest which is spinoff of a popular Mötley Crüe song: "Dr. Feelgood".

[edit] External links

• 102.9 The Hog
• Milwaukee radio: a retrospective
• Bob and Brian's official website
• "Lazer 103 to change music format" (JSonline.com)
• "The Hog offers no sentiment for Lazer" (JSonline.com)
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WHQG