The over-the-air signal for WZTI-AM (1290), the Milwaukee oldies station known as Fonz MKE, has been silent since historic flooding hit the Milwaukee area in August — and may not return.
Northpine.com, a news site that follows the local broadcasting industry in the upper Midwest, reported Sept. 1 that Fonz MKE had notified the Federal Communications Commission that its signal left the air Aug. 10 because of flooding. The office for the station’s owner, Milwaukee Radio Alliance, is in Menomonee Falls; Fonz MKE’s transmitter is in Franklin.
The station has continued streaming its oldies programming online at fonzmke.com and on its mobile app.
On Aug. 14, Fonz MKE alluded to the broadcasting-signal issues in a Facebook post, urging listeners who were having trouble picking up the station on the AM dial to stream it instead.
According to Northpine.com, Fonz MKE’s FCC filing states that if the station is unable to return to the air by Sept. 9, it will file a formal request for special temporary authority to remain silent.
FONZ MKE’s broadcasting dilemma is just the latest challenge for Milwaukee Radio Alliance. On Aug. 25, the alliance, a partnership between All-Pro Broadcasting and Times-Shamrock, reported that it was selling two other Milwaukee stations, WLDB-FM (93.3) and WLUM-FM (102.1) to K-Love Inc., the Tennessee-based Christian radio network owned by nonprofit Educational Media Foundation.
Management at 102.1 FM confirmed the next day that the station would lose its alternative-rock format “in about a month’s time.” Meanwhile, B93.3, traditionally the first Milwaukee radio station to flip to all-Christmas music during the holidays, abruptly went all Yule, all the time on Aug. 29, posting on Facebook: “Enjoy the Christmas music — now — until the end!”
Milwaukee Radio Alliance’s other Milwaukee station — contemporary country station Froggy MKE, airing on 100.3 and 107.3 FM — could go dark before its first anniversary on the air, according to country radio news site Country Aircheck. The stations launched on Nov. 7, 2024.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee oldies radio station Fonz MKE knocked off the air, still streaming online
Reporting by Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
