WGN (AM)

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WGN
City of license	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Broadcast area	Chicagoland
Branding	News/Talk 720
Slogan	The Voice of Chicago
Frequency	720 kHz (Also on HD Radio)
First air date	June 1, 1924
Format	News/Talk/Sports
Power	50,000 Watts
Class	A
Callsign meaning	"World's Greatest Newspaper" - reference to Chicago Tribune
Affiliations	ABC Radio News The Weather Channel Chicago Cubs (MLB) Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Owner	Tribune Company (WGN Continental Broadcasting)
Sister stations	WGN-TV & CLTV
Webcast	Listen Live (ShoutCast)
Website	wgnradio.com

WGN-AM is a radio station on 720 kHz in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is owned by the Tribune Company, which also owns the flagship television station WGN-TV, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and Chicago magazine locally. WGN's transmitter is located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The station offers a news and talk format and is the flagship station of the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Blackhawks, Northwestern University football & men's basketball and Paul Harvey. WGN is usually the top rated radio station in Chicago and is one of only a handful of American talk radio stations to have all of its programming originating locally.

WGN-AM, is responsible for activation of the Chicagoland Emergency Alert System when hazardous weather alerts, Disaster area declarations, and child abductions are issued.

[edit] History

WGN went on the air on March 29, 1924 from studios in the Edgewater Beach Hotel. [1]In May, 1924, the Tribune ended its ties with the Edgewater Beach Hotel station (which changed its call letters to WEBH) and began an association with WDAP. [2] WGN went on the air again on June 1, 1924 from studios in the Drake Hotel as the new name for WDAP, a station which had been broadcasting since May of 1922. Its call letters stood for "World's Greatest Newspaper", a reference to the station's owner, the Chicago Tribune. [3] To underscore that, in the Tribune's radio listings, their station was listed as "W-G-N", whereas the other stations were listed without hyphens.

WGN is a high-powered clear channel AM station (50,000 watts), which during nighttime hours is often audible over much of the USA, parts of Canada, and sometimes as far away as Australia and South America. The station also has a 24/7 Internet stream on its website, which carries the station's broadcast programming except for commercial breaks and Cubs games, when alternate programming and intermission music is played instead.

Early programming was noted for its creativity and innovation. It included live music, political debates, comedy routines, and some of radio's first broadcasts of sporting events, including the Indianapolis 500 automobile race, and a live broadcast of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial from Dayton, Tennessee. 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 in history, Amos 'n' Andy.

WGN was a founding member of the Mutual Broadcasting System.

In November 1958, WGN became the first radio station in Chicago to broadcast helicopter traffic reports featuring Police Officer Leonard Baldy.

WGN is now mainly a news and talk radio station. WGN broadcasts news, weather, traffic and sports every hour. Pat Hughes and Ron Santo serve as the play-by-play team for all games of the Chicago Cubs, another Tribune asset. WGN is also the radio home of Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball games. On April 30, 2008, the Chicago Blackhawks and WGN announced a partnership to broadcast games for the next three seasons.

Over many decades, WGN was a "full service" radio station. The station played small amounts of music during mornings and afternoons, moderate amounts of music on weekends during the day, had midday and evening talk shows, and sports among other features. The station's music was easy listening/MOR-based until the 1970s, when the music was more of an adult contemporary-type sound. The music played at the station was phased out during the 1980s, and by 1990, the station's lineup mainly consisted of talk shows.

Some former well-known personalities on the station include longtime morning host Wally Phillips, Bob Collins, and Roy Leonard.

[edit] Notable events

• In October 1985, an electronic bandit overpowered the signal of the popular Wally Phillips show on WGN-AM radio and made sexually explicit comments.^{[citation needed]}

• In 2005, Tom Langmyer joined WGN as Vice President and General Manager. Langmyer was previously Vice President and General Manager of KMOX Radio in St. Louis and Vice President-Programming of CBS Radio's 10 News/Talk Stations.

• On April 30, 2008, the station announced a three-year deal making WGN radio "The Voice of the Chicago Blackhawks," bringing NHL hockey to the station through the 2010-2011 seasons. ^[1]

[edit] Current schedule

This article or section contains a current television or radio schedule. Please convert this schedule to prose. Schedules which have been copied and pasted from an external source may possibly be in violation of copyright. Please remove this template after editing.

As of August 9th, 2007 (All times Central Standard (GMT–06:00) early November–mid March, Central Daylight (GMT–05:00) mid March–early November):^[2]

Programming notes:

• Broadcasts of Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks, Northwestern Wildcats basketball, and Northwestern Wildcats football games preempt the regularly scheduled programming. Sports games broadcasts typically include pre-game and post-game segments prior to and after the games, and Chicago Cubs and other some other sports are not streamed via the web; alternate programming or a looping disclaimer is aired instead.

[edit] External links

• WGN Radio
  • Schedule
• WGN gold - The history of WGN Radio
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WGN
• Radio Locator Information on WGN
• WGN (AM) is at coordinates 42°00′42″N 88°02′07″W / 42.01167, -88.03528 (WGN (AM))Coordinates: 42°00′42″N 88°02′07″W / 42.01167, -88.03528 (WGN (AM))

[edit] Notes

1. ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-30-philapr30,0,475093.column
2. ^ WGN Radio - Show Schedule

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