WPWX (92.3 FM) is an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

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 radio ...

licensed to

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

and serving 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 ...

in addition to

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed The Region after the Calumet Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Ce ...

, and is owned by Crawford Broadcasting. The station broadcasts from a transmitter a few hundred feet west of the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

state line in

Burnham, Illinois Burnham is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,046 at the 2020 census. The ZIP code is 60633. Burnham has a Chicago ZIP code, and is often mistakenly considered part of Chicago. It is, however, an independe ...

, with studios on Calumet Avenue in Hammond.

History

The station began broadcasting in 1949, and held the call sign WJIZ. The station was owned by South Shore Broadcasting Company. In 1954, the station's call sign was changed to WJOB-FM, and the station simulcast the programming of its sister station WJOB 1230.
1958 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 ...

. 1958. p. A-280. Retrieved February 11, 2019. In 1959, the station was sold to

Percy Crawford Percy Bartimus Crawford (October 20, 1902 – October 31, 1960) was an evangelist and fundamentalist leader who especially emphasized youth ministry. During the late 1950s, he saw the potential of FM radio and UHF television and built the first ...

for $119,000. The station's call sign was changed to WYCA, standing for "Young People's Church of the Air", and the station began airing a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

format.Ghrist, John R. (1996). ''Valley Voices: A Radio History''. Crossroads Communications. p. 241-247. The station switched to an urban contemporary format on March 26, 2001, in an attempt to go head to head with the longtime

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

radio leader in Chicago,

WGCI-FM WGCI-FM (107.5 MHz) is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia (formerly known as Clear Channel Communication ...

. The station's call sign was briefly changed to WVJM in April 2001, before being changed to WPWX on May 1, 2001. WPWX currently is the Chicago home to '' The Rickey Smiley Morning Show'', and at one time carried both the '' Doug Banks Morning Show'' and ''

The Tom Joyner Morning Show The ''Tom Joyner Morning Show'' is an American nationally syndicated radio program, hosted by veteran broadcaster Tom Joyner. The program, which aired on Urban contemporary- and Urban adult contemporary-formatted stations across the United States, ...

''.

HD Programming

All Crawford Broadcasting Company radio stations broadcast in digital

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 ...

, and all Crawford FMs also broadcast both HD1 & HD2 (digital) audio.

Urban Gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...

sister station

WYCA WYCA (102.3 FM) is licensed to Crete, Illinois, south of Chicago, with studios in Hammond, Indiana, and transmitter in Beecher, Illinois, south of Crete. The station is owned by Dontron, Inc., a subsidiary of Crawford Broadcasting Co. WYCA is ...

, known as ''Rejoice 102.3'', is simulcast on WPWX-HD2.

References

External links

Power 92
* {{Urban Radio Stations in Indiana Urban contemporary radio stations in the United States PWX Radio stations established in 1949 1949 establishments in Indiana