Chicago is the third largest broadcast market in the United States and is considered the center of the entertainment industry in the Midwest. In the "golden age" of the top 40 stations in the '60s and '70s, ABC's WLS dominated the airwaves. In the '80s, like many of the nation's top 40 AM stations, it abandoned music in favor of talk as the music format migrated to FM.
Chicago Radio History after 1920s
Chicago has had stations on AM dials starting with commercial broadcasting in the early 1920s. The earliest telephone letters on the market belonged to KYW, a Westinghouse station whose license was issued by the Department of Commerce on November 9, 1921. It begins in opera form. The next few stations are WBU and WGU. The City of Chicago's WBU was licensed on February 21, 1922, and ceased operations on November 7, 1923. The WGU at Fair Department Store was licensed on March 29, 1922, and later the same year, on October 2, the call letter was changed to WMAQ.
Other stations assigned to AM dials in the early 1920s included Ray-Di-Co's WGAS, Mid West Radio Central's WDAP (acquired by the Chicago Board of Trade in 1923), Zenith Corporation's WJAZ (as a portable station in 1924 and ending the following year at Mt. Prospect), and WAAF of the Drovers Journal of Chicago. In 1924, the Chicago Tribune acquired WAAF and changed its telephone correspondence to WGN. That same year, the Tribune acquired WDAP, whose programming and equipment were absorbed by WGN. The WCFL, named after its first owner, the Chicago Federation of Labor, launched at 610 a.m. in 1926, but was later moved to 620, then 970, and finally 1000. The CFL persisted until 1979.
The dials continued to change in the 30s and became more fixed in the 40s after the FCC reassignment. By 1942, AM dials included WMAQ (670), WGN (720), WJBT (770), WBBM (780), WLS (890), WAAF (950), WCFL (1000), WMBI (1110), WJJD (1150 ) ), WSBC (1240), WGBF (1280) and WGES (1390).
FM radios slowly started appearing on dials in the forties and fifties, but it wasn't until the sixties and seventies that they began to gain significant audiences. By the 1980s, FM had become a music band, and talk stations were thriving on AM. From the 1980s to the present, corporate consolidation has dominated the industry headlines.
The WLS made its way to Chicago radio dials in 1924 with 500 watts. It was originally owned by Sears & Roebuck, which is how the station got its name, from Sears' slogan "The World's Largest Store". An early show that lasted decades was "Country Barn Dance," which featured comedy and country music. The station sets the standard for farm reporting in the Midwest. In 1929, Sears sold the station to Praaire Farmer Magazine, led by Burridge Butler. The company has owned the station since the 1950s.
Chicago Radio History after 1940s
WLS had an early home at 870 AM, but moved to 890 when the FCC reassigned in 1941. In the early days, it was common for different stations to share dial locations. Until 1954, WLS shared its dial position with WENR, which is owned by ABC. After ABC and the Paramount Theater acquired a controlling stake in WLS in 1954, 890 AM became simply WLS, while WENR's call letter remained on Chicago TV Channel 7 and 94.7's sister FM station. By the end of the decade, ABC dropped the farm show that WLS had been known for since its inception.
On May 2, 1960, WLS transitioned into a top 40 radio station for the first time on Sam Holman's show. Early athletes in this emerging form of WLS were Clark Webb, Bob Hale, Gene Taylor, Mort Crowley, Jim Dunbar, Dick Biondi, Bernie Allen and Dex · Card. Two WLS athletes, Ron Riley and Art Roberts, interviewed The Beatles separately. Clark Weber became a morning host in 1963, two years after joining the radio station. He served as program director from 1966 until the arrival of John Rooker in 1968. Webb then moved to the WCFL for a few years, and then took part in a series of other Chicago radio shows over the years.
Chicago Radio History after 1960s
WLS still aired several news programs in the early 1960s to meet FCC requirements. During this period, WLS moved up to the top three along with WGN and WIND. Biondi did three nights before ending up at KRLA in Los Angeles, but then returned to Chicago at the WCFL.
In 1965, the WCFL switched from Labor News to the top 40 to become the "Super CFL," bringing competition to the WLS, which called itself "Channel 89," then "Big 89." WLS emerged victorious in 1967 under the direction of station manager Gene Taylor. A new lineup of athletes has been introduced that includes Morning's Larry Lujack, Chuck Beal, Jerry Kay and Chris Eric Stevens. Program director John Rook tightened the station, and by 1968, WLS was number one and won the "Radio of the Year" award from The Gavin Report.
The only time the CFL beat the WLS in a top-40 battle was in the summer of 1973. As PD and Fred Winston moved from afternoon to morning, Tommy Edwards made the cut, which led to a change in the WLS. New talent was brought in, including Bob Sirott, Steve King and Yvonne Daniels. By the fall, WLS was back at No. 1. WCFL abandoned this format in 1976 as WLS dominated until the late seventies.
