Milwaukee Radio: WZTI Flips To 'True Oldies'

In its second format tweak in nine months, WZTI 1290 AM / W262CJ 100.3 T-FM flipped to "True Oldies" Tuesday.

W262CJ 100.3 FM (99 watts)

The Milwaukee Radio Alliance station formerly known as "Martini Radio", switched to rhythmic oldies in December, now is focusing its playlist on songs from the late 1950s through the late '70s. Goodbye, disco-era Bee Gees and Madonna; hello, Elvis, the Beach Boys and Motown.

The "rhythmic oldies" format, branded as "The Party," "wasn't gaining any traction," WZTI promotions director John Schroeder said in explaining the switch, adding the station thought there was a void in the Milwaukee radio market for music from the first decades of the rock era.

The current No. 1 station in the market is Classic Hits WRIT 95.7 FM, which brands itself as Oldies 95.7 and had a 10.2 share of the overall radio audience in the July ratings period. Classic rock WKLH 96.5 FM, recently branded as "Hometown Rock," ranked fourth with a 6.4 share.

WZTI-AM, by comparison, had a 0.6 share.

JS Online reports The first song played in the station's "True Oldies" era was Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll." The last song for "The Party"? "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)" by Journey.