WHAD

Delafield, Wisconsin
Broadcast area	Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin
Frequency	90.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	Ideas 90.7, WHAD
Programming
Format	Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network HD 2: Classical music
Affiliations	NPR American Public Media Public Radio Exchange BBC World Service
Ownership
Owner	Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
History
First air date	May 30, 1948; 75 years ago (May 30, 1948)
Call sign meaning	WHA Delafield[1]
Technical information
Facility ID	63091
Class	B
ERP	72,000 watts
HAAT	208 meters (682 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	43°1′42.00″N 88°23′32.00″W / 43.0283333°N 88.3922222°W / 43.0283333; -88.3922222
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wpr.org

WHAD (90.7 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported public radio station. It is licensed to Delafield, Wisconsin, and serves sections of Greater Milwaukee and the Madison metropolitan area. Part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), it airs WPR's "Ideas Network", consisting of news and talk programming. The studios are on the seventh floor of 310 West Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee.

WHAD is a Class B FM station with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 72,000 watts. It is grandfathered at this high power level, having gone on the air before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set a limit of 50,000 watts for most stations in Southwest Wisconsin. The transmitter is on Government Hill, off Reservoir Road near Wisconsin Highway 83 in Delafield.^[2] The site is roughly equidistant from both Milwaukee and Madison, so WHAD can serve listeners in both cities. WHAD broadcasts using HD Radio technology. The HD2 digital subchannel carries WPR's Classical Music Network.

History

The station signed on the air on May 30, 1948; 75 years ago (May 30, 1948). The current-day WHAD is of no relation to the WHAD in Milwaukee which broadcast in the 1920s and early 1930s under the ownership of Marquette University. That station merged in 1934 into what is now the current-day WISN 1130 AM. WHAD was the second FM station of Wisconsin Educational Radio, forerunner of WPR. It is one of the oldest FM outlets in the state.

The station's transmitter is located in western Waukesha County just south of Delafield, almost halfway between Milwaukee and Madison. The tower was placed there to provide Ideas Network coverage to some eastern portions of Madison since the Ideas Network flagship station WHA 970 AM originally was a daytimer, required to sign off at sunset. While WHA stays on the air 24 hours a day since 1987, it must reduce its signal to all-but-unlistenable levels at sunset. WHAD thus still provides nighttime Ideas Network coverage to eastern Madison. The call sign takes the WPR Network flagship station's call letters, WHA, and adds a D for the community of Delafield where the transmitter is located.

WHAD once operated an FM translator at 107.9 in Madison to provide Ideas Network service to downtown and eastern Madison at night. This translator is now counted as part of the WHA license. WHAD also served as the de facto WPR Ideas outlet for the Janesville-Beloit until the sign on of WHA translator W262DD on 100.3 FM. The WHAD signal also reaches into Lake and McHenry County, Illinois, in Chicago's northern suburbs, complementing WEPS' coverage of this area.

WHAD's transmitter is located further south and west than most of Milwaukee's other major FM stations so it can also be heard in Madison. In contrast, most of Milwaukee's FM stations transmit from various towers across Milwaukee's north side). As a result, WHAD's signal is marginal in the northern part of the market. Sister stations WRST in Oshkosh and WSHS in Sheboygan provide Ideas Network service to the northern part of the nine-county Milwaukee market area.