Midwest Communications
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| Private | |
| Industry | Radio |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Wausau, Wisconsin, United States |
| Products | Radio |
| Owner | Duke Wright, President and CEO |
| Website | http://www.mwcradio.com |
Midwest Communications is a Wausau, Wisconsin-based radio broadcasting company. It owns 72 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. The company is a family-owned business and is headed by Duke Wright.
Midwest Communications began in Wausau, Wisconsin, with WRIG, Inc. and the acquisition by the D.E. Wright family of a 1400 kHz, 250 watt AM facility from the Wisconsin Valley Television Corporation. The call letters WRIG (for Wright) were assigned and on August 1, 1958, top forty-formatted WRIG signed on the air. Power was increased to 1,000 watts in 1961 and WRIG-FM (now WDEZ) signed on in 1964.
Midwest started station WROE in Appleton/Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1971. In 1975 Midwest purchased WBAY-AM and FM, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Due to FCC rules at that time, WROE was sold. The Green Bay call letters were changed to WGEE-AM (now WTAQ-AM) and WIXX-FM. The 1980s saw the acquisition by Midwest of KIOA/KMGK, Des Moines, Iowa, WKKQ/WTBX, Hibbing, Minnesota and KLMS/KFMQ, Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition WRIG moved to 1390 kHz and increased power to 5000 watts day and night.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed Midwest to consolidate the Green Bay-Appleton/Oshkosh and Wausau-Stevens Point markets. The consolidation brought about the sale of the Des Moines, Lincoln and Hibbing stations and the acquisitions of WROE, WOZZ, WLTM (now WZBY), WNCY and WNFL in Green Bay-Appleton/Oshkosh and WSAU, WIFC, WOFM and WIZD in Wausau-Stevens Point. In addition four stations WTVB, WNWN AM/FM and WFAT were acquired in the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Michigan market.
In the beginning of the 2000s, Midwest acquired WHBL, WWJR (now WHBZ) and WBFM IN Sheboygan, Wisconsin and WHTC and WYVN in Holland, Michigan as well as the Duluth Minnesota/Superior Wisconsin market stations KDAL AM/FM, KRBR, WDSM, KTCO and KXTP (now WGEE).
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Wikipedia