Civic Media has closed on its purchase of Oldies 1590 WGBW Denmark/97.9 W250CV Green Bay WI and flipped the station to its statewide Liberal News/Talk programming.
The station will carry the company’s daily programming including UpNorthNews Radio with Pat Kreitlow, The Todd Allbaugh Show, As Goes Wisconsin, and The Devil’s Advocates. Weekends will include the local music “Max Ink Radio” show with the station planning live music performances from the CityDeck in Green Bay in the summer.
Civic Media agreed to purchase WGBW along with 1520 WLAK/93.9 W230DA New Holstein WI from
Mark Heller’s Metro North Communications last September for $937,000. WLAK has applied to change call letters to WVXN and relocate W230DA closer to Appleton with a move to 96.5.
Civic Media is thrilled to announce its expansion to Green Bay with the purchase and relaunch of WGBW, 97.9 FM and 1590 AM. The station will transition from its prior oldies format to news and talk programming that covers issues local to Green Bay, the Fox Valley, and the state of Wisconsin.
“Our goal is to bring honest, engaging and fun dialogue to every corner of Wisconsin,” said Sage Weil, CEO of Civic Media. “Adding WGBW to our family of stations helps us cover a very important part of our state.”
“The new WGBW studio is located at 401 N. Washington St in the CityDeck Landing building, on the river near the Nitschke Bridge,” Weil said. “We are excited to be located in the heart of Green Bay and be part of the redevelopment happening in the neighborhood.”
In addition to the news and talk programming, WGBW will program around local music with Max Ink Radio on the weekends, and plans include live music broadcasts from the CityDeck during the summer.
“We believe radio has a crucial role to play in helping local communities stay connected,” said Weil, “but we aim to meet listeners wherever they are. All of our stations are available to stream online via connected cars, phones, and smart speakers, while our shows are available immediately after broadcast on popular podcasting platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.”
Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality broadcast and digital hometown radio with a focus on local, regional, and state issues, covering the stories that are most relevant to the communities we serve. We believe radio plays a crucial role in our local communities, so we broadcast quality local news, local sports, and open, honest commentary that advances the understanding and engagement of our audience.
