WOKY
 |
|
| City | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Branding | The Big 920 |
| Slogan | Milwaukee's Sports Station |
| Frequency | 920 AM kHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | August 31, 1947 |
| Format | Sports Talk |
| Power | 5,000 watts (day) 1,000 watts (night) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 63917 |
| Callsign meaning | "MIL-WOKY" |
| Former callsigns | WEXT (1947-1950) |
| Former frequencies | 1430 kHz (1947-1950) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (Clear Channel Broadcasting Licences, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | WISN, WKKV, WMIL, WRIT, WRNW |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | thebig920.com |
WOKY (AM920 "The Big 920") is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, radio station The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. and currently broadcasts a sports talk format. Its studios, which became the home of all of Milwaukee's iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications) stations in 2000 after a building expansion, are located in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield; the transmitter site is behind the studios.
The history of WOKY can be traced back to WEXT (1430 AM), a 1,000-watt, daytime-only radio station in Milwaukee founded by Lee, David, Gerald, and Rosa Bartell (later Evans) which began operations on August 31, 1947. WEXT, the Milwaukee market's fifth radio station, did fairly well with a broadcast schedule that included popular music and ethnic programming, including a polka show hosted by local radio legend John Reddy. Gerald Bartell and Rosa Bartell met Ralph Evans II while the three worked at the University of Wisconsin, Madison's student station. Gerald and Rosa worked on programming, and Evans was an electrical engineering student.
The Bartell family had modest success with other stations in Wisconsin markets as LaCrosse and Sturgeon Bay. They also had a station near San Diego, California (El Cajon).
In the wake of WEXT's success, the Bartell family applied for 24-hour broadcast operations, and the result was a move down the dial to 920 AM and a new call sign, WOKY ( the 1430 frequency was reassigned to WBEV in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin 50 miles northwest of Milwaukee in 1951). The new station launched in September 1950. WOKY initially aired a full-service variety format similar to WEXT's, including popular music shows and programs oriented toward housewives and children. In time, pop music became the primary component of WOKY's schedule, with disc jockeys choosing the songs they played based on the Billboard and Cash Box best-seller charts and on local record sales. WOKY soon became Milwaukee's second official Top 40 music station after WRIT.
...
Wikipedia