WZEE
| City of license | Madison, Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | South Central Wisconsin |
| Branding | Z104 |
| Slogan | Madison's #1 Hit Music Station |
| Frequency |
104.1 MHz FM (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | 1949 |
| Format |
104.1: Top 40 Mainstream 104.1 HD2: Classical Highlights |
| ERP | 12,000 watts |
| HAAT | 306 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 41980 |
| Callsign meaning | "ZEE" = the sound of the letter "Z" |
| Former callsigns |
WKOW-FM (1949-early 1950s) WMFM (early 1950s-1975) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (Capstar TX LLC) |
| Sister stations | WIBA (AM), WIBA-FM, WMAD, WTSO, WXXM |
| Webcast |
Z104 live stream Classical Highlights live stream |
| Website | z104fm.com |
WZEE (104.1 MHz FM) is a radio station licensed to Madison, Wisconsin and serving South Central Wisconsin. Known on-air as "Z104," the station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts a Mainstream Top 40/CHR music format.
Station history
The station originally launched in 1948 as WKOW-FM, sharing ownership with WKOW-AM (the current WTSO). New ownership in the early 1950s re-called the station to WMFM. In the mid-1970s, the station converted from classical music to its current Top 40 format, adopting the WZEE call sign and "Z104" on-air brand as well.
In its early years, "Z104" ran an automated top 40 format XT40 from Drake-Chenault programming, but live-and-local content would be added to the station over the years. 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's Milwaukee classic rock sister station WQBW in 2008, with the show remaining on WZEE in a simulcast. When WQBW became top 40 station WRNW in 2010, "Connie & Fish" became "Connie & Curtis" after "Fish" Calloway left Clear Channel to work for the competitor 931 Jamz (WJQM). On September 4, 2012, "Connie & Curtis" (who had left for WLHT in West Michigan, ironically a competitor of WZEE sister WSNX) would be replaced on both WZEE and WRNW by the nationally syndicated Elvis Duran and the Morning Show. All of the current "Z104" schedule features voicetracked or syndicated programming (including Elvis Duran and fellow Premiere Networks show On Air with Ryan Seacrest), the station has no local programming at all. All of the music 24 hours a day 7 days a week comes from the iHeartRadio Premium Choice Service.
HD Radio
WZEE broadcasts a HD radio signal, with its HD2 subchannel originally carrying an urban contemporary/hip-hop format to compliment the main "Z104" format; that format was replaced in Fall 2013 by a simulcast of "Classical Highlights," a classical music channel heard on Clear Channel's IHeartRadio platform. WZEE briefly aired a simulcast of sister sports station WTSO on its HD3 subchannel in 2012.
External links
- Z104's official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WZEE
- Radio-Locator information on WZEE
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WZEE
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Coordinates: 43°03′04″N 89°29′13″W / 43.051°N 89.487°W