WCFS-FM (105.9 MHz) – branded ''Newsradio 105.9 WBBM'' – is a commercial all-news

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed to the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

suburb of Elmwood Park, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

, operating as a full-time simulcast of WBBM (780 AM). WCFS-FM has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ...

(ERP) of 4,100

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s.FM Query Results: WCFS-FM
fcc.gov. Retrieved March 10, 2019. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is atop the

Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...

(formerly the Sears Tower). The studios and newsroom are located at Two Prudential Plaza in the

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, ...

. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WCFS-FM broadcasts over two

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

subchannels, and is available online via Audacy.

History

WLEY

The station originally held the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assig ...

WLEY and broadcast at 107.1 MHz.
Broadcasting–Telecasting Yearbook Number 1950
', Broadcasting–Telecasting, 1950. p. 133. Retrieved February 2, 2019.History Cards for WCFS-FM
fcc.gov. Retrieved February 2, 2019. WLEY was founded in February 1948, with commercial broadcasts beginning in April. The "LEY" in its call letters stood for Leyden Township, which contains the

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American b ...

of Elmwood Park.Ghrist, John R. (1996). ''Valley Voices: A Radio History''. Crossroads Communications. p. 313-314. WLEY was owned by Zeb Zarnecki. The station broadcast in English and Polish.Migała, Józef (1987). ''Polish Radio Broadcasting in the United States''. Eastern European Monographs. pp. 151-156, 231. WLEY broadcast the "Polish Barn Dance," hosted by Zeb Zarnecki, along with other programs for the local Polish community. It is not related to today's 107.9 WLEY-FM in Aurora. The station's studios and transmitter were located on Harlem Ave, in Elmwood Park. It had an ERP of 320 watts at a height above average terrain (HAAT) of 240 feet. In 1949, its ERP was increased to 1,000 watts and its HAAT was increased to 250 feet. In 1955, the station's ERP was increased to 32,000 watts and its frequency was changed to 105.9 MHz, after the previous occupant of that frequency, WFMT, moved to 98.7 MHz. WLEY was taken silent in 1956.

WXFM

In 1957, the station was sold to Evelyn Chauvin Schoonfield, a school teacher from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, for $22,500, and its call sign was changed to WXFM. In the early 1960s, the FCC investigated several unauthorized transfers of control, which placed renewal of the station's license in jeopardy. However, the FCC allowed Schoonfield to keep the license, and authorized the sale of the station to WXFM Inc., with controlling interest owned by Robert Victor. In the 1960s and 1970s, WXFM featured a variety of musical programming, including classical,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, show tunes,

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

, light classical, and

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 * ...

programs.Paige, Earl.
Chicago MOR/Classical FM Station Encouraged By Triad Programming
, '' Billboard''. May 29, 1971. pp. 32, 36. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1976
',

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

, 1976. p. C-59. Retrieved February 4, 2019. On October 3, 1962, it became an

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation pla ...

of the QXR Network. In 1966, the station's transmitter was moved to

333 North Michigan 333 North Michigan is a skyscraper in the art deco style located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. Architecturally, it is noted for its dramatic upper-level setbacks that were inspired by the 1923 skyscrape ...

Ave. in Downtown Chicago, and in 1974 its transmitter was moved to the Sears Tower. In 1970, ''Triad Radio'', a freeform program, began airing on the station. ''Triad Radio'' began in 1969, as a three hour weekly program on 105.1 WEAW-FM. The program eventually aired for five hours nightly on WXFM, and continued to air on the station through 1977.Childers, Scott (2008).
Chicago's WLS Radio
'.

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American Publishing, publisher of neighborhood, local history, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the ...

