WLDB

Infobox Radio station |
| name = WLDB| airdate = 1958| frequency = 93.3 (MHz)| city = Milwaukee, Wisconsin| area = Milwaukee, Wisconsin| format = AC| owner = Milwaukee Radio Alliance| erp = 16,000 Watts| branding = "The All-New B93.3"| slogan = "Soft Rock...Less Talk"| class = B| website = http://www.b933fm.com/ | callsign_meaning = W
Bill Lynett (co-owner)
Willie Davis (co-owner)
B93.3|

WLDB is a commercial radio station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, broadcasting on 93.3 FM. Owned and operated by the Milwaukee Radio Alliance, a partnership between Shamrock Communications and All Pro Broadcasting, WLDB airs an adult contemporary music format branded as "B93.3".

On July 30, 2007, the station's call letters changed from WJZI to WLDB. [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=640910] [http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2007/07/30/daily23.html]

History

The original call letters were WQFM. For many years, starting in 1973, this was Milwaukee's dominant Album Oriented Rock station. They competed with the eclectic free-form WZMF until 1979 and WLPX until 1983.

"93QFM" was the top rock station in town for over a decade, but faced its stiffest competition in 1986 when WBCS dropped their country music format and became hard-rocking Lazer 103. The new station and its Bob and Brian morning show dominated Milwaukee's rock radio scene from the start. WQFM tried to compete, as they watched some of their on-air talents depart for the new station. They shifted to a more heavy metal/hard rock direction, similar to that of Lazer 103, then switched to a more "adult" rock feel in 1992, then became heavier again. In addition, the station had a seemingly endless succession of morning shows over the years, including an ill-fated attempt at airing Wisconsin native Jonathon Brandmeier's show from WLUP in Chicago, which backfired when WLUP shuffled their on-air lineup, moved Brandmeier to afternoons, putting Kevin Matthews in morning drive. At one point, WQFM put together one short-lived morning show that consisted of people who had never done radio, which included Lori Minetti, the hostess of the Wisconsin Lottery's "Money Game" television show.

After years of poor and hasty decisions and falling ratings, the owners of WQFM pulled the plug in March, 1996 and flipped the station to smooth jazz as WJZI.

WJZI's smooth jazz format never dominated the local ratings, but was still somewhat competitive. In the winter of 2005, the station tied for 9th place with WJMR (Jammin' 98.3) among listeners 25 to 54 but rose to 7th place in the winter of 2006.

On March 5, 2007, WJZI began a transition in its format, gearing the station towards a slightly younger female demographic. This involved adding more adult contemporary music. De-emphasizing the smooth jazz music that was a staple of the station, WJZI changed its branding to "Smooth 93.3," as it slowly began to make the transition to full soft rock.

By June 18, 2007, the transition was complete, with revamped on-air imaging, station logo and website ("The All New Smooth 93.3"). A new morning show would also be added, featuring Milwaukee radio veteran Ellen Stout and station program director Stan Atkinson; that change was seen as a counter to the morning show changes on competing AC station WKTI.

As a response to WJZI's flip to AC, competing station WFMR changed its format from classical music to smooth jazz on June 26, one week after WJZI's move. That station changed their call letters to the similar WJZX. On July 30, WJZI adopted new positioning, as they changed their call letters to WLDB, with the new moniker "B93.3", matching the imaging used by a popular station with the same format in Philadelphia, WBEB (B101) [http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=59974&Callsign=WLDB] . Jim Brickman is currently the station's imaging voice.

Logo Gallery

External links

* [http://www.b933fm.com/ WLDB official website]
*fmq|WLDB
*fml|WLDB
*FMARB|WLDB
* [http://www.stapor.com/a_BillboardQFM.jpgImage of classic WQFM billboard] [http://www.stapor.com/]
*"Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" articles from [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=572989 March 2007] and [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=621140 June 2007] on WJZI's change to "Smooth 93.3"