New, Musician-Run FM Station Plans Music Radio Revival

A group led by two nationally known musicians has been awarded a contract to operate the Milwaukee Public Schools' FM station, WYMS-FM (88.9), and is developing a format to support musicians and "restore creativity to music radio."

The non-profit group, Radio For Milwaukee, was founded by Peter Buffett, national recording artist and producer and son of investor Warren Buffett; Grammy Award winner Joe Puerta, founding member of Ambrosia and Bruce Hornsby and the Range; and Todd Broadie, former marketing director of Narada Records.

"Radio generally doesn't support musicians and plays the same artists and songs over and over," Buffett said. "With radio industry people calling good songs 'too good for radio,' you know there's got to be a better way."

The lead consultant for the programming design and re-launch of WYMS is radio veteran Mike Henry, CEO of Colorado-based Paragon Media Strategies. Henry is also a partner in Media Mechanics with Paul Marszalek and Ben Manilla, who are also consulting for the station.

"The opportunity to create a new radio station for Milwaukee is exciting, and the ability to do it without typical radio boundaries and creative handcuffs is unbelievable," Henry said.

"I've been waiting for years for the chance to start a new type of radio station from scratch," Henry said. "We're starting with a blank canvas, so the results will be surprising, colorful and groundbreaking. The new WYMS will not be your father's public radio station."

[Source: Radio Ink]