Oldies radio station at 1290 AM and 100.3 FM changes its name to FONZ FM

Milwaukee radio just got a thumb's up, although it might not sound a lot different.

Milwaukee Radio Alliance LLC switched the format for its station at WZTI-AM (1290) and 100.3 FM, along with 107.3 FM in Racine and 93.3 HD2, to what it's calling FONZ FM.

According to a press release issued at the moment the station changed at 5 p.m. Tuesday, FONZ FM's playlist will focus on music from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, aiming at Milwaukee listeners ages 35 to 64.

The station's new "name" plays "on the iconic Milwaukee symbol of cool" — a reference, without actually saying so, to Fonzie, the character Henry Winkler played on "Happy Days," the 1970s sitcom set in a fictional Milwaukee in the 1950s and early '60s, and memorialized with his own statue on the downtown RiverWalk.

"FONZ FM will feature hit music that is hugely popular with Milwaukee listeners, but has been largely forgotten by radio stations," Milwaukee Radio Alliance general manager Steve Kosbau said in a statement.

When informed about the radio format name on Twitter, Winkler responded, "That’s what I’m talk’n about."

Until the switch, the Milwaukee station was carrying a syndicated version of Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel format, with much of the same music touted for FONZ FM.

An early listen to the "new" oldies format Tuesday didn't yield much of a difference in the music lineup. Songs included: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens; "25 or 6 to 4," Chicago; "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," the Rolling Stones; "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)," Rupert Holmes; "My Cherie Amour," Stevie Wonder; "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)," Four Seasons; and "I'll Take You There," Staple Singers.