WDUZ and WDUZ-FM are radio stations serving the Green Bay, Wisconsin area, simulcasting a Sports Talk format as "Sports Radio 107.5 and 1400 The Fan." The stations were owned by Clear Channel Communications, though they were still operated by their previous owner, Cumulus Media, who swapped ownership of both stations to Clear Channel in exchange for 2 Ohio stations in early 2009. In August 2013, Clear Channel reached a deal to sell its Green Bay stations back to Cumulus. The sale was consummated on December 31, 2013 at a price of $17,636,643. WDUZ's studios and AM transmitter are located on Victoria Street in Green Bay, while the FM transmitter is located near Shirley in the Town of Glenmore.
WDUZ History
WDUZ went on the air in 1947 under the ownership of Green Bay Broadcasting Company, formed by veteran Wisconsin broadcaster Ben A. Laird. The station's format until the 1990s consisted of an eclectic mix of music; during the late 1950s and much of the 1960s, early morning music consisted of a mix of polka and country music, easy listening and middle-of-the-road music during the daytime, and rock and roll music from 7PM to midnight. News content on WDUZ included Paul Harvey'sABC Radio commentaries; Harvey had credited Ben Laird for suggesting to ABC Radio that Harvey's show should air nationwide on the network. By the mid-1990s, WDUZ would morph into a mixed bag of adult contemporary music, news, sports, and talk radio, eventually going to full-time sports talk in the latter half of the 1990s. Cumulus Broadcasting purchased WDUZ and its sister station WQLH in the fall of 1999. In the fall of 2003, Cumulus moved the WDUZ call letters and sports format to its station at 107.5 FM and turned 1400 AM into a talk radio station, a format that featured nationally syndicated talk programming such as shows from G. Gordon Liddy and Bill O'Reilly. WNGB's ratings performance proved dismal, and in September 2004, Cumulus returned the WDUZ calls and sports talk format to 1400 AM, in a full simulcast with 107.5.
WDUZ-FM History
Programming on the 107.5 FM frequency dates back to as far as 1993, when it was a beautiful music/easy listening station under the WEZR call letters. Around the mid-1990s, the format changed to smooth jazz while still under the WEZR call sign. Cumulus Broadcasting purchased the station in March 1998 and immediately dropped the jazz format. After a weekend of stunting with Orson Welles' "The War of the Worlds", WEZR became "The Planet 107-5," a mix of adult contemporary and eclectic rock. "The Planet" format lasted only one year. On April 1, 1999, Cumulus flipped WEZR to a modern rock simulcast as "97 and 107 The Fox." With that format flip, 107.5 would take the call letters WXWX. The "Fox" simulcast lasted until October 2003, when Cumulus began simulcasting WDUZ's sports talk programming on 107.5.
"The Fan" programming
The WDUZ schedule emphasizes local sports talk programming, including "The Fan Nation Morning Show," "FanLine" in late mornings, and "Sportsline" with Harry Sydney, Chris Havel, and Marques Eversoll in late afternoons. "The Fan" also featured some national talk and live event programming from ESPN Radio until dropping the network on January 2, 2013 and affiliating with CBS Sports Radio, which is distributed by Cumulus Media and whose schedule includes The Jim Rome Show, a longtime part of WDUZ's schedule. "The Fan" served as radio home of UW-Green Bay Phoenix men's and women's' basketball until the 2013-2014 season. They are the Green Bay radio home for Wisconsin Badgers athletics and Marquette Basketball. The Fan also carries NFL games through Westwood One. From 2000 to 2004, both frequencies served as Green Bay's flagship stations for Green Bay Packers football. During that time, Milwaukee Brewers baseball and Milwaukee Bucks basketball also aired on "The Fan." The Packers, Brewers, and Bucks would all move over to Midwest Communications' sports-talker WNFL in 2005; the Packers and Brewers now air on its sister station, WTAQ.
