WMSE 91.7 FM

A non-commercial FM radio station operating at 91.7 MHz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, affiliated with the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). The station broadcasts an eclectic music format programmed by volunteer DJs and has maintained an independent, non-corporate identity since 1981. WMSE is active in presenting live music events and community programming in the Milwaukee area. The station's institutional history extends to July 22, 1922, when a broadcasting license was jointly issued to the School of Engineering of Milwaukee and The Wisconsin News, a Hearst Corporation-owned daily newspaper, under the call letters WIAO. The station initially shared the 360-meter (833 kHz) band with three other Milwaukee broadcasters — WAAK, WCAY, and WHAD — requiring time-sharing arrangements. WIAO first broadcast on October 23, 1922, from the school's Marshall Street building with 100 watts, using a student-built transmitter. In subsequent years, the station underwent multiple frequency changes, call sign changes from WIAO to WSOE and onward, and shifts in sole institutional ownership as The Wisconsin News separated from the arrangement. By 1924, the station had relocated to a new frequency and continued under MSOE's stewardship. After decades of evolution, the station emerged in its modern form as WMSE in 1981, committed to an eclectic format that deliberately resists mainstream commercial conventions. Today it functions as a significant independent voice in Milwaukee's music and arts community.