Call Letter Meanings
This hasn't been updated in years. Just keeping it online for reference.
Radio
KFIZ “K107”
KRBR Rock BR=Bear (slogan)
KXTP “Radio X”
WACD = CD106 (slogan)
WAPL W APL=Appleton (Sound/Location)
WAQE Unofficial: Whacky, Where Announcers Quit Everyday,
WATK AnTigo (location)
WATQ
WATW Ashland Tops Wisconsin, Ashland at Top of Wisconsin
WAUH Wautoma or Waushara (location)
WAUK WAUKesha (location)
WAUN W AUN = KewAUNee (location)
WAYY Note sister station WAXX
WAXX “Wax 104” (Slogan), “We’re playing the hottest tracks from our stacks of Wax!”, referring to what the material the music was recorded on.
WBCR W Beloit College Radio (School)
WBCV Big Cheese
WBDK Brown, Door, & Kewaunee Counties
WBDL Baraboo Devil’s Lake (location)???
WBEV W BEaVer Dam (Location)
WBFM “B93”
WBIZ “Z 100” (Slogan)
WBJX
WBJZ W Berlin JaZz (City/format) W Blues JaZz
WBKV West Bend Kettle Valley
WBKY BKY=Bucky (slogan)
WBOG area Cranberry Bogs
WBSD W Burlington School District (School)
WBSZ “Z93” (Slogan)
WBWI West Bend Wisconsin (location)
WBZU BZ = Buzz (slogan)
WCCN
WCCX Carroll College (school) X (Slogan)
WCFW W Chippewa Falls Wisconsin (Location)
WCJZ WC JZ=Jazz (format)
WCLB Clb=Club (slogan)
WCLO Camp Lake Oaks (original location)
WCLQ = 89Q
WCOW Cow (slogan)
WCQM 98 Q-Country
WCSW
WCUB Cub Radio (owners)
WCWC We’re Central Wisconsin’s Choice (These calls may have had something to do with the original owner’s name.)
WCWL W Clear Water Lake (Location)
WCWR = Cashton Community Wellness Radio
WDDC = Former owner Ed Kramer’s three Kids initials
WDEZ Duke’s EZ (Was Easy Listening)
WDGY W Doctor George Young
WDKM Digital Kaleidoscope of Music
WDKV
WDLB Dairy Land Broadcasting (owner)
WDMO Sister station in WGMO
WDMP W Dodgeville Mineral Point (location)
WDOR DOR=Door (location)
WDRK Wisconsin Does Rock
WDSM Duluth Superior (location)|
WDSW
WDUX once owned by WDUZ
WDUZ Duz (Does) it all… Founded in the 40s and borrowed the detergent slogan ‘D)u)z) does it all’
WDVM W Devine Mercy Radio (Meaning)
WEAQ W EAu Q=Claire (location)
WECB W Earl C. Brooker (owner)
WECL W Eau CLaire (Location), Eau Claire Lite, Elk Mound
WEGZ EaGle (Slogan)
WEKZ EZ=Easy (slogan)
WEMI Evangel Ministries (owner)
WEMP EMPire building
WEMY Evangel Ministries
WERL W Eagle River L (Location)
WERN
WEVR RiVER Falls (location)
WEXT EXTreme (slogan)
WEZY EZY=Easy (slogan)
WFAW W Fort Atkinson Wisconsin (location)
WFBZ BZ=Buzz (slogan)
WFDL Fon Du Lac (location)
WFDL – Fon du lac and Dodge county’s news Leader
WFHR William F. Huffman Radio (owner), Friendly Hometown Radio
WFMR W First FM Radio (was the first FM Station in Milwaukee)
WFON FON du Lac (location)
WFZH FZH=Fish (slogan)
WGAZ W Goodman Armstrong Creek Z (Location)
WGBW Green Bay, Wisconsin
WGEE “Gee” long “G” for Green Bay
WGEZ
WGGQ – 99Q in lower case, the gg looked like 99 (this station moved to Oshkosh (Omro) and is now 99.5 WPKR.