. Retrieved February 5, 2019.Looking Back
, ''The AOR Story''. Radio & Records. 1978. p. 9. Retrieved February 5, 2019. Triad Radio published a free monthly magazine that was distributed through retail outlets. Dick Lawrence, historian and radio personality, hosted "Sound of the 1920s" an original hour-long feature program of vintage music 'old scratchies' woven together by offbeat historical themes. In 1978, Herb Kent began hosting a show on WXFM. In the early 1980s, jazz began to dominate WXFM's schedule.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1983
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1983. p. B-73. Retrieved February 4, 2019.McCormick, Moria.
Count B.J. Out of Work as WXFM Abandons Jazz
, '' Billboard''. February 11, 1984. p. 14. Retrieved February 4, 2019.Cox Picks Jeffries as WXFM's PD
, '' Radio & Records''. March 2, 1984. pp. 1, 32. Retrieved February 4, 2019. Personalities on the station at this time included Daddy-O Daylie and

Dick Buckley George R. "Dick" Buckley (August 26, 1924 – July 22, 2010) was an American radio presenter who had hosted the jazz program, ''Jazz with Dick Buckley'', on Chicago Public Radio. His program, which was on WBEZ from 1977 through 2008, tended to ...

. Pervis Spann hosted an overnight blues show.

WAGO

In 1984, the station was sold to Cox Communications for $9 million. On April 2, 1984, Cox launched a

contemporary hits Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

format on the station, and its call sign was changed to WAGO.Bornstein, Rollye.
Vox Jox
, '' Billboard''. April 14, 1984. p. 14. Retrieved February 4, 2019. The station was branded "G-106."Chicago's WAGO Switches: Outlet Now AOR-Formatted WCKG
, '' Billboard''. March 16, 1985. p. 14. Retrieved February 4, 2019. WAGO featured

John Records Landecker John Records Landecker (born March 28, 1947) is an American Top40/oldies disc jockey best known for his trademark saying "Records truly is my middle name" and creating ''Boogie Check'', ''Americana Panorama'', and satirical songs and bits based o ...

in mornings, who had made a name for himself on 890

WLS WLS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * WLS (AM), a radio station in Chicago, Illinois, US * WLS-FM, a radio station in Chicago, Illinois, US * WLS-TV, a television station in Chicago, Illinois, US * DWLS, a radio station in Metro Manila ...

Rock era

On March 4, 1985, the station's format was changed to album oriented rock (AOR) and its call letters were changed to WCKG. John Records Landecker continued hosting the morning show on WCKG until 1986, when he returned to 890 WLS.
Chicago Radio Guide
'. Vol. 1, No. 1. May 1985. Retrieved February 4, 2019. By 1987, WCKG had transitioned into a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format. On-air personalities included Stephanie Miller, John Howell, Mitch Michaels, Allan Stagg, Joe Thomas, Debbie Alexander, and Rich Koz. WCKG picked up the

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

'' Howard Stern Show'' for mornings in March 1995. Following on-air attacks on rival Chicago shock jock Mancow Muller's family and Muller's boss's family, Stern's show was dropped in October 1995. The station blamed issues with "some of Howard's on-air content," and the show moved to AM 1160 WJJD. WCKG was traded to Infinity Broadcasting in 1996. At the end of the year, Infinity Broadcasting was purchased by the parent company of CBS.

Hot talk era

The station began evolving to a hot talk format in July 1996 with the addition of Steve Dahl in the afternoons and Stern returning to mornings, while classic rock continued to air in the remainder of the schedule. In 1998, Jonathon Brandmeier began hosting middays on WCKG, and the station further moved into a hot talk format. During this time, the station was branded "105.9 The PaCKaGe". In 2002, rock music was re-added to the station's schedule in certain hours, and its slogan became "Talk That Rocks." On April 1, 2002, Kevin Matthews joined WCKG as midday host. Other personalities and programs during this era include, Patti Haze & Mary Pat LaRue, Pete McMurray, '' Opie and Anthony'', Karen Hand and Dr. Kelly Johnson, Bill O'Reilly, Jim Cramer, Buzz Kilman, Wendy Snyder, Frankie "Hollywood" Rodriguez, Bob Sirott,

Marianne Murciano Marianne Murciano (Sirott) co-hosted a morning program called "Fox Thing in the Morning" on Chicago's Fox affiliate (WFLD) from 1993–2000, with husband, Bob Sirott. In 2005 Murciano conducted some co-interviews with Sirott for ''Chicago Tonight ...

