Nearly three decades of Commitment to Milwaukee

For the past 28 years, Milwaukee has been a focal point of Willie Davis' life.  He still owns a residence in Milwaukee and maintains a strong presence through ownership of radio stations 1290 WMCS, 102.1 WLUM-FM, and B93.3 WLBD-FM (formerly Smooth Jazz 93.3 WJZI-FM).

Here's how the story begins... While Davis was a star defensive end at Grambling University, the Cleveland Browns of the National Football league drafted him.  After two seasons, the legendary Vince Lombardi lured him to the Green Bay Packers.  Davis played 10 seasons without ever missing a game and as defensive captain for Vince Lombard's Packers, he helped lead the team to several championship seasons eventually earning induction into the Packers and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

Soon after retirement, the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company offered him a beer distributionship in Watts, California, where he became the first African American to own a major beer distributorship in Los Angeles.  Shortly thereafter, Davis entered the broadcasting industry.

In 1977, he purchased KACE-FM, an urban station in Los Angeles, which was housed on the second floor of the beer distributorship.  Bitten by the broadcasting bug, on February 17, 1979, Davis bought Milwaukee stations WAWA-AM (1590 on the dial) and WAWA-FM (102.1).  He split the two stations and gave the FM station new call letters - WLUM "We Love U Milwaukee".  In 1986, WAWA-AM moved down the dial to 1290 and WMVP was born.  In 1996, WMVP's call letters were replaced by WMCS - "Milwaukee's Community Station".  In 1997 the Milwaukee Radio Alliance was formed.  Mr. Davis entered into partnership with Bill Lynett a broadcaster and newspaper magnate.

In an interview with Urban Network magazine, Davis said, "From the time I purchased the radio station to this day, my desire was to have a station that was committed to the Milwaukee urban community where we could focus on issues and concerns pertinent to the community." 

On April 12, 2004, WMCS enhanced that focus with an expanded talk format.  This change allows WMCS to weigh in on more matters that impact our listeners.