WSAU AM 550

A Class B AM station broadcasting a conservative talk radio format at 550 kHz, licensed to Wausau, Wisconsin, and owned by Midwest Communications. The signal is simultaneously carried on FM sister station WSAU-FM at 99.9 MHz in Stevens Point and on FM translator W236CO at 95.1 in Marshfield. The station transmits at 15,000 watts by day and 20,000 watts at night using a directional four-tower antenna array, with the transmitter located along County Highway X in Kronenwetter. Its history begins in 1948 as WLIN in Merrill, Wisconsin, under ownership of U.S. Representative Alvin E. O'Konski. The station relocated to Wausau in 1952 and acquired the 550 kHz frequency in 1958. Midwest Communications has owned it since 1996. Weekday programming opens with a two-hour local block, Wisconsin Morning News, followed by nationally syndicated talk programs including The Sean Hannity Show, The Mark Levin Show, and Coast to Coast AM. The station serves as the Wausau area's radio home for Milwaukee Brewers baseball, Green Bay Packers football, Milwaukee Bucks basketball, and University of Wisconsin Badgers athletics. Weekend specialty programming includes The WSAU Polka Party and Somewhere in Time with Art Bell.