WYCA (102.3 FM) is licensed to

Crete, Illinois Crete is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States, a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 8,259 at the 2010 census. Originally named Wood's Corner, it was founded in 1836 by Vermonters Dyantha and Willard Wood. Geography Crete i ...

, south of Chicago, with studios in

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 transmitter in

Beecher, Illinois Beecher is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the old Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad and the Dixie Highway. Situated in the center of Washington Township, it was originally named Washington Center. Named ...

, south of Crete. The station is owned by Dontron, Inc., a subsidiary of

Crawford Broadcasting Crawford Broadcasting is a family-owned media company based in Denver, Colorado.Contact information
crawfordbro ...

Co. WYCA is formatted as a religious station, primarily

urban contemporary 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 ...

. The most popular program of the broadcast day is the "King's Highway" morning show, featuring Gospel Announcer Darryll King. Ms. King has won numerous awards for her work in black gospel radio.Darryll King
rejoice102.com. Accessed January 30, 2014 The remaining broadcast day is divided between black gospel music and various recorded and live broadcasts by local and national gospel ministers. Some program length commercial broadcasts are also aired. WYCA broadcasts one channel in the

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 ...

format.

History

The station began broadcasting on October 1, 1964, as WTAS, and was originally owned by Anthony Santuccis's South Cook Broadcasting Inc. WTAS had long aired a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * F ...

format, airing a variety of local programming and playing Middle of the road (MOR) music, which included

pop standards Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

and

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 ...

.Stations, everywhere: a listeners' guide to the AM and FM bands
, ''

Chicago Tribune Magazine 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 are ...

''. March 4, 1979. p. 37. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
Chicago Radio Guide
', Vol. 1, Issue 1. May 1985. Retrieved December 29, 2018. Much of the station's local news, talk and community programming was simulcast with its sister station 1600

WCGO WCGO (1590 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a talk format, with Korean Christian programming weekday mornings. Licensed to Evanston, Illinois, United States, it serves the Chicago area. The station is currently owned by William Pollack's Po ...

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geograp ...

, until 1992.Osinchak, Sue.
The Morning Mom and Pop Talk Show
, ''Radio Chicago''. p. 20-21. Winter 1990. Retrieved December 29, 2018.Format Changes
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 9, No. 32. August 12, 1992. p. 1. Retrieved December 29, 2018. In 1985, the station began airing the Warren Freiberg - Libby Collins Show, which had been heard on 106.3

WLNR WDLX (930 AM) and WGHB (1250 AM) are radio stations broadcasting a sports format. The WDLX/WGHB simulcast is currently owned by Pirate Media Group. Licensed to Washington, North Carolina, United States, WDLX serves the Greenville-New Bern area ...

Lansing, Illinois Lansing is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Lansing is a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 29,076 at the 2020 census. Geography Lansing is located at (41.565785, -87.545791). It is south of the Chicago city limits a ...

since 1973.

Early Gospel years

In 1992, WTAS began airing a black gospel format, simulcasting the programming of

1510 Year 1510 ( MDX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January – Catherine of Aragon gives birth to her first child, a stillborn daughter. * ...

WWHN WWHN is a radio station licensed in Joliet, Illinois serving the Chicago metropolitan area with an urban adult contemporary format. It operates on AM frequency 1510 kHz and is under ownership of Hawkins Broadcasting Company. Because it share ...

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

.Weaver, Maurice.
Radio From The 'Bank'
, ''

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 ar ...

''. September 15, 1992. Retrieved December 29, 2018. In 1993, the station was purchased by Word of Faith Fellowship, Inc. for $800,000, and on October 22, 1993, its callsign was changed to WEMG-FM, with the station continuing to air a black gospel format. In 1997, the station was sold to Dontron, Inc. for $1.8 million. In summer 1997, the station was taken silent. On October 31, 1997, the station's callsign was changed to WYAA. The station returned to the air January 5, 1998. As WYAA, the station played gospel oldies, love songs, and Christian jazz, along with brokered religious programming.''The Shepherd's Guide''. Eighth Edition. 1998. p. 120-121.

Hot 102 & The Groove

On June 1, 2000, the station's callsign was changed to WVJM, and the station adopted 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 ...

format as "Hot 102".Doug Banks can't wait to take on WGCI
Feder, Robert. ''Chicago Sun Times''. June 20, 2000. Accessed January 8, 2014 As an urban contemporary station, WVJM "Hot 102" carried the syndicated

Doug Banks Calvin Douglas Banks Jr. (June 9, 1958 – April 11, 2016) was an American radio personality and host of The Doug Banks Radio Show. Career highlights The Philadelphia-born, Detroit-raised Banks began his radio career broadcasting on his high sch ...

show. On March 26, 2001, the station's urban contemporary format was moved to longtime gospel 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 ...

92.3 in

along with the call letters WVJM. The call letters WYCA briefly moved to 102.3, before being moved to WYBA 106.3 in

on April 22, 2001, with 102.3 adopting WYBA as its callsign.Call Sign History
fcc.gov. Accessed January 8, 2014 As WYBA, the station initially aired an R&B format as "The Groove".Tuesday, 02.18.03
DJHeadlines.com. February 18, 2003. Accessed January 8, 2014

Rejoice 102

The station switched to its current Gospel music format as "Rejoice 102" on February 17, 2003. On September 30, 2003, the station's callsign was changed to WYCA, as 106.3 in Lansing changed its callsign to WSRB and dropped its Gospel format in favor of an

Urban AC Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

format. With the end of the Gospel format on 106.3, Gospel Announcer Darryll King moved her weekday program from 106.3 to 102.3, though she continues to host a show on 106.3

WSRB WSRB (106.3 FM) is an urban adult contemporary radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. It is licensed to the Southland suburb of Lansing, Illinois, and transmits within that city from a tower along the north si ...

on Sundays.Tuesday, 09.30.03
DJHeadlines.com. September 30, 2003. Accessed January 8, 2014 WYCA is now the lone religious outlet for Crawford in the Chicago area.

References

External links

{{coord, 41.326, N, 87.621, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Will County, Illinois YCA Gospel radio stations in the United States YCA Radio stations established in 1964 1964 establishments in Illinois