WAWE (94.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a

Christian worship music Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are fr ...

format, licensed to

Glendale Heights, Illinois Glendale Heights is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 33,176. History Glendale Heights was a small farming area served by the Glen Ellyn post office up until the 1950s, with a population ...

, United States. The station serves 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 hin ...

and is owned by the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

, broadcasting its

Air1 Air1 is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), it primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network. History In 1986, KLRD began broadcasting Christian ...

format.

History

WRMN-FM

The station began broadcasting in September 1960 and held the call sign WRMN-FM, simulcasting AM 1410 WRMN. The station was located in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-larg ...

and had an ERP of 1,000 watts at a

HAAT Haat or hat, even haat bazaar, is an open-air market that serves as a Trading post, trading venue for local people in rural areas and towns of Indian subcontinent, especially in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Haat bazaars are conducted o ...

of 130 feet. By 1965, the station had begun airing programming independent of AM 1410.
1965 Broadcasting Yearbook
',

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 ...

, 1965. p. B-49. Retrieved November 26, 2018. In 1965, the station's ERP was increased to 3,000 watts and its HAAT was decreased to 115 feet. In 1972, the station's HAAT was increased to 210 feet and its ERP was reduced to 2,500 watts.

Progressive rock era

In 1972, the station adopted the call letters WJKL, which was based on the name of the station manager at the time, Richard Jakle.Ghrist, John R. (1996). ''Valley Voices: A Radio History''. Crossroads Communications. p. 95-98. In the 1974, WJKL adopted a

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, and was branded "The Fox".Chicago's WJKL Goes MOR
, ''

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, 1982. p. 18. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1976
',

, 1976. p. C-59. Retrieved November 26, 2018. In 1975, the station's ERP was increased to 3,000 watts. In July 1980, the station dropped all local talent becoming fully automated, airing an

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

format. Live personalities were brought back in April 1981.

Big band era

In September 1982, the station adopted a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

/ adult standards format, with the branding "JKL 94" "Great Music".
Chicago Radio Guide
', Vol. 1, Issue 1. May 1985. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
Chicagoland Radio Waves
', MediaTies. Summer 1988. Retrieved November 27, 2018. The station featured music from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.WJKL FM 94.3
, ''Radio Chicago'', Winter 1990. p. 53. Retrieved November 27, 2018. '' When Radio Was'', hosted by Carl Amari, aired nightly on the station. In 1984, the station's HAAT was increased to 328 feet.

Adult contemporary era

In May 1990, WJKL adopted an

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, quie ...

format and revived "The Fox" branding.WJKL FM 94.3
, ''Radio Chicago'', Summer 1990. p. 54. Retrieved November 27, 2018.Radio Station Index by Format
, ''Radio Chicago'', Fall 1990. p. 3. Retrieved November 27, 2018. The station carried programming from the

Satellite Music Network Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats. History Affiliate stations, mostly in small and medium markets, co ...

, along with local programs such as the ''Radio Shopping Show''. In 1990, the station's ERP was increased to 6,000 watts. In 1998, the station added brokered programming at night.Format Changes & Updates
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 15, No. 27. July 8, 1998. p. 1. Retrieved November 27, 2018.

One on One Sports

On March 1, 1999, became a brokered affiliate of One on One Sports (later called Sporting News Radio), airing One on One Sports programming from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.Format Changes & Updates
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 16, No. 8. February 4, 1999. p. 2. Retrieved November 27, 2018.Kirk, Jim.
One-on-one Sports Soon Zero For One On AM
''

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 ...

''. February 24, 1999. Retrieved November 27, 2018. One on One Sports moved to the station from AM 950 WIDB.

K-Love

On March 1, 2001, Sporting News Radio moved to AM 820

WYPA WYPA (89.5 FM) is a non–commercial Christian Worship formatted radio station licensed to serve Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The station is owned by Educational Media Foundation and is a member of the nationally syndicated Air1 radio network. WY ...

, and the station began to sell its airtime to

which broadcast its K-LOVE

Christian adult contemporary Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC or CAC, is a radio format. In the United States, Christian adult contemporary radio stations cater to a mostly adult audience and are similar to mainstream adult contemporary stations in tha ...

format. Feder, Robert.
One-on-One sports talk goes to WYPA March 1
, ''

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 ...

''. February 22, 2001. Retrieved November 27, 2018.Format Changes & Updates
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 18, No. 09. February 28, 2001. p. 1. Retrieved November 27, 2018. In 2007, Elgin Broadcasting Company sold WJKL to Educational Media Foundation for $17 million. After purchasing the station in 2007, Educational Media Foundation changed WJKL's city of license from Elgin to Glendale Heights. In 2010, the station's transmitter was moved from Elgin to the Oakbrook Terrace Tower in

Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois Oakbrook Terrace is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, and is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 2,751. It is the smallest town in DuPage County, in terms of area and population. History Oakbrook Terrace was originall ...

, moving to a higher location closer to Chicago, while reducing its power to 3,500 watts ERP.

Air1

On March 10, 2018, K-LOVE moved to 97.9 WLUP-FM (now WCKL). In summer of 2018, WJKL became an affiliate of Educational Media Foundation's Christian CHR network Air1.Venta, Lance.
EMF Launches Christian Classic Hits 'K-Love Classics'
, ''Radio Insight''. August 15, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018. The station changed its call sign to WAWE on July 11, 2019.Call Sign History
fcc.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2020. The WJKL callsign was moved to K-LOVE's station serving

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ...

References

External links

Air1
- official website * {{coord, 41.8583633, -87.9545072, region:US-IL_source:FCC_type:landmark, display=title Radio stations established in 1960 Contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States Air1 radio stations AWE 1960 establishments in Illinois Educational Media Foundation radio stations AWE