WCKL (97.9 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, featuring a Christian contemporary format via the K-Love network. Owned and operated by Educational Media Foundation (EMF), WCKL serves the Chicago metro area with a transmitter located atop the John Hancock Center.
One of the oldest surviving FM stations in Chicago, this station signed on the air on April 7, 1942, as W83C. Throughout the station's early existence, it changed callsigns, formats and owners before relaunching itself on March 14, 1977, as WLUP "97.9 The Loop", a nod to the Chicago Loop. As WLUP, the station aired various formats ranging from classic rock, pop rock, pop alternative, and adult alternative formats. It changed ownership several times before being sold to Merlin Media in 2011 and subsequently entered a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cumulus Media in 2014. This LMA was terminated after Cumulus entered into bankruptcy proceedings, prompting Merlin Media to sell the station to EMF, which relaunched the station as part of the K-Love network on March 10, 2018. The classic rock format and "Loop" branding was retained on the second HD subchannel of WKQX.
In addition to a standard analog transmission, WCKL broadcasts over four HD subchannels and is available online. WCKL-HD2 carries Air1 programming, WCKL-HD3 carries "Boost Radio" Christian hip hop and WCKL-HD4 features Radio Nueva Vida programming.
History
Early years as W83C/WEHS/WHFC The station was first granted a construction permit on April 7, 1942, with the call sign W83C, licensed to broadcast at 48.3 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM broadcast band. The station was owned by Richard W. Hoffman, who also owned WHFC."Communication Posts", Broadcasting — Telecasting. January 22, 1951. p. 18. Retrieved March 6, 2019.Cohodas, Nadine (2001). Spinning Blues Into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records. Macmillan Publishers. p. 213. Retrieved March 6, 2019. Its studios and transmitter were initially located at the Medinah Athletic Club building at 505 N. Michigan Avenue, but were moved to the Bankers Building at 105 West Adams by 1945."Annual Cigarette Drive Proves Popular", Broadcasting — Telecasting. A Continuing Study of Major Radio Markets: Study No. 7: Chicago. October 25, 1948. p. 18. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
On November 1, 1943, the station was assigned the WEHS call sign, and it was granted its first license on October 8, 1945. The callsign stood for "Elizabeth Hoffman's Station", named for owner Richard Hoffman's mother. In January 1946, the station received permission from the FCC to go silent to convert to operation on the new 88-108 MHz FM broadcast band, which the FCC had created on June 27, 1945. On July 31, 1946, the station was reassigned to 100.1 MHz, and then granted a move to 97.9 MHz on September 23, 1947. WEHS was the first commercial radio station to air "storecasts"."Radio Market", Broadcasting — Telecasting. A Continuing Study of Major Radio Markets: Study No. 7: Chicago. October 25, 1948. p. 8. Retrieved March 5, 2019. It broadcast background music for National Tea grocery stores in the Chicago area."Local shoppers have a chance at 50 dollars", Daily Herald. October 28, 1949. p. 18. Retrieved March 6, 2019. When the contract with National ran out in the mid-1950s, WEHS simulcast the foreign language and Black programming of co-owned WHFC for six hours a day, the minimum broadcast time to keep the license. In 1952, WEHS's studios and transmitter were moved to WHFC's studio and transmitter site at 3350 S. Kedzie.
L & P Broadcasting Corporation purchased WEHS in February 1963, along with WHFC, for $1 million."Actions By FCC", Broadcasting. December 17, 1962. p. 102. Retrieved March 6, 2019. The Chess family of Chess, Checker and Cadet Records fame owned L & P Broadcasting (the "L" stood for Leonard Chess while the "P" stood for brother Phil Chess)."Changing hands", Broadcasting. December 17, 1962. p. 46-47. Retrieved March 6, 2019. Leonard primarily ran the record labels and recording studio while brother Phil was president of the radio company. The WHFC call sign was moved to WEHS on March 3, 1963, while WHFC was assigned the WVON ("The Voice of the Negro") call sign. WHFC aired an R&B format and simulcast WVON 24 hours a day."New Chess R.&B. 'Baby' Shows Face in Chicago", Billboard. April 13, 1963. p. 24. Retrieved December 9, 2019.1964 Broadcasting Yearbook, Broadcasting, 1964. p. B-48. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
