Classical music is returning to Milwaukee radio, 15 years after the last local station carrying the format dropped it in favor of smooth jazz.
But the local airwaves will lose a news-talk station in the process.
Starting May 20, WHAD-FM (90.7), the Wisconsin Public Radio station licensed to the Milwaukee area, will switch from its news-talk format known as The Ideas Network to WPR Music, a classical music format with jazz, world and folk music tossed in the mix during the weekend.
The switch is part of WPR’s plan to replace the two current formats on its 38 member stations — The Ideas Network and NPR News & Music — with WPR News and WPR Music. Half of the WPR stations will get the news format, featuring a mix of National Public Radio programs, syndicated fare and WPR news-talk shows; the other, including WHAD, will switch to all-music, with shows hosted by Wisconsin on-air…
