Radio and television stations from across Wisconsin were honored May 3 at the 2019 Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Awards Gala. The awards were handed out at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton with more than 390 in attendance.

Competition for this year’s awards was as strong as ever with 1,786 award entries, a new record for the contest. A total of 123 stations participated. Entries were judged by professional broadcasters outside Wisconsin.

WMSE 91.7FM is honored to have won three major radio market awards: first place in the “Promotional Announcement” category for its “Spring Drive Overnights” entry; first place in the “Station Promo” category for its “Buzz’s Garage” entry; and second place “Station Promo” category for its “Poundcake Punk Show Promo”.

“This is incredible,” stated Station General Manager Tom Crawford,  “We are a staff of only five full-time employees and constantly battling bigger stations with much bigger budgets to keep our creative free-format radio station rolling. We have DJs twenty-four hours a day, seven-days week and they are all volunteers. It’s a testament to the love and creativity that is so apparent at this station, to win these awards. I am so thankful for this recognition.”

A full list of winners is available on the WBA website. 

“Anti-established” in 1981, WMSE 91.7 FM – Frontier Radio has grown into Milwaukee’s truest and longest standing music radio institution. A financially independent department of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), WMSE – with a 24 hour free-form format representing every musical genre in one form or another - has been primarily funded by listening supporters and community partners since 1997, genuinely earning the station the motto Community-Powered Independent Radio. Founded upon the principle of educating the listening community by providing a wide selection of musical programming not heard anywhere else in the market, WMSE has been Milwaukee’s clear leader in supporting the city’s diverse community of musicians and artists, as evidenced by two locally focused music segments. Every Tuesday night at 8PM a different area band performs live in the WMSE studios on the Local/Live segment. Each weekday at 1PM also features the Local Lunchbox segment – a half-hour segment featuring only local music. WMSE was the first music station in Milwaukee to stream their broadcast live on the internet at wmse.org. We also host 4 corner events a year – The Rockabilly Chili Fundraiser, The Backyard BBQ, Art & Music and The Big Band Grandstand with Dewey Gill.