WCFL 104.7 FM is a

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

station licensed to

Morris, Illinois Morris is a city in and the county seat of Grundy County, Illinois, United States and part of the southwest Chicago metropolitan area. The population was estimated at 15,053 in 2019. Description Morris is the Grundy County seat and has a larg ...

and owned by the

University of Northwestern – St. Paul University of Northwestern (UNW) is a private Christian university in Roseville, Minnesota. History It was established in 1902 as ''Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School'' by William Bell Riley, a pastor at First Baptist Churc ...

. WCFL airs a

Christian adult contemporary Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC or CAC, is a radio format. In the United States, Christian adult contemporary radio stations cater to a mostly adult audience and are similar to mainstream adult contemporary stations in that ...

music format, relaying the programming of 91.7

WBGL WBGL (91.7 FM) is a Christian radio station licensed to Champaign, Illinois and owned by the University of Northwestern – St. Paul. Studios are located in Champaign. Relay stations WBGL is relayed by 9 full-power FM stations and three lo ...

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

. In a complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission in 2017, WCFL claims that its signal has been subjected to co-channel interference from translator W284DA, which relays WRDZ. The translator is operated by Polnet Communications Ltd. of Chicago.

History

WCFL 104.7 originally held the call letters WRMI-FM, and was first licensed May 24, 1962. In the 1970s, WRMI-FM aired a

MOR Mor or MOR may refer to: Names and titles * Mór (given name), a list of people named Mór or Mor * Mor (surname), a list of people named Mor or Mór * Mor (honorific), or Mar, in Syriac Radio and television * Middle of the road (music) genre * ...

format.
1972 Broadcasting Yearbook
',

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

, 1972. p. B-65. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1977
',

, 1977. p. C-65. Retrieved July 14, 2018. In 1977 the station's call sign was changed to

WCSJ-FM WCSJ-FM is a radio station based in Morris, Illinois. As of 2010, the station is owned and operated by Nelson Multimedia Inc. WCSJ's studios are located on Washington Street in downtown Morris with the FM transmitter located between Morris and ...

. WCSJ-FM initially simulcast the MOR format of WCSJ 1550.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1979
',

, 1979. p. C-68. Retrieved July 14, 2018. By 1983, the station was airing a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format, separate from its AM sister station.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1983
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1983. p. B-76. Retrieved July 14, 2018. In 1988 the station changed its call letters to WUEZ-FM. As WUEZ-FM, the station aired an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

format.
Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook '89
',

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcast ...

, 1989. p. B-95. Retrieved July 14, 2018.Feder, Robert. "Radio's new WCFL will return to oldies". ''

Chicago Sun Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

''. April 16, 1990 In 1990 the station changed is callsign to WCFL and adopted an

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format with the branding "Super CFL" using slogans and jingles which harkened back to WCFL AM 1000. The original WCFL-FM air staff included Gary Rivers, Bob Zak, Tom Kapsalis, Don Beno, and Jeff Andrews. WCFL played rock hits from 1965 to 1979, with the goal of capturing the sound of the original WCFL. The oldies format lasted until January 1994, when the station began simulcasting the

soft AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

programming of WCSJ 1550. In late 1993, the station was sold to the Illinois District Council of the Assemblies of God. In February 1994, the station went silent while the sale was being finalized. WCFL adopted its present

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

format in May 1994. By 2003, the station was simulcasting

full-time. In August 2019, the Illinois Bible Institute reached an agreement to sell the entire WBGL/WCIC New Life Media Network (including WCFL) to the

, which owns and operates a network of

contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

stations and a network of

Christian talk and teaching Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk programm ...

stations, for $9,901,558.34.U. of Northwestern Buys 13 Stations From Illinois Bible Institute
, ''Inside Radio''. August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.

Former Logo

References

External links

91.7 WBGL
- official website
New Life Media network
- sister station info * {{coord, 41.3547541, -88.4986806, region:US-IL_source:FCC_type:landmark, display=title Assemblies of God Contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States 1962 establishments in Illinois Radio stations established in 1962 CFL (FM) Pentecostalism in the United States Northwestern Media CFL (FM)