As expected Magnum Media rebranded 92.1 WVTY Racine from “The Lake” to “The Shore” this morning.

The Variety Hits format that launched last month stays in place with the name change. As reported since the format change last month, the “Lake” name was still being kept active by previous user Scripps and this ends the dispute between the two companies over the use of the intellectual property. No word if there was any financial settlement over the use.

The following memo was sent out by owner Dave Magnum to staffers regarding the name change:

I’m pleased to report that we have completed the necessary steps and our nickname will change at midnight to “92.1 THE SHORE.” Our new website address will be 921theshore.com. We’ve been weaving in “shore” references on the air for the past ten days. It’s a natural fit because our new transmitting and antenna systems are delivering signal from Racine up and down the Lake Michigan shoreline from Milwaukee to the Chicago suburbs. We’re also pleased with our coverage to the west. Our upgrades exceeded our expectations.

Our new logo is attached. Everyone’s first comment seems to include the word “fun.” I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

As you already know, the FCC approved a call sign change to WVTY (Variety). Our positioning statement to accentuate our deep Adult Hits music library is “Where Variety Matters.” It’s been cool over the past weeks getting feedback that 92.1 has an upbeat vibe. Just this morning Mike Sommers was telling me about more tunes he’s adding to the rotation.

Thanks for all of your collective efforts over the past month as we worked through this out-of-the-blue format change. Radio gets in your blood because it’s so dynamic. That’s why our listeners are so passionate about it too. Challenge creates new opportunity. Please embrace it, as I do, recognizing what a privilege it is to be a part of radio.

Regards, Dave

Update 6/18: A brand change from “92.1 The Lake” to “The Shore” will be coming to Magnum Broadcasting’s Variety Hits WVTY Racine/Milwaukee.

Magnum has filed a Wisconsin state trademark application for “The Shore” with a listed start date of Monday, June 29. 921TheShore.com was registered for the station and a Twitter account has been reserved.

Magnum also filed state trademark claims for “92.1 The Lake” and the station’s logo on June 3 despite the prior usage of the name and logo by Scripps.

Original Report 6/3: This past Friday saw a pair of format changes in the Milwaukee market as Scripps flipped Variety Hits “94.5 The Lake” WLWK-FM to Country and hours later Magnum Media did the reverse as Country “Q92” WMKQ Racine picked up the format, branding and logo discarded by WLWK-FM earlier that day.

Despite the early belief by some that Scripps gave the Lake intellectual property to Magnum that is not the case as Duane Dudek reports that Scripps has their lawyers involved. While not stating whether a Cease & Desist Order has been issued, Scripps has apparently kept their use of the Lake branding alive on 94.5 HD-3.

Magnum does appear to have a Plan B ready to go. On Saturday they applied for new WVTY call letters for WMKQ and registered multiple domains including FMVariety.com and Variety921.com. Magnum also registered a few domains related to the Lake’s former 94.5 frequency for potential brand confusion in Lake945.com and TheLake945.com.

As of this writing 92.1 continues to identify itself as “92.1 The Lake“.