City Minocqua, Wisconsin Branding Kool 95.9 First air date March 1975 (as WWMH) | Broadcast area [1] Frequency 95.9 MHz | |
Slogan The Northwoods' Greatest Hits! | ||
WMQA-FM, "Kool 95.9," is an American FM radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Minocqua, Wisconsin, the station began broadcasting in 1975.
The station features news from FOX Radio Networks and programming from Westwood One. WMQA-FM uses Westwood One's Classic Hits/Pop format outside of the live and local morning show.
With a 22,000-watt signal, the station covers a portion of northwestern Wisconsin and some of the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, including the Wisconsin cities of Minocqua, Rhinelander, Lac du Flambeau, Tomahawk, and Eagle River.
From its sign-on in 1975 until 1992, the station operated under the calls WWMH (We're Woodruff, Minocqua [and] Hazelhurst), with a mixture of MOR and country music. An AM sister station, 1570 WFBZ (later WMYM and WMQA-AM, now WLKD) was added in 1981. As WWMH, the station was an affiliate of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 in the mid-1980s.
1992 brought a change in calls to the current WMQA-FM and a power increase from 5,000 to 25,000 watts. At this time, the station changed formats to an adult contemporary station under the moniker "FM 96". As an AC station, the station went by the names Soft Rock 96 and Northern Lites 96 WMQA.
On August 29, 2008 at 10AM, the station dropped the AC format and "Northern Lites" name to become "Oldies 95.9." The station's competition in the Oldies format is WRJO-FM in Eagle River. WRJO (when local and not airing a different Classic Hits/Pop satellite feed from Westwood One) is more 1950s and 1960s oriented and WMQA's Westwood One programming leans more toward 1960s and 1970s (and some early 1980s) with a more upbeat and personality presentation.