About Us

(Gene Milner – 1959)

Milner Media Partners LLC. began all the way back in 1983. Tommy Milner and Tim Milner were riding in the car to attend a baseball game together; one day, when they decided to turn on the radio to 99.9 and listened to it for a large portion of the day. After listening to it, Tim and his brother decided that they wanted to begin their own radio business. Therefore they called the owner of the radio station and asked him if he would be willing to sell the local station. Eventually, it was purchased for a million dollars with the aid of Tim and Tommy’s parents.

(Jackie Milner – 1960s)

from left to right (Mickey Luckoff, David Benjamin, Robby Markose, Tim Milner)

Together Tim, Tommy, their mother, and father ran Milner Media as a small family-owned business. Then in 1996, they decided to shut down the 99.9 stations; however, prior to shutting down 99.9, they decided to open up a new station, 95.1. This eventually became WVLI The Valley, with programs such as Greatest Artists, Greatest Hits, which was a monumental success. Then in 2002, they opened up a second station, WIVR, which was dedicated to country music which also was very popular. Following this, they purchased the 92.7 frequency in 2010. MMP then moved all of The Valley’s programming onto 92.7 and then replaced it with the WFAV #1 Hit Music Station. At this point, Milner Media Partners own and operates three separate stations WFAV, WVLI, AND WIVR.

(Gene Milner – 1980s)

Tim was raised in a radio family and used to go to work with his father all the time. His family owned multiple radio stations throughout his life, with two in Florida that did particularly well. Working in radio was always a part of Tim’s dreams because he wished to follow in his parents’ footsteps. Therefore when the opportunity presented itself to purchase a radio station as a family again, Tim jumped at the idea. Since then, he and his brother purchased the current Milner Media Stations, and Tim works as the CEO.

While Tim’s professional resumé is impressive, Tim also played baseball in his youth, both for high school and college. He also enjoys golfing and playing different competitive sports. However, the most important thing to Tim Milner would be his active role in the community through his philanthropy. Tim sits on six different community boards since 1995, such as the chairmen of the Kankakee training center for developed mentally challenged adults, the Police Commissioner in Bourbonnais, and the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce.

(Tim Milner – 2021)