, '' Little Steven's Underground Garage'', and ''The House of Blues Radio Hour'' with Elwood Blues. The rock music was removed from the station's schedule by early 2005. On October 25, 2005, the station was rebranded "

Free FM Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven FM CBS Radio stations in the United States, and was created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name ...

." Rosenthal, Phil.
Meet the new Howard Sterns
, ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''. October 26, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2019. With Stern's departure from terrestrial radio on December 16, 2005, Infinity announced that effective January 3, 2006, WCKG would become the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

of '' Rover's Morning Glory''. Following months of poor ratings, ''Rover's Morning Glory'' was dropped on August 1, 2006, and was replaced by the New York-based ''Opie and Anthony Show''. WCKG was also the flagship station of the NBA's

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

from 2006 until 2007.Bulls returning to ESPN 1000
, ''

Daily Herald Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

''. October 29, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2019. With the demise of WCKG's talk format, the Bulls returned to all-sports

AM 1000 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1000 kHz: 1000 AM is a United States and Mexican clear-channel frequency. KNWN Seattle, WMVP Chicago and XEOY Mexico City share Class A status on 1000 kHz. Argentina * LT42 Del ...

WMVP. Steve Dahl's son, Matt Dahl, joined WCKG on March 5, 2007, and Garry Meier joined the station on April 2, hosting late mornings. On May 2, 2007, the station's branding was changed from "Free FM" to "Chicago's FM Talk Station." It was later rebranded back to "The Package". By this time, the weekday lineup consisted of ''Opie and Anthony'', Meier, Stan Lawrence and Terry Armour, Steve and Matt Dahl, Glenn Beck, '' Loveline'', and Bill O'Reilly. October 29, 2007, was the last day of the talk format on WCKG, as hosts and station staff said their goodbyes on-air. Steve Dahl's show continued to air on WCKG, with best-of clips airing for the rest of the day. His show moved to sister station 104.3 WJMK on November 5. On November 2, CBS Radio gave stories to the media writers at the ''

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 ...

'' and ''

'' that the station would switch to an all-Christmas format that afternoon before the unveiling of its actual new format. However this was a ruse, designed to throw long-time ratings leader 93.9 WLIT-FM off from its plans to start playing all-Christmas music beginning November 8. The trick worked, as WLIT switched to all-Christmas music on November 2, while WCKG continued to play the "Best of Dahl" until November 5. That day, WCKG began stunting by simulcasting several of Chicago's other CBS Radio stations. From 5:30 to 10 a.m., it carried Dahl's first show on WJMK.WCKG Becomes Fresh 105.9
, Format Change Archive. Retrieved February 14, 2019. From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., it simulcast AM 670

WSCR WSCR (670 AM radio, AM) – branded as 670 The Score – is a Commercial radio, commercial Sports radio, sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, servicing the Chicago metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northern ...

; from 2 to 4 p.m., it simulcast 93.1 WXRT, and from 4 to 5 p.m., it simulcast 780 WBBM.

Fresh 105.9

At 5 p.m., after the CBS Radio News bell for the top of the hour newscast, WCKG became "Fresh 105.9" with a modern-based

adult contemporary 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 ...

format that originally focused on soft rock songs from the 1990s to current product (with some select 80s songs). The first song played was " Beautiful Day" by U2. The station shared its branding with co-owned WWFS in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The station's call sign was changed to WCFS-FM, for "Chicago's Fresh", on November 26, 2007. On February 25, 2008, morning personality Mike LeBaron and midday personality Lisa Greene signed on as the first DJ's on Chicago's "Fresh 105.9." In April 2008, Program Director Mike Peterson named Rick Hall as afternoon host. On October 6, 2009, Roxanne Steele began hosting afternoons on WCFS. Rosenthal, Phil.
Fresh 105.9 hires Roxanne Steele
, ''

''. October 1, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2019. Rick Hall moved to mornings on a temporary basis after Mike LeBaron left the station. In November 2009, Steve Fisher debuted as the new morning host on WCFS. Upon Fisher's arrival, Rick Hall was moved to middays. However, in June 2010, new program director Jim Ryan told reporters that Hall had been released. Evening host Brooke Hunter was moved to middays. On March 30, 2010, it was announced that Bill Gamble left CBS Radio Chicago, where he was Program Director of WCFS-FM and WUSN.

