WLUM Loudly Going Out In Style
• The clock continues to slowly tick down to zero for legendary Alternative WLUM (FM 102/1)/Milwaukee, as its sale — along with AC sister WLDB (B93.3) — from Milwaukee Radio Alliance to Christian broadcaster K-Love, Inc. will soon close.
Not content to just run out the clock and let FM102/1 slowly peter out on autopilot, VP of Programming Michelle Rutkowski and her dedicated team have made the conscious decision to basically let anarchy rule — hence, the monthlong “Homecoming” theme. A quick glance at this ambitious schedule posted to WLUM’s Facebook page shows a different theme each day for the remainder of the month — until the station goes dark. “Listen over the next few weeks as we say farewell to FM102/1 with music, laughter and old friends,” the post notes.
The action kicked off today with “Hot 102 Day,” a tribute to the station’s Top 40 past, and continues for the next several weeks with a bunch of fun theme days, like: “NO Red Hot Chili Peppers” and “ONLY Red Hot Chili Peppers,” etc. We are told that these themes will run daily from 9 to 5 — outside those hours listen as a bunch of your favorite former FM102/1 personalities from the past 19 years will be dropping in!
“It was important to me, as we’re saying goodbye, to celebrate the music and the people that built the foundations of what eventually became FM102/1,” Rutkowski tells RAMP. “I wanted to give something back to Milwaukee, by providing an opportunity to relieve some of their favorite memories one last time.” She added, “The support we’ve received for doing this has been overwhelming — a powerful reminder of the magic of local radio.”
