WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while its transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey, and Northwestern University college football and basketball.
WGN was founded in 1922 as WDAP. In 1924 it was acquired by the Chicago Tribune, whose "World's Greatest Newspaper" slogan served as the basis for the WGN call sign, and later the call sign of a television superstation. Tribune Broadcasting merged with Nexstar Media Group in 2019; the latter has owned WGN since.
WGN is a clear channel, Class A station, broadcasting with the maximum power of 50,000 watts, and using a non-directional antenna. During daytime, near-perfect ground conductivity gives WGN at least secondary coverage to almost two-thirds of Illinois (as far south as Springfield) as well as large slices of Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa. During nighttime skywave, with a good radio, it is audible over most of the Eastern and Central United States and Central Canada. The station also streams its programming on its website and supplies podcasts as well. WGN was previously responsible for the activation of the Chicago metropolitan area Emergency Alert System when hazardous weather alerts, disaster area declarations, and child abductions are issued; this is currently handled by WLS.
History WDAP The station first signed on the air on May 19, 1922, among the earliest stations in Chicago. It was randomly issued the call sign WDAP, from a sequential roster of available call signs, to Mid West Radio Central, Inc."New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1922, page 2. This corporation was headed by Thorne Donnelley and Elliott Jenkins.
WDAP was originally located in the Wrigley Building. The studios were moved to the Drake Hotel the following July.WGN: A Pictorial History, WGN, Inc., 1961, pages 9-16. In mid-1923 ownership was transferred to the Board of Trade,"Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, July 2, 1923, page 10. and the next year the Whitestone Company, managers of the Drake Hotel, took control."Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, June 2, 1924, page 7.
Chicago Tribune The Chicago Tribune acquired WDAP, and on June 1, 1924, the call sign was changed to WGN."Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, August 1, 1924, page 6. The call letters came from "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan used since 1911.The "World's Greatest Newspaper" slogan was first used in a February 1909 feature commemorating the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, which served as the motto from August 29, 1911, until December 31, 1976 ().
This was the second Tribune-affiliated radio station to hold the WGN call letters. The original WGN began operating on the evening of March 29, 1924, after the newspaper took over programming of the former WJAZ."W-G-N, Tribune Radio, Starts Tonight', Chicago Daily Tribune, March 29, 1924, pages 1, 11. Zenith had decided to move WJAZ to a suburban transmitter site. It sold the original WJAZ to the Edgewater Beach Hotel management, which changed the call letters to WEBH: ("Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, June 2, 1924, page 7). WEBH was eventually deleted in November 1928 when it was consolidated with KYW ("Strike out all particulars" Radio Service Bulletin, November 30, 1928, page 12.) The WGN call sign had been assigned to a Great Lakes vessel, SS Carl D. Bradley. However the ship's skipper (and namesake) agreed to relinquish it in order to free it for adoption by the newspaper. The ship's call sign was changed to KFSI.
Shows and programming Early programming was noted for its creativity and innovation. It included live music, political debates, comedy routines, and some of radio's first sporting event broadcasts, including the 1924 Indianapolis 500, and a live broadcast of the 1925 Scopes trial from Dayton, Tennessee. Wallace M Rogerson conducted the Keep Fit to Music programme. In 1926, WGN broadcast Sam & Henry, a daily serial with comic elements created and performed by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. After a dispute with the station in 1927, Gosden and Correll took the program's concept and announcer Bill Hay across town to WMAQ and created the first syndicated radio show, Amos 'n' Andy.
By the fall of 1928, the owners of the Tribune company and its sister publication, Liberty magazine, controlled two stations in addition to WGN in the Chicago area: WLIB and WTAS. On September 1, 1928, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) ruled that this was two stations too many, and ordered that their operations be consolidated.Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission For the Year Ended June 30, 1928, page 162. WTAS was deleted,"Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, November 30, 1928, page 12. and the other two stations were merged with a dual call letter assignment of WGN-WLIB, although the latter call sign would be rarely if ever used. On May 15, 1933, after the FRC requested that stations using only one of their assigned call letters drop those that were no longer in regular use, WLIB was eliminated and the station reverted to just WGN."Double Call Letters Are Being Eliminated", Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, June 25, 1933, Part 4, page 6.
CBS and Mutual Broadcasting System
On November 1, 1931, WGN's network affiliation changed from NBC to CBS as a result of NBC's purchase of a half-interest in WMAQ, which then became Chicago's NBC station. During this period, Count Cutelli installed one of the most advanced sound effects system to date into the WGN studios, the same system used in Hollywood films.
In 1934, WGN became a founding member of the Mutual Broadcasting System. WGN joined with WOR in New York City, WXYZ in Detroit and WLW in Cincinnati to form the network, a rival to NBC and CBS. During the "Golden Age of Radio", Mutual was the home of The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Superman and The Shadow. For many years, it was a national broadcaster for Major League Baseball, the National Football League and Notre Dame football.