WLS-FM (94.7) was formerly WENR FM. In 1965 it became WLS-FM, broadcasting "good music" and sports. In 1968, it began simulcasting WLS-AM morning shows Clark Weber (6a-8a) and Don McNeill's Breakfast Club (8a-9a). In September 1969, after a well-tested experimental show called "Spoke", ABC decided to change the format of FM to progressive rock. WLS-FM became WDAI in 1971 while maintaining progress. The following year, the station began to move in the direction of softer rock. Then in 1978 the format switched completely to disco. Steve Dahl was fired, so he and his partner Garry Meier traveled across town to WLUP with great success.
Chicago Radio History after 1980s
Meanwhile, the disco craze only lasted a few years, and by 1980 WDAI-FM was on fire, so it briefly switched the format to oldies WRCK in 1980, then changed its name to WLS-FM again and started simulcasting AM's evening show. In 1986, WLS-FM became WYTZ (Z-95), a top 40 competitor to B96 (WBBM 96.3). The call sign switched back to WLS-FM again in 1992 and became a full-time simulcast of AM, before switching entirely to talk format in 1989. From 1995 to 1997 it was the national radio station WKXK (Kicks Country), with rival WUSN. It then morphed into classic rock again in 1997, successfully leading the Q101 as an alternative station with CD 94.7 under Bill Gamble's programming. In 2000, CD 94.7 became The Zone," leaning more towards alternative music.
WXRT (93.1) has been a long-running rock station that has transitioned from progressive rock to current rock to alternative, and has been an adult alternative since 1994. The station first ventured into progressive rock in 1972. The previous call sign was WSBC. WXRT call letters were used on 101.9 FM in Chicago back in the 40's and early 50's. Norm Winer previously programmed for WBCN in Boston and spent mornings at KSAN in San Francisco before serving as the programming lead for WXRT. In 1991, ownership passed from Daniel Lee to Diamond Broadcasting. In 1995, the station was acquired by CBS Radio, which later merged with Infinity Broadcasting.
Chicago Radio History after 1990s
In the '90s, when the alternative format had the highest ratings, Q101 (WKQX) was one of the top alternative stations in the Midwest. It was a top 40 station owned by NBC throughout the '80s, and sold it to Emmis in 1988. The station kept the call letter but switched to an alternate station in 1992 under the programming of Bill Gamble, who skipped town five years later. Alex Luke, who had written KPNT in Stl Louis, became project director until 1998 when Dave Richards arrived for three years. Richards programmed the rock station WRCX (103.5), which flipped the format and changed the call letter to WUBT. Mary Shuminas had worked for the station for 20 years, but left in 2004 as assistant program director. WXRT has led the Q101 in ratings since the early 2000s, showing that alternative fans prefer a wider playlist than a tight rotation like the top 40. In the 2000s, Alex Luke went on to serve as Director of Music Programming and Label Relations for the Apple iTunes Music Store.
From the mid-'90s to the early 2000s, Chicago's top morning show was Mancow Muller. He's from San Francisco's top 40 Z95 station, where he made national news for his arrest for obstructing traffic on the Bay Bridge -- for his haircut. It was a gimmick to satirize events involving President Clinton. Mueller first came to Chicago in July 1994 at the rock station WRCX. The show was called "Mancow's Morning Madhouse." The show expanded to national syndicates in 1997. The following year, Mancow moved his morning show to Q101. In 2001, Mancow's show came under intense scrutiny by the FCC, resulting in several fines over the show's content.
WLS-AM's move to talk radio in 1989 showed that by the '80s music fans had turned to FM. Other AM talk stations at the time included WLUP (1000), WVON (1450) and WJJD (1160). WIND (560) also had talks before being sold and going to Spain. Interestingly, while music lovers turned mostly to FM in the 80s, the top radio station in town at the end of the 10th century was Tribune-owned adult contemporary station WGN-AM (720). WBBM-AM (780) also soared to the top three as a news station in the late eighties. The urban formats of WGCI (107.5) and WVAZ (102.7) ranked higher in ratings, despite its sister FM B96 being the leader in contemporary hits. Evergreen's WLUP (97.9) also performed well as a rock station. Then it sold to Bonneville,
In the nineties, WGN-AM continued to lead the market, although the format shifted to news and music, known as a "full-service" format. WGCI transferred owners from Gannett to Chancellor Media, which also bought rival WVAZ and transformed its format into a more adult city. Chancellor later became AMFM before merging with Clear Channel. Throughout the change, the city leader has remained the market leader. Chancellor also bought WGCI-AM (1390) and made it an urban oldies format. By 1997, Chancellor had seven stations on the market, thanks to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which eased ownership restrictions. WBBM AM (news) and WBBM FM (hits) also did well throughout the 90s, as did WLS Radio (890).
