WGBW

History

The station had been on the air since October 29, 1951, licensed to Two Rivers, Wisconsin and serving the Manitowoc area, most notably under the WTRW call sign. In September 2006, the station was assigned the WGBW call sign by the FCC, part of an effort by station ownership to move the station from the Two Rivers/Manitowoc area to the larger Green Bay radio market. After four years of applications and amendments, the FCC granted WGBW a construction permit in August 2008 to move the station's city of license from Two Rivers to Denmark, Wisconsin, and to increase its daytime and nighttime broadcast power. On September 14, 2011, WGBW relaunched with its new 10,000 watt day/500 watt night signal from its new transmitter site in Denmark, Wisconsin. The station changed owners effective January 17, 2023.

For several years, WGBW aired a satellite-fed oldies music format; the station had carried Dial Global's "Kool Gold" service until October 15, 2008, when it moved to Citadel Media's "The True Oldies Channel". The station also carried top-of-the-hour newscasts from ABC News (it had carried CNN Radio and NBC Radio News newscasts prior to January 2010). WGBW has also featured broadcasts of Denmark Vikings high school sporting events.

On January 2, 2013, WGBW dropped its oldies format and became a full-time affiliate of ESPN Radio, replacing WDUZ as the Green Bay market's ESPN affiliate. Though the move meant the loss of its programming on the FM signal WDUZ provided (at 107.5 FM), the move to WGBW gave ESPN Radio live clearance of its full daily sports talk schedule in Green Bay for the first time, including some shows that WDUZ preempted in favor of local talk programming (among them Mike and Mike in the Morning and The Herd with Colin Cowherd).

On April 3, 2013, WGBW switched back to True Oldies and ended its ESPN Radio affiliation, blaming a crowded market in the Green Bay area for sports talk in leaving the format after only three months. ESPN has yet to re-launch a radio affiliate in the Green Bay market, as of Spring 2023. Programming of oldies continued until the station was sold in January 2023.

On September 23, 2022, it was announced that Civic Media would acquire WGBW and translator W250CV, along with sister station WLAK and its translator, W230DA. The purchase, at a price of $937,000, was consummated on December 29, 2022.

On January 18, 2023, WGBW changed its format from oldies to progressive talk.

On August 1, 2025, the station switched back to oldies and is debuting a live, local morning show and other DJs and show hosts throughout the day.

References

References

1. [https://www.scribd.com/doc/100111211/WGBW-1590-KHz-Denmark-WI "WGBW AM 1590 to begin broadcast out of Denmark,"] from ''Denmark News'', August 18, 2011 (via Scribd.com)
2. "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
3. (August 21, 2008). "Application Search Details (BMJP-20051031AEH)". FCC Media Bureau.
4. (January 2, 2013). "Format Changes". Your Midwest Media.
5. [http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130101/GPG03/301010181/WGBW-AM-picks-up-ESPN-sports-programming?nclick_check=1 "WGBW-AM picks up ESPN sports programming,"] from ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'', December 31, 2012
6. "Civic Media Acquires Green Bay/Appleton Pair; Launches Two More Liberal Talkers Across Wisconsin".
7. [https://radioinsight.com/headlines/247536/civic-media-expands-liberal-talk-programming-to-green-bay/ Civic Media Expands Liberal Talk Programming to Green Bay] Radioinsight - January 18, 2023