WSDM On March 8, 1965, WHFC's call sign was changed to WSDM, which stood for "Smack Dab in the Middle", in reference to the station's position at the middle of the FM dial."WSDM-FM Aircheck", Chicagoland Radio and Media. February 23, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2019. The station was also known as "the station with the girls and all that jazz",Walker-Hill, Helen (2007). From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music. University of Illinois Press. p. 323. Retrieved January 19, 2020. as it featured all female DJs known as "Den Pals","Radio-TV Programming", Billboard. September 4, 1965. p. 42. Retrieved March 6, 2019. which included Yvonne Daniels, Danae Alexander, Cody Sweet, Penny Lane, Nancy Plum,"Get To Know: Nancy Plum Frankfort disc jockey", The State Journal. August 14, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2019. Connie Szerszen, known on the air as "Dawn", and Linda Ellerbee, known on the air as "Hush Puppy"."WSDM-FM With Yvonne Daniels Chicago Jazz Radio That Combined Sex And Class", All About Jazz. September 8, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2019."From the Music Capitals of the World", Billboard. April 1, 1967. p. 62. Retrieved March 6, 2019.Brack, Ray. "Record Promotion Men Speakers for WSDM, Chi Stereo Station", Billboard. September 4, 1965. pp. 22, 26. Retrieved March 6, 2019.Lavin, Cheryl. "Linda Ellerbee", Chicago Tribune. July 30, 2000. Retrieved March 6, 2019. WSDM played "pop-oriented jazz and jazz oriented pop".Zakaras, Paul. "Chicago Disk Experts Stress Importance of Jazz Promotion", Billboard. July 16, 1966. p. 36. Retrieved March 6, 2019. Program director was Mickey Shorr and later Burt Burdeen."Radio & Jazz = Loyal Listeners", Billboard. April 29, 1972. p. 25. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
In 1968, the station began airing a nighttime progressive rock program called Underground Den on weekends."3 Chicago Outlets Launch Progressive Rock Airplay", Billboard. March 2, 1968. p. 22. Retrieved March 6, 2019."From the Music Capitals of the World", Billboard. March 23, 1968. p. 46. Retrieved March 6, 2019. In early 1971, WSDM began to mix rock music with its light jazz.Paige, Earl. "WSDM-FM Reshapes to Jazzrock Style", Billboard. April 3, 1971. pp. 42, 43. Retrieved March 6, 2019. The station positioned itself as "jazzed up rock"."Satire Series Set", Billboard. February 22, 1975. p. 33. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Ownership of the station was transferred to Phil Chess effective October 22, 1971. Phil Chess' son, Terry Chess, was general manager.1973 Broadcasting Yearbook, Broadcasting, 1973. p. B-59. Retrieved March 7, 2019. In 1972, WSDM's transmitter was moved to the John Hancock Center. Actress Cindy Morgan was a DJ on the station in the 1970s."5 Questions with...'Caddyshack's' Cindy Morgan", NBC Sports Chicago. February 10, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
WLUP
The call sign was changed to WLUP on March 14, 1977. The station adopted an album-oriented rock (AOR) format and was rebranded as "The Loop", referring to the nickname of Chicago's central business district.Hall, Claude. "'War Babies' Target of WLUP", Billboard. March 19, 1977. p. 16. Retrieved March 7, 2019."Stations, everywhere: a listeners' guide to the AM and FM bands", Chicago Tribune Magazine. March 4, 1979. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Jay Blackburn was Program Director and Tommy O'Toole served as the station's first morning host and was the first Loop DJ to sign on the air."WLS-FM's Tom O'Toole Reveals Cancer Scare", Chicagoland Radio and Media. December 23, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2019.Hall, Doug. "Vox Jox", Billboard. April 28, 1979. p. 38. Retrieved March 7, 2019."The Loop Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary", Chicagoland Radio and Media. March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2019. The first song O'Toole played on "The Loop" was "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens. The original Loop air staff included Tommy in mornings, William "Captain Billy" Martin in middays, Lester "Les" Tracy in afternoons, and Bob Shannon evenings. Other early Loop DJs included Greg Budell, Ford Colley, Don Davis, and Glory-June Greaif.
Heftel Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Hawaiian Congressman Cecil Heftel, purchased the station effective March 5, 1979, for $3 million."In Brief", Broadcasting. June 12, 1978. p. 41. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Lee Abrams was hired as consultant. The rock format was kept in place, but emphasis was put on harder-edged rock. Jesse Bullit was the program director. Steve Dahl, who had been unemployed since WDAI (94.7 FM) went to a disco format in December 1978, began hosting mornings on March 19, 1979.Deeb, Gary. "Humor, Chicago-style", Chicago Tribune. March 12, 1979. Section 2, p. 10. On July 12, 1979, Dahl staged one of the most famous promotions in radio and sports history, Disco Demolition Night. Garry Meier, known over the air at the time as "Matthew Meier", was an overnight DJ, and was later teamed with Dahl as the morning newsman.Johnson, Steve. "Shocked Jock", Chicago Tribune. November 6, 1994. Retrieved March 7, 2019. Soon thereafter, Meier became Steve's full-time sidekick, and used his real name, Garry Meier.Penchansky, Alan. "Science & Subjective Input Are Vital For AOR Mix - WLUP Exec", Billboard. November 17, 1979. p. 26. Retrieved March 7, 2019.Widder, Pat. "Steve and Garry Part Ways-For Now-After 15 Years", Chicago Tribune. September 14, 1993. Retrieved March 7, 2019.