WGLB W Great Lake Broadcasters (original Owner), Where Gospel Lovers Belong, Unofficial: Whoooyeah! Gotta Love Bluegrass
WGLR Grant County, Lancaster Radio
WGLX Galaxy
WGMO
WGNV Wisconsin’s Good News Voice
WGTD W Gateway Technical District (School)
WHA
WHAA WHA Adams Friendship
WHAD WHA Delafield (location)
WHBL
WHBM W Harold B. McCarty (Owner)
WHBY
WHBZ BZ=Buzz (slogan)
WHDG HoDaG (a mythical creature that lives in Rhinelander)
WHDI WHA Door (location)
WHEM
WHFA Holy Family Airways (slogan)
WHHI WHA Highland (location)
WHID WHA
WHIT
WHLK LK = Lake
WHND WHA North Door County (location)
WHQG HOG
WHRC
WHRM WHA Rib Mountain (location)
WHRY W HuRleY (location)
WHSA WHA Hayward/Superior/Ashland
WHSM Hayward Spooner Minong (location)
WHTL Wisconsin’s Hometown Location (slogan)
WHWC WHA West Central (location)
WHYS
WIAL “I94” (slogan), The Whale=WIAL (Old Slogan)
WIBA WIsconsin BAdgers Broadcasting (old owners)
WIBU Wind is Being Used (station these call letter originally belonged to was wind powered at once)
WIDE
WIEC Eau Claire
WIFC Wisconsin Forward Communications
WIGM Irma and George Meyer
WIIL Wisconsin Illinois (location) WIIL=Will (slogan)
WISM WISM=WISconsin (sound), once used in Madison WISconsin Madison
WISN = Wisconsin, Wisconsin News (owner/location)
WISS Wisconsin’s Service Station
WIXK
WIXL X = Slogan
WIXX
WIZD WIZarD Communications (owner)
WIZM WIZM=Wizzem (slogan)
WJBL W Johnson Broadcasting of Ladysmith
WJJH W Jerry James Hackman (owner)
WJJO
WJJQ
WJLM
WJLW W-Jon A. De Luc-W (owner)
WJMC Official: Walter James McClarin, Unofficial: We’re Just More Country
WJMQ
WJMR JMR=Jammin’ (slogan)
WJMTJust Music and Talk
WJPG Johanna’s Press Gazette, now WNFL
WJOK JOK=Sports Jock, station was bought meaning was changed Were Jesus is Our King
WJRV WJ RiVer (Slogan)
WJQM JQM = Jamz (slogan)
WJTY JTY=Joy (slogan)
WJUB Jubilant Ministries (owner)
WJVL JVL=Janesville (location)
WJWD What Jesus Would Do
WJYI JYI=Joy (slogan)
WJZI JZI=Jazz (format)
WJZX = Jazz
WKAH
WKBH Kimball Brings Happiness. When WKBH went on the air…it was owned by a music store that specialized in Kimball pianos. The “H” was replaced by the “T” to seperate the radio station from the tv station…as many stations did back then.
WKCH Classic Hits (format)
WKEB
WKFX FX=Fox (Slogan)
WKKV V100 (slogan)
WKLH K Klassic Hits (fo
mat)
WKLJ
WKPO WK PO=Power (slogan)
WKQH KQ=Classic H=Hits (format)
WKSH WauKeSHa County
WKSZ KSZ=Kiss (Slogan)
WKTI-FM The station was to be called I-94, so call letters had to be chosen to reflect the “I.” As Jack Lee and Jonathan Green both recall, in a meeting of managers it was determined that the station would be W_ _ I … but they were having trouble filling in the middle two letters. Jack Lee, who at the time was the manager responsible for the FM, wanted the call letters WWWI. If you try saying that fast five times, you can understand why the DJs didn’t like it. Finally, one of the sales managers had a wife named Katie … as in, “KT”… as in “WKTI”… and that’s how the call letters were determined.
