WKKV-FM (100.7

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

), also known as ''V-100.7'', is an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

owned by

iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

serving the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

area. The station broadcasts with an ERP of 50 kW and is licensed to

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

. Its studios are located in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield The playlist of ''V-100.7'' consists of primarily current hip-hop and R&B, but airs slower R&B and classic soul songs on its ''

Quiet Storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

'' program in the weekday late night hours. At 50,000 watts, WKKV's signal is one of the strongest in the area, and can travel over

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

into the state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. V-100.7 can be heard reliably as far west as

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, north to

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populatio ...

, south into the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

suburbs, and beyond depending on conditions. Due to its tower lying in close proximity to the open waters of Lake Michigan, both its analog and digital signal can periodically travel with local quality in excess of 120 miles to the east along the Michigan shoreline without interference, this is most common in the summer months when warm air temperatures and the cool lake waters create favorable conditions for

tropospheric propagation Tropospheric propagation describes electromagnetic propagation in relation to the troposphere. The service area from a VHF or UHF radio transmitter extends to just beyond the optical horizon, at which point signals start to rapidly reduce in st ...

. WKKV is home to the annual "Jam 4 Peace" concert.

History

WRJN-FM (1948-1969)

The original

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

were WRJN-FM, shared with its then-sister station. WRJN-FM began broadcasting August 26, 1948. It was licensed to Racine Broadcasting Corporation and owned by the publishers of the ''

Racine Journal Times The ''Racine Journal Times'' (since 1972 officially styled ''The Journal Times'') is an American daily newspaper published in Racine, Wisconsin. The paper serves the entire Racine County area. History The ''Journal Times'' traces its roots to t ...

''. In early 1969, the owner of another Racine station, WRAC, purchased WRJN-FM for $60,000.

WRAC-FM (1969-1970)

A few months after the sale, the station became WRAC-FM.

Top 40 (1970-1986)

In December 1970, WRAC-FM flipped to a rock-based

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 ...

format with the WRKR call sign, primarily targeting

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...

and the southern part of

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

. They were known at various times as ''"The Rocker 100 FM"'', ''"Hot 100"'' and ''"Hitradio 100"''. WRKR gradually started targeting the whole Milwaukee market. At one time, WRKR was the Milwaukee-area affiliate of ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...

'' (which was also later carried by then-rival WKTI after it added the show in 1982).

Rhythmic (1986-1987)

Due to heavy

competition, WRKR began adding light R&B music around 1986, and for less than a year were called ''"Heartbeat 101"'' (WHBT-FM). WHBT-FM was the first "

rhythmic adult contemporary Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adult ...

" station in the country, 10 years before pioneer WAMG-FM flipped to the format. The WRKR call sign was reassigned by the FCC to a

Kalamazoo, MI Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

station about that time, where it remains today.

New age (1987-1991)

In September 1987, the station became

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...

-formatted WBZN-FM (''Breezin' 100.7'').

Urban (1991-present)

The station flipped to

Urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

on June 6, 1991, becoming WKKV-FM (''V-100 FM''). After many years, the "

Doug Banks Calvin Douglas Banks Jr. (June 9, 1958 – April 11, 2016) was an American radio personality and host of The Doug Banks Radio Show. Career highlights The Philadelphia-born, Detroit-raised Banks began his radio career broadcasting on his high sch ...

Morning Show" ended in December 2007, and the station replaced him with

Steve Harvey Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American television host, producer, actor, and comedian. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', '' Celebrity Family Feud,'' the Miss U ...

. After six years, Harvey was dropped in August 2013, and WKKV-FM became a charter affiliate of the New York-based '' Breakfast Club'' distributed in-house by iHeartRadio.

HD Radio

On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that WKKV's HD2 subchannel will carry a format focusing on

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

. In the summer of 2009, the "Hallelujah" format was replaced by "All My Jams," an Adult Urban Contemporary format available through Clear Channel's

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

application. On December 15, 2011, Clear Channel began airing the

progressive talk Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independe ...

programming of

WXXM WXXM (92.1 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and serving the Madison metropolitan area. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, and broadcasts an adult hits radio format, switching to Christm ...

(92.1) from Sun Prairie/

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

on WKKV's HD3 subchannel, giving the Milwaukee market its first station in the format, albeit with no programming originating locally from Milwaukee. After WXXM ended that format in November 2016, WKKV-HD2 began to serve as an FM HD repeater of sports station

WOKY WOKY (920 AM, "The Big 920") is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a sports format affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. Its studios and offices, which became the ...

(920). It again switched on November 30, 2018 with a move to soft adult contemporary, branded as "The Breeze"; the move of WOKY's local sports programming to WRNW's analog FM/HD1 subchannel made it all but redundant.Upper Midwest Broadcasting
/ref>

References

External links

V100.7 website
* {{coord, 42.805, N, 88.048, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title African-American history of Wisconsin KKV Urban contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Wisconsin IHeartMedia radio stations