Western Wis. Station Goes Classic Country (Updated)

A Magnum Communications station in western Wisconsin has started the new year with a format flip from Classic Hits to Classic Country.

W267CO/101.7 (Sparta) and WBOG/1460 (Tomah) are now “Bog Country 101.3” with a playlist running from the 1980s to the early 2000s. “Bog” refers to the numerous cranberry bogs in the area.

Robin Jon Olson will host mornings, with Mike Olson in afternoons and John Tesh’s syndicated show in the evenings.

“After two years focused on the sales and production side of radio, I’m excited about adding back to my duties being on the air. Hard to believe I played those ’80s Country songs as current hits, and now I get to play them again. A lot of great Country music came out in the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s,” Olson said in a news release.

The format also includes local news from Craig Otto, the Wisconsin Radio Network, and WestwoodOne’s hourly national newscast.

WBOG’s previous format, most recently known as “Kool,” originally launched on 96.1 in 1992 and moved to 94.5 in 1997. The format then moved to 1460 in 2003, and what was originally an Oldies playlist evolved to Classic Hits over the years.

W267CO signed on last summer. It transmits with 250 Watts from midway between Sparta and Tomah, while WBOG transmits with 1kW daytime only from Tomah.

Locally, Magnum also owns Classic Rocker WTMB/94.5 (Tomah) and Hot Adult Contemporary station “Mix 96” (WXYM/96.1 Tomah and W297CT/107.3 La Crosse.)

“Bog Country” competes with Sparta-Tomah Broadcasting’s “Cow 97” (WCOW-FM/97.1 Sparta-Tomah-La Crosse), which is the heritage Country outlet in the region.

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A brief history of the Tomah radio stations, according to FCC records and NorthPine archives:

1960: WTMB/1460 signs on, owned by Tomah-Mauston Broadcasting
1965: WTMB-FM/98.9 signs on
1984: 98.9 sold to VCY America, becomes WVCX
1990: WZFR/94.5 signs on (FM Atlas says it was called “The Zephyr”)
1992: WBOG/96.1 signs on as “Berry 96” Oldies using a class A facility
1994: 94.5 becomes WUSK Country
1997: 96.1 upgrades to class C2, WUSK Country moves to 96.1 as “US96” and WBOG Oldies moves to 94.5
2000: 96.1 becomes WXYM “Mix 96” Hot AC
2003: WBOG Oldies moves to 1460 (replacing Nostalgia), 94.5 becomes WTMB Country
2007: 94.5 switches to Classic Rock
2019: W267CO/101.3 signs on as a WBOG translator
2020: 1460/101.3 switches to Classic Country