WKTT KTT=Cat (Slogan)
WKTY TY=Ticket (slogan)
WLBI = Tomahawk LBI = Light Broadcasting (Owner)
WLBL Land of Beautiful Lakes
WLCJ
WLDB: Lynott/Davis Broadcasting, Bee Slogan
WLDY LaDYsmith (location) World’s Largest Dump Yard (unofficial)
WLEF Lee E. Franks, the first Executive Director of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
WLFK WLF=Wolf, Slogan
WLFM W Lawrence FM (School Name)
WLFN
WLGE
WLIP William LIPman (owner)
WLJY JY=Joy (slogan)
WLKD LaKe ???
WLKD – still “the LaKe” after the WLKE calls were moved to 690 Oshkosh in the min-1980’s.
WLKE – “LucKEy 1170”
WLKE – “the LaKE”
WLKG W LaKe Geneva (location)
WLKN “LaKe” Slogan
WLMX W Lake MiX (Slogan/Location)
WLPX LP=Record
WLRK= Rock-It
WLSL
WLST
WLTQ LT=Light (format/slogan)
WLTU
WLUM We Love U Milwaukee (meaning)
WLWR
WLXR La X= Crosse River (location)
WLXS LaCrosse Schools (Owner)
WLYD WLYD=Wild (slogan)
WLZR-FM LZR=Laser (slogan)
WMAD MADison (location)
WMAM W Marionette And Menominee (location)
WMBE Maskza Brothers & Evans, Where The Music’s Best Everyday
WMCS W Milwaukee Community Station (location)
WMDC Mayville and Dodge County
WMFM Milwaukee Journal FM
WMGN MGN=Magic or Madison (slogan/location), We Make Great Noise, MG = Magic, N = Ninty-Eight
WMJB “Madison-Janesville-Beloit”
WMIL-FM see WOKY
WMIN W MIN=Minnesota
WMMA
WMMM “Triple M” (slogan) ??? Madison McFarland Middleton (just a guess)
WMLW “Mellow 94”
WMQA-FM W MinoQuA (location)
WMRH MRH=Marsh (location)
WMRH – “MaRsH area radio”
WMSE Milwaukee School of Engineering (school)
WMVM Wisconsin and Michigan’s Voice of the Master
WMYX MYX=Mix (slogan)
WMZK W Merrill Z RocK (format/location/slogan)
WMZK’s call letters were selected in 1987 in anticipation of the programming split with WJMT-AM. It was originally intended to be used as part of a slogan, “MZK-The Music FM”. In 1989, the station changed frequency to 104.1, and debuted a classic rock format. At that time the station thought that the “MZK” perception would be confused with Muzak, so it created the “Classic Rock Z104” identifier. (Steve Resnick)
WNAM W Neenah and Menasha (location)
WNBI Wisconsin’s Northland Broadcasting, Incorporated
WNCY Neenah Country Y100 (location/format/slogan) ??? New CountrY
WNFL W National Football League (note: home of the Green Bay Packers)
WNFM Nate’s FM (Nate Gotez, Old Owner)
WNGB News Green Bay
WNNO Nine Nine Oh 990 (original frequency)
WNOV Wisconsin Negro’s Own Voice (meaning)
WNRB
WNWC W NorthWestern College (school)
WNXR X=Iron River (location)
WOBT Oneida Broadcasting (owner)
WOCO W OCOnto (location)
WOFM Wausau’s Oldies FM
WOGB W Oldies Green Bay (location/format), Oshkosh-Green Bay?
