WSBC (1240 AM) is a

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 ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States, which broadcasts brokered programming. It is owned by

Newsweb Corporation Newsweb Corporation is a printer of ethnic and alternative newspapers in the United States, based in Chicago, Illinois. The company also owns several radio stations in the Chicago area. Newsweb was founded in 1971 by Chicago entrepreneur, political ...

History

WCPT's studio building and daytime tower

WSBC began broadcasting in 1925 and originally broadcast at 1430 kHz.History Cards for WSBC
fcc.gov. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
Radio Progress
'. August 15, 1925. p. 40. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
Radio Age
'. August 1925. p. 102. Retrieved September 19, 2019. It was owned by the World Battery Company and its call sign stood for "World Storage Battery Company".What those letters on the dial mean
, '' Chicago Tribune Magazine''. March 4, 1979. p. 16. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
Chicagoland Radio Waves
', MediaTies. Summer 1988. Retrieved September 20, 2019. It 1926 its frequency was changed to 1040 kHz and in 1927 it was changed to 1260 kHz. It 1928, WSBC's frequency was changed to 1210 kHz and it began sharing time with WCRW and WEDC. Its studios and transmitter were located at the New Southern Hotel (later known as the Hotel Crillon) at 13th and Michigan Ave. Since WSBC began broadcasting, it has featured a wide variety of ethnic programming. The

Sousa Archives and Center for American Music The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music (SACAM) documents American music through historical artifacts and archival records in multiple formats. The center is part of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's library system an ...

holds the Frank Scheibenreif Slovak, Czech, and Romi Sound Recording Collection, ca. 1930-1950. This collection includes 1,001 recordings, including 753 78-R.P.M., 140 45-R.P.M., and 108 LPs; and one book documenting Eastern Europe music prior to World War II, principally from Czechoslovakia and used by Scheibenreif for the WSBC show, "Slovak American Radio Review." WSBC hired the nation's first full-time African-American radio announcer, Jack Cooper, who on November 3, 1929, began hosting ''

The All-Negro Hour ''The All-Negro Hour'' was an American broadcast show that was the first radio program to feature an exclusively African American cast of performers. This sixty-minute variety show was created and hosted by Jack L. Cooper who was known as the firs ...

'', a vaudevillesque entertainment program. On April 1, 1933, Gene Dyer purchased WSBC from C.J. Gordon, who had operated it since August 1932. At the time, Dyer also owned WGES in Chicago. In 1936, the station's studios and transmitter were moved to the West Town State Bank Building at 2400 W. Madison. Its frequency was changed to 1240 kHz in March 1941, as a result of the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...

. In 1944, WSBC was sold to the J. Miller Advertising Agency for $100,000. In 1954, the station was sold to Louis Lee for $180,000. In 1976, control of the station was passed to Louis Lee's son, Danny Lee.Wyman, Bill.
WXRT: Sold Down the River?
, ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

''. March 9, 1995. Retrieved September 20, 2019. In 1996, WSBC's owners purchased WCRW for $564,375, plus $160,000 for a non-compete agreement. WEDC ceased broadcasting in 1997. WSBC began broadcasting from WEDC's transmitter site and it began full-time operations. In 1998, the station was sold to Newsweb Corporation for $5,550,000. Some of the station's programs were simulcast on 1470 WCFJ in Chicago Heights, Illinois.Format Changes & Updates
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 15, No. 33. August 19, 1998. p. 2. Retrieved August 25, 2020. In June 1998, WSBC began airing

LesBiGay Radio LesBiGay Radio was a radio show catering to the LGBT population of Chicago, Illinois. A contraction of lesbian, bisexual, and gay, the radio program was founded in June 1994 by Alan Amberg, and broadcast until April 2001, just shy of its 7th anni ...

weekday evenings. The program was heard on WSBC until April 2001, and was simulcast on WCFJ. Feder, Robert. "Mancow might leave Windy City for Frisco", ''

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 ...

''. July 17, 2001. p. 49.

References

External links

{{Chicago Radio SBC Radio stations established in 1925 1925 establishments in Illinois