WBBM simulcast

On the morning of August 1, 2011, WCFS began redirecting listeners to sister stations 96.3 WBBM-FM and 99.5 WUSN.Fresh 105.9 Becomes NewsRadio 105.9 WBBM
, ''Format Change Archive''. Retrieved February 7, 2019. It played an hour and a half of "end"-themed songs, concluding with " End of the Road" by

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Natha ...

and the first six seconds of " Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds. Then at 8:10 a.m., WCFS replaced the "Fresh" AC format with an FM simulcast of co-owned all-news station 780 WBBM.Venta, Lance.
WBBM Chicago Adds Simulcast on 105.9 WCFS
, ''RadioInsight''. April 8, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2019. Until that date, WBBM had been carried on WCFS-HD2, effectively (besides the loss of WCFS's physical staff) making the move merely a swap of the formats for the HD1 and HD2 subchannels.Major Radio Groups Announce HD2 Formats
, ''All Access Music Group''. January 19, 2006. Retrieved March 10, 2019. The format change was seen as a counter to WBBM's new competitor, 101.1 WWWN, which switched to an all-news format on July 31, 2011, one day before WCFS's switch. The "Fresh" AC format was moved to WCFS-HD2 on August 1, rebranding as "The New Sound of Fresh 105.9 HD2." The move left 93.9 WLIT-FM as the only adult contemporary radio station at the time in Chicago. The switch also gave the NFL's

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

an FM outlet. WIQI's "FM News" format failed in the market and was replaced by a 90's-centric adult hits format on July 17, 2012. Though WCFS uses WBBM's on-air branding ("NewsRadio 780 and 105.9 FM, WBBM"), its official call sign remains WCFS, call letters only mentioned once per hour.

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging ...

's use of the

Portable People Meter The Portable People Meter (PPM), also known as the Nielsen Meter, was a system developed by Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio) to measure how many people are exposed or listening to individual radio stations and television stations, including cable t ...

for Chicago radio ratings does not need call letter verification to give credit for listening to 105.9 FM. WBBM thus identifies both signals in a rushed form of station identification at :56 past the hour as "WBBM-HD Chicago, WCFS-FM-HD1 Elmwood Park-Chicago." The two stations have simulcast continuously since August 1, 2011, with one exception. During the 2015 baseball season, WBBM carried

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

baseball exclusively over the AM 780 frequency during the 2015 season, while WCFS-FM 105.9 continued to carry the all-news format on its own during Cubs broadcasts. Feder, Robert.
Play ball! Cubs move to The Score
, RobertFeder.com. November 11, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2019. Starting with the 2016 season, the Cubs moved to co-owned 670 WSCR. WBBM and WCFS returned to a full-time simulcast at the end of the 2015 season. On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.

HD Radio

WCFS-FM broadcasts in the

format. The HD2 subchannel carries a sports gambling format, branded as "The Bet".Entercom Places An HD Bet In Chicago
Radioinsight - March 22, 2021 The station's HD2 subchannel debuted in January 2006, and simulcast the all-news format of WBBM AM 780. After WBBM began simulcasting on the analog/HD1 in 2011, the HD2 subchannel continued to carry an automated version of WCFS's former AC format (which gradually shifted to Hot AC) as "Fresh 105.9", leading to one of the few situations where the station's callsign meaning referred instead to an HD Radio subchannel. In February 2019, the "Fresh" format was replaced with an electronic dance music format, branded as "Energy." This format had aired on co-owned 96.3 WBBM-FM-HD2 as "B96 Dance" from 2006 until February 2019, when it was replaced with " Channel Q".Channel Q Expands To Six More Markets
''RadioInsight''. February 26, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019. On March 22, 2021, WCFS-HD2 switched to carrying a new national format covering legalized sports gaming, branded as "The Bet".

References

External links

* * {{Chicago Bears CFS-FM All-news radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Illinois Audacy, Inc. radio stations