WBEK (91.1 FM) is a

public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

licensed to

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. As of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area. It serves as an ...

, and owned by

Chicago Public Media Chicago Public Media (CPM) is a not-for-profit media company that operates as the primary National Public Radio member organization for Chicago. It owns three non-commercial educational FM broadcast stations and one FM translator, and produc ...

. Formerly known as WKCC and owned by

Kankakee Community College Kankakee Community College (KCC) is a public community college in Kankakee, Illinois. The main campus is located on the southern border of the city of Kankakee and spans along the banks of the Kankakee River. KCC is accredited by the Commissi ...

, the station aired a format consisting of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and public radio programs from NPR, American Public Media, and

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programm ...

.About Us
WKCC. Accessed November 2, 2012 WKCC also aired a variety of jazz and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

programs on weekends, some of which were locally produced.Schedule
WKCC. Accessed November 2, 2012 WKCC ceased local broadcast operations on Friday evening, December 18, 2015, at the conclusion of a special, final episode of ''In a Mellow Tone'', hosted by Willie Dixon, Jr. – on the occasion of his 400th show. Chicago Public Media announced that it would purchase ownership rights for the WKCC 91.1 FM broadcast license. WBEZ's programming is now simulcast on WKCC, extending WBEZ's reach to an additional audience of more than 200,000 potential listeners in Kankakee and Iroquois Counties.Chicago Public Media Purchases WKCC
''Chicago Public Media'', December 16, 2015. Chicago Public Media's purchase of the station from Kankakee Community College was consummated on April 28, 2016, at a price of $250,000. On May 6, 2016, the station changed its call sign to WBEK.

References

External links

* {{coord, 41, 09, 39, N, 87, 52, 30, W, type:landmark_region:US-IL, display=title Public radio stations in the United States BEK (FM) Radio stations established in 1992 1992 establishments in Illinois