Update 9/10: Midwest has officially announced that Active Rock “93 Rock” 93.5 WRQE New London/Appleton, WI/93.1 W226BD Green Bay will flip to Classic Country “93.5 Duke-FM” WGEE-FM on Friday, September 12.

Midwest Communications, Inc. announces a new music format to debut on Friday September 12th in the Green Bay/Appleton, WI markets. DUKE FM will be unveiled on 93.5 and 93.1 fm, “Playing the Legends of Country.”

Resurrecting the call letters WGEE FM, which were dominant for much of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, DUKE FM features the biggest songs from the principal artists of Country all through the decades that proceeded the turn of the century. DUKE FM will feature artists and songs that have not been played on the radio recently. Midwest Communications Vice President of Programming, Jeff McCarthy reported, “We’ve been tracking a divide in Country for over a year now and as Y100 (WNCY) continues to provide the most contemporary Country music, we realized that many pronounced artists were vanishing from the format, such as; Alabama, George Strait, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks and many more. There’s an abundant volume of superstar artists to generate a unique brand of Country on the radio. Furthermore, it will allow DUKE FM to play an extensive variety of songs from the legends, instead of just one or two.”

DUKE FM will debut without disc jockeys. DUKE FM Program Director Dan Stone commented, “DUKE FM is a music intensive radio station designed to focus on the Country hits. That’s not to say there won’t be personality. You will be entertained. DUKE FM will also be involved in local events including concerts and more.”

Original Report 9/8: Midwest Communications has announced that Active Rock “93 Rock” 93.5 WRQE New London/Appleton, WI/93.1 W226BD Green Bay will drop its format following a farewell event on Thursday, September 11.

Midwest has registered 935DukeFM.com for the station. Midwest launched a identically branded Classic Country station in Terre Haute, IN earlier this year. The Duke name is a tribute to Midwest President/CEO Duke Wright.

WRQE’s Active Rock format was never able to put a dent against Woodward Communications duo of “Razor 94.7” WZOR Green Bay and 105.7 WAPL Appleton. “93 Rock” has progressively dropped in the Appleton ratings from a 4.3 in Spring 2012 to 3.2 in Spring 2013 to a 1.8 share in Spring 2014. A Classic Country format would flank sister Country “Y100” 100.3 WNCY-FM.

Along with the changes coming to WRQE, sister Sports 1440 WNFL has dropped its local morning show hosted by John Maino and Nick Vitrano.