Understanding WISN's Power Change

Why does WISN reduce power at night?

The FCC mandates that WISN reduce its broadcast power from 50,000 watts to 10,000 watts from sundown to sun-up. Why? It’s not some evil government  plot; it’s because due to atmospheric conditions at night, AM radio signals can skip for hundreds and hundreds of miles. If WISN didn’t reduce power at sundown, its signal would “bleed” over the signals of  other stations in surrounding states. That would be a mess, and that’s why the FCC mandates the reduction in power. If you want to know more  about the physics of the whole thing, link here: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/why-am-radio-stations-must-reduce-power-change-operations-or-cease-broadcasting-night

When WISN reduces power, its signal comes in clearly throughout the vast  majority of the five-county Metro Milwaukee area. However, in outlying areas, the signal can get a bit scratchy. This is also more noticeable in late fall and winter, when sundown is sooner and days get shorter.  Here is the “power-down” schedule for WISN in the winter months:

November: 4:30pm CST
December: 4:15pm CST
January: 4:45pm CST
February: 5:30pm CST

If you are having trouble, for whatever reason, listening to WISN Radio over-the-air, we invite you to try two other ways of hearing our  identical programming in real time. On your computer, link to WISN’s  live audio stream HERE. Or, if you want to listen to WISN on your smartphone, go to www.iheartradio.com, and download the app for your specific device -- iPhone, iPad,  BlackBerry, Android, etc. We appreciate your support, and the time you  spend listening to WISN.


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