WOGO
WOJB OJiBwe Tribal Nation
WOKY combine sister stations calls WMIL with WOKY and you get MILWOKY=Milwaukee
WOLX W Oldies X
WOMT Over Manitowoc Theater (original location)
WORT “wort”
WOQO
WOSH OSHkosh (location)
WOSQ
WOWN Oldies Wheeler Broadcasting
WOVM = Our Virgin Mary
WOZZ “Oz” (Slogan) such as the Wizard of Oz
WPCA
WPCK PCK = Packer (slogan)
WPDR Portage Daily Register
WPFF
WPGR
WPJP Pope John Paul
WPKG
WPKR PKR=Packer (meaning)
WPLT Plt=Planet (slogan)
WPNE W Public Radio Northeast Wisconsin (location), Public News and Education
WPRE PRairE du Chein (location)
WPVL PlattViLle (location)
WQBW The BreW(Slogan)
WQFM Quiet for Milwaukee
WQLH W Quality Light Hits (format)
WQPC W Q Parire du Chein (location)
WQRB Radio Bloomer
WQTC
WRCO Richland Center (location), Richland COunty
WRCW Wisconsin Rapids Central Wisconsin (Guess)
WRDB ReeDsBurg (location), Reedsburg Dells Baraboo
WRDN W Radio DuraNd (location)
WREN
WRFP
WRFW River Falls Wisconsin (location)
WRGW
WRGX “Radio X” (slogan)
WRHN RHieNlander
WRHS River Falls High School (school)
WRIG Rig (slogan)
From Ken Clark PD of WRIG:
WRIG comes from the WRIGht family, owners and operators of Wright’s Music Store in Wausau. The owner/CEO (Midwest Communcations) is Duke Wright, whose grandparents started the music store, and whose parents began the radio station in 1958. WRIG was the original station in the 34-station Midwest Communications group.
Before WRIG signed on in 1958, WSAU in Wausau had been operating at 1370AM. With the newer “expanded” AM band at that time (low end was extended to 540), WSAU was able to move to 550, thus allowing WRIG to begin life at 1400. The move to 1390 was completed in 1985.
WRIT-FM nostalgic calls brought back from the 60’s.
WRJC Radio Juneau County (location)
WRJF
WRJN Racine Journal-News (owner)
WRJO WRJOldies, Roger and Mary JO (Owner & Wife)
WRKR Racine Kenosha Radio, RKR=Rocker
WRKU Roger and Karen Utnehmer
WRLO Roger L. Utnehmer (Owner) could not get the calls WRLU
WRLS
WRLU Roger L. Utnehmer
WROE
WRNC
WRPN RiPoN (location)
WRPQ
WRQT “The station was originally going to be referred to as THE ROCKET,… hence WRQT. It was discoved that another radio company (somewhere) had trademarked the name THE ROCKET and refuses let any other stations use it. Instead of fighting it,… we decided to sign on as THE ROCK.”
WRRD WRRD=Word (sound)
WRST Radio Station of the Titans (Official) Rob Snyder’s Toy (Founder, Unofficial Meaning)
WRVM Wisconsin River Valley Ministries (owner)/Wisconsin’s Radio Voice of the Master
WRZC
WSAU WauSAU (location)
WSCO SCO=Score (format)
WSFQ
WSHS Sheboygan High School (school)
WSSU Superior State University, now KUWS
WSJY WS JoY (slogan)
WSLD
WSLK LK = Lake
WSPL S.P.Lee (relative of original owner)
WSPT W Steven’s PoinT (location)
WSRG Sturgeon Bay Radio Group (original Owner) guess???
