WXRT (93.1 FM), also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

(AAA)

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 ...

. For many years, their slogan has been "Chicago's Finest Rock". "Chicago's Home For Music Lovers" has been used as its slogan since fall 2017. The station broadcasts from a transmitter atop John Hancock Center and its studios are located at

Two Prudential Plaza The Two Prudential Plaza is a 64-story skyscraper located in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. At tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago and the 28th-tallest in the U.S., being only five feet from 1,000 feet, making ...

near Chicago's Millennium Park. WXRT broadcasts 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.

Programming

Chicago Bike to Work Day Rally 2011 (5852625563)

WXRT plays a very broad range of music in a format known as AAA/Triple-A (

Adult Album Alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

). With a playlist of more than 5,000 songs from wide-ranging genres including

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, folk-rock,

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

, and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

, WXRT is considered a pioneer in the format.Caro, Mark.
Radiodaze
, ''

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 ...

''. November 16, 1997. Retrieved February 1, 2019.Nidetz, Steve.
Rest of the Country Finally Catching Up With WXRT
, ''

''. March 22, 1994. Retrieved February 5, 2019. WXRT is well known for several locally produced, original programs such as '' Saturday Morning Flashback'' hosted by Frank E. Lee, Johnny Mars, and Annalisa on a rotating basis, '' Breakfast with the Beatles'' hosted by Terri Hemmert, "Blues Breakers" hosted by Tom Marker. Local music show "Local Anesthetic", hosted by Richard Milne, aired its final show on December 24, 2017. The final "Jazz Transfusion" hosted by Barry Winograd aired February 4, 2018, marking the end of more than four decades of the program. WXRT introduced several popular specialty programs in recent years. 'All Vinyl Saturday' began in 2016 to celebrate Record Store Day by playing individual songs and entire album sides non-stop for 12 hours. The albums selected to be played are from the personal record collections of DJs Marty Lennartz, Frank E. Lee, Annalisa, Johnny Mars, Don Davis and Ryan Arnold. Due to "All Vinyl Saturdays" popularity, the feature is presented 3 to 4 times a year. The "XRT Friday Feature" spotlights two artists or bands popular among WXRT listeners.

History

WFJL-FM

WFJL – (standing for Frank J. Lewis) went on the air on May 22, 1949. WFJL operated as a non-commercial station by Lewis College of Science and Technology (previous name of Lewis College, now

Lewis University Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. The enrollment is currently around 6,800 students. Lewis offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, 22 graduate ...

).
1955 Broadcasting Yearbook–Marketbook
',

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 wi ...

, 1955. p. 128. Retrieved February 2, 2019. The station's license was cancelled in 1956. WFJL, under the leadership of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Auxiliary

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Most Rev. Bernard J. Sheil, D.D., of the Archdiocese of Chicago and General Manager Jerry Keefe, radio format consisted of religious, educational, news, talk, and CYO

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. WFJL's facilities were located at the Lincoln Tower Building, 75 East Wacker Drive in

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 ...

, above ground and had 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 h ...

of 29,000 watts. The station was sold to Louis Lee and call letters were changed to WSBC-FM.

WSBC-FM

The station began broadcasting March 15, 1960, holding the call sign WSBC-FM. The station's studios and transmitter were located at the West Town State Bank Building at 2400 W. Madison in Chicago, and it had an ERP of 27,500 watts.History Cards for WXRT
fcc.gov. Retrieved February 1, 2019. WSBC-FM featured a variety of musical programming, including classical,BMW News Editor Takes to Airwaves
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

''. September 18, 1961. p. 14. Retrieved February 3, 2019.

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 m ...

, folk, and

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

shows, and simulcast some of the ethnic programming of its sister station 1240 WSBC, when the shared time station was on the air. The station was owned by Louie 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 ...

''. March 9, 1995. Retrieved February 2, 2019. In 1962, its ERP was increased to 55,000 watts.

WXRT

In 1963, the station's call sign was changed to WXRT. The station increasingly aired ethnic programming. In 1971, WXRT's studios and transmitter were moved to 4949 West Belmont Ave., where it operated with an ERP of 50,000 watts at a HAAT of 500 feet. In 1981, the station's transmitter was moved to the John Hancock Center. The format as it exists today began in August 1972 as a nighttime-only freeform rock experiment, while a variety of ethnic programming continued to air during the daytime hours.Neumer, Alison.
WXRT still going strong at age 30
, ''

''. October 30, 2002. Retrieved February 1, 2019.Looking Back
, ''The AOR Story''.

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

. 1978. p. 9. Retrieved February 5, 2019. The part-time

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

format was started by Don Bridges, who soon brought in Mitch Michaels and then John Platt, Seth Mason, and Bob Schulman. Norm Winer served as program director from 1979 through 2016. Greg Solk was named program director in 2017. Laura Duncan joined as Program Director in 2021. The format's hours were gradually expanded, and on April 26, 1976, it began airing 24 hours a day.Wyman, Bill.
So Many Records, So Little Time?
, ''

''. November 15, 1990. Retrieved February 5, 2019. The station was branded "Chicago's Fine Rock Station" and later "Chicago's Finest Rock". In the 1980s, the station heavily played music from the new wave,

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

, and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

groups of that era. By the 1990s, the station's format was considered

. The station's offices and studios were located at 4949 West Belmont Ave. on the northwest side of Chicago until 2008, when it was relocated to the

NBC Tower __NOTOC__ The NBC Tower is an office tower on the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois located at 454 North Columbus Drive (455 North Cityfront Plaza is also used as a vanity address for the building) in downtown Chicago's Magnificent Mile area. ...

in downtown Chicago. Rosenthal, Phil.
Some static expected as 'XRT leaves home
, ''

''. February 8, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2019. On March 16, 2010, it was again relocated to the Prudential Plaza. In 1995, Danny Lee, son of the station's original owner Louie Lee, sold the station to Westinghouse for $44 million. Shortly thereafter, Westinghouse would acquire CBS and Infinity Radio, with the company changing its name to CBS Corp. The Infinity name was retained for its radio division. CBS and Viacom would merge in 2000. In December 2005, Infinity Radio officially became

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

in anticipation of the CBS/Viacom split up. On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17.

April Fools' jokes

WXRT has performed numerous

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

jokes, dating back to the 1970s.Jacob, Mark; Benzkofer, Stephan.
10 things you might not know about April Fools' Day
, ''

''. March 28, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2019. In 1982, the station promoted "Mayor Jane Byrne April Fool Fest" on

Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, family ...

, promising live performances by multiple artists, some of whom were dead. Hundreds of people showed up to the then derelict and padlocked Navy Pier, believing that the festival was real. In 1998, WXRT stated that it was now a subsidiary of

Playboy Enterprises PLBY Group, Inc. is an American global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to oversee the ''Playboy'' magazine and related assets. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. The company is focus ...

. The station said it was now "True Adult Radio", and that its call sign was changed to WXXXRT.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control XRT Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Illinois Audacy, Inc. radio stations