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March 2, 2026
STEVENS POINT – Founded in 1988, Senior Account Manager Samantha Skrzeczkoski said Muzzy Broadcasting has emerged triumphant as the Portage County Business Council’s 2025 Small Business of the Year.
“We are so grateful for this award, and we’re happy the community is still seeing the work we’re doing for broadcast radio, broadcast media and the community,” she said, “but there’s always more we can do.”
Per muzzybroadcasting.com, Founder Rick Muzzy established his media company after purchasing three radio stations across North Central Wisconsin in the late ’80s.
Since then, Skrzeczkoski said Muzzy Broadcasting has offered community-based music and entertainment, as well as advertising opportunities to area businesses – in turn, earning trust and now, county-level recognition.
Sadly, however, Skrzeczkoski said four months prior to receiving the award, Rick unfortunately passed.
“We sadly lost Rick in September of this past year,” she said. “It sounds so cheesy, but he really was the best boss.”
Skrzeczkoski said Rick’s famous saying was “there’s nothing more important than a client.”
That attitude, she said, is reflected in how Muzzy Broadcasting has, and will continue to, collaborate with its sponsors and their communities.
“We are honored to continue his legacy – [one] of loving your neighbor [and] giving back to the community,” she said. “I actually have a little piece of paper that we found in his office, probably from the late ’70s, and it literally says, ‘There’s nothing more important than a client.’ So, I put it in a screen protector for now, and I’m going to frame it eventually.”
In accepting the Small Business of the Year award, Skrzeczkoski said she also assured area businesses that Muzzy will remain locally owned and operated – regardless and in honor of Rick’s absence.
“As far as we know, we’re the only locally owned and operated in Central Wisconsin, so we’re keeping them local,” she said.
‘Exclusive’ marketing strategy
Since joining Muzzy Broadcasting in summer 2023, Skrzeczkoski said she’s observed significant growth within the company, despite a common stereotype that radio is an outdated form of media.
A recent study from Edison Research, she said, suggested companies that include AM/FM radio advertising in their media plan see their “total reach surge from 33% to 74% of the U.S. population.”
“If you’re choosing not to have radio be part of your marketing plan, you’ll miss two-thirds of America,” she said. “Don’t just work with us because you like us and you like the radio – work with us because we know it’s going to work for you.”
In addition to the business council’s recognition, Skrzeczkoski said Muzzy Broadcasting recently won an award for its creative and personalized approach to crafting radio strategies that resonate with local businesses.
A one-size-fits-all approach, she said, doesn’t work in the broadcast media industry.
“What might work for a restoration company might not work for a restaurant,” she said. “Presenting the same idea to every single person really isn’t going to help their business…, [so I challenge myself with], ‘What can I do to put a creative touch on [and] make it exclusive to each business?’”
Skrzeczkoski said Muzzy Broadcasting’s business sponsors also benefit from the kind of “top-of-mind awareness” that’s difficult to achieve with social media alone.
“How many times do we all just scroll past ads or scroll past videos and reels?” she said.
Muzzy Broadcasting’s “55-minute Music Hours,” Skrzeczkoski said, across its three stations help maintain listener attention and engagement, fostering a loyal audience who stays tuned in.
“We really have a loyal audience on all three of our stations where people aren’t switching us off,” she said.
The age demographic of people who not only listen to the radio, but work in broadcast media, Skrzeczkoski said, is also expanding.
“We’re part of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, and they do specific events just to engage people coming out of high school and college,” she said. “So, it’s really interesting to see young people listening and young people getting into broadcast media – not even just radio, but television as well.”
A legacy of entertainment
In addition to its three radio stations covering “pretty much all of Central Wisconsin…, the outskirts of Appleton and Waupaca,” Skrzeczkoski said Muzzy Broadcasting also offers global streaming.
“[97.9] WSPT has a high listenership in Europe,” she laughed. “We don’t know why, but our streaming numbers [show that] Europe really likes us.”
To be eligible for the council’s Small Business of the Year award, Skrzeczkoski said companies must employ fewer than 25 staff.
“And I believe right now, we only have about 11 – including our contracted employees,” she said. “We have local DJs who are on Monday through Friday…, we have our office manager who works five days a week and then we have our sales staff, including myself.”
Skrzeczkoski said Muzzy Broadcasting’s sales territory encompasses much of its coverage area.
“But we also do work with businesses further [away],” she said. “Rick would work with EAA out of Oshkosh, I work with the Crystal Grand Theatre in [Wisconsin] Dells [and] I’m also working with the XRoads41 music festival, also in Oshkosh – [events] people will drive to, entertainment-wise, that are within a reasonable distance.”
However, having been born and raised in Stevens Point, Skrzeczkoski said she’s grateful to Rick and Muzzy Broadcasting for the opportunity to uplift her hometown community in a unique way – carrying on his legacy and steadfast belief in client relationships.
“I’ve made really great friends and relationships within the community,” she said. “It’s awesome to continue that, not only for Stevens Point, but for Central Wisconsin.”
Visit Muzzy Broadcasting’s aforementioned website for more.
