WMAW and WCAN The 1250 AM facility went on the air as WMAW on March 24, 1948. On August 16, 1948, the 5,000-watt station became the area's affiliate of the
ABC Radio Network. In June 1952, the
call sign changed to WCAN. Station owner Lou Poller eventually started
WCAN-TV (channel 25), one of the earliest
UHF stations in the United States and an affiliate of the
CBS Television Network, before CBS itself purchased rival UHF station
WOKY-TV.
WEMP In 1955, Poller sold the 1250 AM license to the owners of WEMP (1340 AM). The new owners moved the WEMP
call sign to 1250 kHz; the station at 1340 AM, under new ownership, became WRIT and today is
WJOI. Over the years, WEMP aired a variety of formats, including
Top 40,
Country music and
adult contemporary. In January 1984, WEMP switched to
oldies, featuring personalities such as John Gardner, Dick Alpert and Ernie Bottom. During the 1990s, WEMP ran
Westwood One's
syndicated oldies format with Gardner doing a local show in morning
drive time. In August 1998, WEMP switched its format to
brokered Christian talk and teaching.
Sports radio Leading up to New Year's Day 2005, WEMP began
stunting with a loop of
Bobby Bare's "Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goalposts of Life". The
novelty song made reference to both religion (the old format) and
football (previewing a new format). AM 1250 became an
all-sports station on January 1, 2005. The new call sign, WSSP, stood for "Wisconsin Sports". Longtime Milwaukee broadcaster Chuck Garbedian anchored the morning show with Chicago native Johnny Vonn. Veteran sports talk show host Peter Brown was tabbed to do afternoon drive. In late 2006, the sports station underwent a period of change. Program director Chip Ramsey, who had been with WSSP since it signed on in the sports format, was fired on August 9, 2006. He was replaced by Ryan Maguire, who directed a series of moves soon after. Weekday afternoon talk show host Peter Brown was fired on December 7, 2006. Mid-day hosts Cliff Saunders and
Gary Ellerson were moved into Brown's slot. Morning show host Chuck Garbedian was let go in early January 2007. He was replaced by former
WTMJ and
Sporting News Radio personality Doug Russell, a Milwaukee native. In 2006, WSSP acquired the rights to
University of Wisconsin–Madison hockey games and coaches shows. Mike Wickett, who worked closely with Maguire when both were on the air at
WTKA in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, was hired to co-host mornings with Russell. Steve Fifer was tabbed to host the 9-11 a.m. shift. In June 2007, the station acquired the rights to
Milwaukee Admirals hockey, taking them away from cross-town rival
WAUK. The contract ran up until the 2017-18 AHL season, when
WOKY "The Big 920" acquired the rights. The station modified its lineup in September 2008 using existing hosts in new positions. Cliff Saunders was moved into the morning slot after Doug Russell and Mike Wickett. Gary Ellerson stayed in the afternoon drive slot where he is joined by Josh Vernier and former morning host Steve Fifer as part of the "Big Show". In October 2008, Saunders was replaced by the
nationally syndicated Dan Patrick Show. In January 2009, Maguire left WSSP for
Entercom sister station
KCSP in
Kansas City, Missouri. Former
WTMJ program director Tom Parker replaced Maguire at WSSP.
Jim Rome's syndicated show was replaced by Bill "The Big Unit" Michaels, formerly of WTMJ and the pre-game and post-game shows of the
Packers Radio Network, in the summer of 2011. Entercom began syndicating
The Bill Michaels Show across the state for live or tape-delayed airing the same day. WSSP also aired syndicated programming from
Fox Sports Radio until the end of 2012. On January 1, 2013, WSSP became a
CBS Sports Radio network affiliate. From October 2010 to October 2020, WSSP programming was heard on an
HD Radio digital subchannel of co-owned 103.7
WXSS. In July 2014, WSSP began broadcasting on
FM translator station W289CB at 105.7 FM. On October 1, 2014, the station rebranded using the translator's dial position as "105.7 The Fan". In November 2018, the Milwaukee
radio market got two new sports stations in the same month, both on the FM dial.
WKTI (94.5 FM), owned by
Good Karma Brands, flipped to sports at the beginning of the month. Three weeks later,
WRNW (97.3 FM), owned by
iHeartMedia, did the same. That left WEMP with only its AM signal and a 250-watt translator, competing against two full-power Class B FM sports stations. On October 5, 2020, Entercom announced that WSSP would no longer be heard on the 105.7 FM translator, and the translator became a brand extension of WXSS as "Hot 105.7", carrying an
urban contemporary format. WSSP would revert its branding to "1250 The Fan". On August 16, 2022, WSSP ended all local programming in Milwaukee, laid off its entire air staff, and converted to a near full-time feed of CBS Sports Radio outside a rebroadcast of WXSS's Sunday morning public affairs programming. The changes in programming were made as part of nationwide cuts to Audacy stations. On October 14, 2024, WSSP resumed both simulcasting on FM translator W289CB 105.7 FM Milwaukee and its "105.7 The Fan" branding, along with a full weekday schedule of local sports programming, including a mid-morning program hosted by former Packers placekicker
Mason Crosby. == Wisconsin Sports Radio Network ==