WIBA-FM (101.5

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 h ...

) 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 radi ...

licensed to

Sauk City, Wisconsin Sauk City is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States, North America. The population was 3,518 as of the 2020 census. The first incorporated village in the state, the community was founded by Agoston Haraszthy and his business partner, R ...

and serving

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 ...

and south central

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 ...

. The station is owned and operated by

iHeartMedia 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 ...

(formerly Clear Channel Communications) and broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

music format An audio format is a medium for sound recording and reproduction. The term is applied to both the physical recording media and the recording formats of the audio content—in computer science it is often limited to the audio file format, but its w ...

on its primary

HD radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

, while its HD2 channel carries an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...

format that is simulcast to

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analo ...

translator station W265CV (100.9 FM).

Station History

Originally licensed to the city of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin b ...

(the station's

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American b ...

would be moved to Sauk City in the 2010s), WIBA-FM commenced broadcasting on October 31, 1969, simulcasting the signal of its AM sister station WIBA (1310 kHz) during the daytime, and at night switching over to a free-form mix of primarily rock, folk, and blues. The nickname “Radio Free Madison” or “RFM” was coined to distinguish the evening programming from the daytime AM feed. During the 1970s, WIBA-FM transitioned to a full time freeform format, dropping the AM simulcast, and featuring local artists through such programs as ''Television'', WIBA-FM's simulcast of the

WMTV WMTV (channel 15) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Television and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Forward Drive on Madison's southwest si ...

late-night weekend music program. In 1981 WIBA-FM overnight switched to its

format. WIBA-FM's current programming includes the

Premiere Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. ...

-syndicated '' Bob & Tom Show'', heard weekdays 6AM-10AM, and '' Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx'' in the 7PM-12AM weeknight slot. WIBA-FM also serves as Madison's FM home of

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

football and

Wisconsin Badgers football The Wisconsin Badgers football program represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the sport of American football. Wisconsin competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the W ...

and men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, in a simulcast with WIBA (AM).

HD Radio

WIBA-FM transmits a multiplexed

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

signal. The station's HD2 sidechannel launched in the mid-2000s and originally aired an all-

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

format, until converting to a commercial-free

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

format in 2007, chiefly employing announcers and alt-rock playlists from Clear Channel's national

format lab Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

but employing the former "Mad Radio" branding that previously used on two other Clear Channel Madison stations (at 92.1 FM and 96.3 FM). In Fall 2013, "Mad Radio" would be replaced by a simulcast of "Socially Sound Radio," an

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

Top 40/pop channel that emphasizes songs and artists that generate interest among

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

platforms. After iHeartRadio dropped Socially Sound in Summer 2014, 101.5-HD2 would feature a rotation of various iHeartRadio channels, among them "Roots of Rock" (1960s/1970s progressive/album rock), "My 80s" (80s pop songs), and "re-Covered Radio" (modern

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s of iconic songs). In November 2016, WIBA-FM-HD2 would convert to a simulcast of all-sports sister station WTSO (1070 AM), which already had a presence on FM since 2014 at 100.9

(W265CV). The move ensured W265CV's official status as a relay of WIBA-FM, as indicated in the FCC database. The WTSO simulcast would end on February 1, 2020, when W265CV and WIBA-FM-HD2 would convert to an

format branded as "U100.9".iHeartMedia To Launch U100.9 & 1070 The Game In Madison
Radioinsight - January 30, 2020 WIBA-FM briefly had an HD3 subchannel in 2012, simulcasting the news/talk format of WIBA (1310 kHz).

Translators

The following analog FM translator rebroadcasts the HD2 subchannel of WIBA-FM.

References

External links

WIBA-FM website
* * * {{coord, 43.056, N, 89.535, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title IBA-FM Classic rock radio stations in the United States IHeartMedia radio stations