In the fall of 1937, WGN was one of several Chicago radio stations to donate airtime to Chicago Public Schools for a pioneering program in which the school district provided elementary school students with distance education amid a polio outbreak-related school closure.
In 1939, Carole Mathews, the "Miss Chicago" of 1938, launched a WGN radio program entitled Breakfast Time with Carole Mathews. It ended later that year when she left the station for an acting career in Hollywood.
FM and TV stations In May 1940, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM radio band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz."FCC Order No. 67" Federal Register, May 25, 1940, page 2011. In July 1941, WGN was given tentative permission to operate FM station W59CThe initial call sign policy for commercial FM stations included an initial "W" for stations east of the Mississippi River, followed by the last two digits of a station's assigned frequency, "59" for "45.9 MHz" in this case, and closing with a one or two letter regional identifier, which for Chicago area stations was "C". on 45.9 MHz,"Actions of the Federal Communications Commission: Decisions . . .: July 9", Broadcasting, July 14, 1941, page 58. pending the outcome of an FCC review whether newspaper ownership of radio stations should be restricted."FCC Starts Newspaper Ownership Drive", Broadcasting, March 24, 1941, page 7. Effective November 1, 1943, the FCC modified its policy for FM call signs,"Standard Broadcast Station Call Letters for All Outlets Starting Nov. 1, FCC Rule", The Billboard, September 4, 1943, page 7. and the station's call letters were changed to WGNB."New Calls Named For FM Stations", Broadcasting, October 4, 1943, page 49.
On June 27, 1945, the FCC announced the reassignment of the FM band to 80 channels from 88 to 106 MHz, which was soon expanded to 100 channels from 88 to 108 MHz."FCC Allocates 88-106 mc Band to FM" by Bill Bailey, Broadcasting, July 2, 1945, pages 13-14."FCC Allocations Order Text", Broadcasting, July 2, 1945, pages 64-68. For most of its broadcasts on the new band, WGNB was located on 98.7 MHz. Its schedule was primarily a simulcast of the AM station, with some FM-only music shows broadcast as well. But with few people owning FM radio receivers in that era, management did not think WGNB would become profitable. Therefore, WGN, Inc. turned in WGNB's license for cancellation, and the station was deleted on May 28, 1953."For the Record: Existing FM Stations . . .: Station Deletions", Broadcasting, June 8, 1953, page 85. The next year another Chicago station, WFMT, moved to the vacated 98.7 assignment.
In 1946, the Tribune Company applied to the FCC for a construction permit to build a television station. On April 5, 1948, WGN-TV Channel 9 signed on the air. Because CBS, NBC and ABC had their own network stations in Chicago, WGN-TV became an independent television station, responsible for most of its own programming or airing old movies and syndicated TV shows.
Change in ownership After McCormick died from pneumonia-related complications on April 1, 1955, ownership of WGN-AM-TV, the Chicago Tribune and the News Syndicate Company properties transferred to the McCormick-Patterson Trust, assigned to the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation in the names of the non-familial heirs of McCormick (whose two marriages never produced any children) and familial heirs of Patterson. (The trust was dissolved in January 1975, with a majority of the trust's former beneficiaries, including descendants of the McCormick and Patterson families, owning stock in the restructured Tribune Company entity – which assumed oversight of all properties previously overseen by the trust – afterward.)
In November 1958, WGN became the first radio station in Chicago to broadcast helicopter traffic reports featuring Police Officer Leonard Baldy. Flying Officer Baldy was killed in a helicopter crash, while on duty, on May 2, 1960. Eleven years later, WGN suffered another helicopter-related tragedy when Flying Officer Irv Hayden and his pilot were killed on August 10, 1971, after their helicopter struck a utility pole in the Chicago suburb of Bellwood.
Move to North Center In 1961, the WGN radio and television stations moved to a studio facility on West Bradley Place in the North Center neighborhood, a move undertaken for civil defense concerns to provide the station a safe base to broadcast in case of a hostile attack targeting downtown Chicago. WGN radio moved back to North Michigan Avenue in 1986, relocating its operations to a studio in the Pioneer Court extension (WGN-TV remained at the Bradley Place facility, where that station operates to this day). The former WGN annex onto Tribune Tower is now used as a retail space containing Dylan's Candy Bar.
Over many decades, WGN was a "full service" radio station. The station played small amounts of music during the mornings and afternoon, moderate amounts of music on weekends during the day, aired midday and evening talk shows, and sports among other features. The station aired middle of the road (MOR) music until the 1970s, when its switched to more of an adult contemporary-type sound. Music programming was phased out during the 1980s, and by 1990, the station's lineup mainly consisted of talk shows.
Past personalities Some former personalities on WGN include longtime morning hosts Wally Phillips, Bob Collins, Spike O'Dell, Paul Harvey and Roy Leonard. Orion Samuelson had been the station's farm reporter since 1960, he retired in 2020. Late-night hosts over the years have included Franklyn MacCormack, Ed "Chicago Eddie" Schwartz, and the husband-and-wife team of Steve King and Johnnie Putman.