WSSU = Superior State University
WSTM Serving the Master
WSUM University of Wisconsin Madison (school)
WSUP University of Wisconsin Platteville (school)
WSUW University of Wisconsin Whitewater
WSWW We Serve Western Wisconsin
WTAQ Where Tires Are Quality (calls were once used in Eau Claire)
WTCH We’re The Community Helper
WTCX CX Classic (format)
WTDA TDA=Today (slogan)
WTDY TDY=Today (slogan)
WTKM We’re The Kettle Moraine Broadcasting Company (location/owner)
WTLX TLX=Talk (format)
WTMB ToMah Broadcasting (location)
WTOS WauwaTOSa
WTRV The River
WTRW Two Rivers Wisconsin (location)
WTSO W Ten Seven O zero (frequency)
WTSW
WTTN WaTTertowN (location)
WTUX TUX (slogan) “The Tux”
WUEC W University of Wisconsin Eau Claire (School)
WUWM W University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (school)
WVBO Valley’s Best Oldies (slogan/format)
WVCF Wisconsin Voice of the Christian Family
WVCX Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth
WVCY Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth
WVFL Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth
WVRN Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth
WVRQ W ViRoQua (location)
WVSS We’re Volunteers Serving Stout
WWIB Western Wisconsin Inspirational Broadcasters
WWIS Western Wisconsin Information Station (guess)
WWJA
WWJP
WWHG Hog (slogan)
WWLC Western Wisconsin Lake County
WWMD
WWRW Wonderful Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin
WWQM Q106 Madison (slogan/location)
WWSP WW Steven’s Point (location)
WWWX X = foX slogan
WXCE Wixie (Slogan)|
WXCO
WXCX
WXER
WXPR White Pine Radio or Rhinelander
WXPW White Pine Wausau
WXSS XSS=Kiss (slogan)
WXWX foX slogan
WXYM XYM=MYX=Mix (slogan)
WXXD
WXXM XXM=MXX Mix (slogan)
WYCO “Y108” (Slogan)
WYLO = We’re WaY LOw
WYMS We’re Your Milwaukee Schools (owner/school)
WYTE Whiting (location) “White” (Slogan)
WZBY The BaY
WZEE ZEE=Z104 (slogan)
WZMF Z Menominee Falls
WZNN Zone
WZOR WZOR=Razor (sound/slogan)
Television
WACY ACe Television (Owner)
WAOW was sister station to WKOW
WAST AShland Television
WBAY Green BAY
WBIJ Wisconsin Believes In Jesus
WBUW Warner Brothers U Wisconsin
WCGV Wisconsin’s Channel for Great Viewing
WDJT David J. Torres (Weigel Executive)/WDJT stands for Debra Jackson and John Torres
WDLS calls were once used on sister AM station meaning DeLlS as in Wisconsin Dells
WEAU Eau Claire
WEUX Eau Claire
WFRV Fox River Valley
WFXS FX=FoX (network)
WGBA Green Bay Appleton, once used calls WLRE Lyle R. Evans (founder)
WHA
WHLA WHA La Crosse
WHRM WHA Rib Mountain
WHWC WHA West Central Wisconsin
WISC Wisconsin
WISN Wisconsin News
WITI Wisconsin Independent Television Inc, the original owners of WITI
WIWB Wisconsin’s WB Network
WJFW Jasper F. Williams (original owner)
WJJA WJJA stood for the owner (Joel J. Kinlow) and his wife (Arvis) … W – Joel J – Arvis
WKBT Kimball Brings Happiness, The “H” was replaced by the “T” to seperate the radio station from the tv station…as many stations did back then.
WKOW
WLAX La X Crosse
WLFE
WLUK “Lucky 11”
WMLW MiLWaukee
WMMF Fond du Lac
WMJT Milwaukee Journal Television
WMSN Madison
WMTV Madison Television
WMVS Milwaukee Vocational School (MATC)
WMVT Milwaukee Vocational School
WPNE Public News and Education
WPXE PaX (network)
WQOW sister station to WKOW
WSAW Wausau
WTAS Waukesha Tower Association (Owner)
WTPX PaX (network)
WUHF (Channel 18 ) in Milwaukee…Had a weiner dog for a mascot (Woof…Wuhf)
WVCY Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth
WVTV
WWAZ Wisconsin AZteca (America) (Network)
WWRS “Willie Roskopf Station” after the farmer who originally owned the land that the tower was built on.
WYOW sister station of WKOW
WXOW sister station of WKOW
WTMJ The Milwaukee Journal