Radio WLDB-FM (B93.3)

WLDB is a commercial radio station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, broadcasting on 93.3 FM. Owned and operated by the Milwaukee Radio Alliance, a partnership between Shamrock Communications and All Pro Broadcasting, WLDB airs an adult contemporary/Hot AC music format branded as "B93.3".

The original call letters were WQFM, beginning in 1958. The station played big band music and ethnic programming before a short lived automated Top 40 format. For many years, starting in 1973, this was Milwaukee's dominant Album Oriented Rock station. They competed with the eclectic free-form WZMF until 1979 and WLPX until 1983.

"93QFM" was the top rock station in town for over a decade, but faced its stiffest competition in 1986 when WBCS dropped their country music format and became hard-rocking Lazer 103. The new station and its Bob and Brian morning show dominated Milwaukee's rock radio scene from the start. WQFM tried to compete, as they watched some of their on-air talents depart for the new station. They shifted to a more heavy metal/hard rock direction, similar to that of Lazer 103, then switched to a more "adult" rock feel in 1992, then became heavier again. In addition, the station had a seemingly endless succession of morning shows over the years, including an ill-fated attempt at airing Wisconsin native Jonathon Brandmeier's show from WLUP in Chicago, which backfired when WLUP shuffled their on-air lineup, moved Brandmeier to afternoons, putting Kevin Matthews in morning drive. At one point, WQFM put together one short-lived morning show that consisted of people who had never done radio, which included Lori Minetti, the hostess of the Wisconsin Lottery's Money Game television show.

After years of poor and hasty decisions and falling ratings, the owners of WQFM pulled the plug in March, 1996 and flipped the station to smooth jazz as WJZI.

WJZI's smooth jazz format never dominated the local ratings, but was still somewhat competitive. In the winter of 2005, the station tied for 9th place with WJMR (Jammin' 98.3) among listeners 25 to 54 but rose to 7th place in the winter of 2006.

On March 5, 2007, WJZI began a transition in its format, gearing the station towards a slightly younger female demographic. This involved adding more adult contemporary music. De-emphasizing the smooth jazz music that was a staple of the station, WJZI changed its branding to "Smooth 93.3," as it slowly began to make the transition to full soft rock.

By June 18, 2007, the transition was complete, with revamped on-air imaging, station logo and website ("The All New Smooth 93.3"). A new morning show would also be added, featuring Milwaukee radio veteran Ellen Stout and station program director Stan Atkinson; that change was seen as a counter to the morning show changes on competing AC station WKTI.

As a response to WJZI's flip to AC, competing station WFMR changed its format from classical music to smooth jazz on June 26, one week after WJZI's move. That station changed their call letters to the similar WJZX. On July 30, WJZI adopted new positioning, as they changed their call letters to WLDB, with the new moniker "B93.3", matching the imaging used by a popular station with the same format in Philadelphia, WBEB (B101) . The station's weather forecasts are prepared and delivered by WDJT-TV (Channel 58)'s First Alert Weather staff.

The WLDB call letters were first used in 1955 on 1490 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The station was owned and operated by the husband and wife team Leroy and Dorothy Bremmer, hence WLDB. A 1955 RCA Magazine article and other brief history is available at mcnally.cc

In June of 2009, WLDB tweaked its format from AC to a mix of AC/Hot AC, playing music from the 80s, 90s, and the 00s. This type of format was on WKTI before it flipped to a "Jack-Like" format and changed the calls to WLWK-FM in November of 2008. WLDB's tweak positions itself to compete with WMYX-FM, although "The Mix" plays more new music than old.