WIAL (94.1 FM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

in the Eau Claire area of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, with its studio/offices located in

Altoona, Wisconsin Altoona is a city in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,292 at the 2020 census with an estimated population in 2021 of 8,817. The city is a railroad terminal on the Union Pacific Railroad. History The settlement o ...

. Its transmitter is located in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

History

The station began in 1948 as an easy listening station with the call letters WEAU-FM. In 1959, the callsign was switched to WIAL, similar to "The Wonderful WAIL" (WAYL, now

KXXR KXXR (93.7 FM) is an active rock/mainstream rock radio station broadcasting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media, which also owns KQRS-FM. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. Its studios ...

) in Minneapolis. On November 1, 1982, WIAL switched formats to become

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

, in the wake of the transition of pop/rock formats from AM to FM stations and debuted the name "I-94" after

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

which runs along the south and west side of Eau Claire. Right when 1986 rolled along, the station upgraded its format to

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

to compete against WBIZ-FM. It currently airs a Hot Adult Contemporary format, with Tom Stryker mornings, Sue Kelly middays, and Jesse afternoons. WIAL was sold to Midwest Family Communications in 1991 along with sister WEAQ-AM. In 1993 Midwest Family purchased WECL-FM. Then the stations were sold to Central Communications (consisting of WAXX-FM & WAYY-AM) in 1996 and moved to the Central studios in Altoona, WI. The five stations, along with the "then" new sister station WDRK-FM, were sold to Maverick Media, LLC, in 2003. In 2013, Mid-West Family Broadcasting Inc re-purchased WIAL (along with WEAQ-AM). WIAL switched to a

Hot Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

format in March 2003, and unveiled its current logo soon after. In 2005, the station shifted to a mainstream

format. On August 17, 2012, the station returned to a

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

format. WIAL and its Eau Claire sister stations, along with Maverick Media's

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

stations, were sold to Mid-West Family Broadcasting for $15.5 million. The purchase of the Eau Claire stations was consummated on October 1, 2013, while the Rockford station purchases were consummated on June 1, 2014. Effective March 29, 2021, WIAL changed its city of license from Eau Claire to Elk Mound.

Previous logos

References

External links

IAL Ial or Yale ( cy, Iâl) was a commote of medieval Wales within the cantref of Maelor in the Kingdom of Powys. When the Kingdom was divided in 1160, Maelor became part of the Princely realm of Powys Fadog (Lower Powys or Madog's Powys), and belo ...

Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1982 1982 establishments in Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-radio-station-stub