WEBG

WEBG

City	Chicago, Illinois
Broadcast area	Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana
Branding	Big 95.5
Slogan	Chicago's New Country
Frequency	95.5 MHz (also on HD Radio)
Translator(s)	97.5 W248BB (Hillside, relays HD2)
First air date	1959 (1959) (as WDHF)
Format	Country (Analog/HD1) ESPN Deportes Radio (HD2)
ERP	8,300 watts
HAAT	358 meters (1,175 ft)
Class	B
Facility ID	53971
Callsign meaning	We're BIG Country
Former callsigns	WDHF (1959 (1959)–December 1, 1976 (1976-12-01)) WMET (December 1, 1976 (1976-12-01)–1985 (1985)) WRXR (1985 (1985)–August 3, 1987 (1987-08-03)) WNUA (August 3, 1987 (1987-08-03)–January 13, 2015 (2015-01-13))
Affiliations	Delilah (HD2)^[1]
Owner	iHeartMedia (AMFM Broadcasting Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WGCI-FM, WGRB, WKSC-FM, WLIT, WVAZ, WVON
Webcast	Listen Live (via iHeartRadio)
Website	www.big955chicago.com www.espndeporteschicago.com (HD2)

WEBG (95.5 MHz) is a country music radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel Communications until September 2014) and branded as "Big 95.5". WEBG has studios located at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago, and it broadcasts from an 8.3kw transmitter based atop John Hancock Center.

WEBG broadcasts two channels in the HD Radio format.^[2]

History

The station began operation in 1959 as WDHF, owned by Hi-Fi systems and record store owner James Dehaan. The station operated out of Dehaan's store in the Evergreen Plaza in Evergreen Park, Illinois. Its transmitter and tower was in Oak Lawn at 97th and Central. WDHF and Dehaan's record store moved to 102nd and Western Avenue in Chicago, in 1961. In the mid 1960s comedian Bob Newhart purchased the station and moved its studios downtown to 108 N. State St. In the late 1960s, WDHF was sold again to the National Science Network. In the early 1970s, the station's transmitter was moved to the John Hancock Building on the near north side of Chicago. Under Dehaan's, Newhart's and the National Science Network's ownership, WDHF aired a big band music format. Metromedia would buy the station by the early 1970s and flipped the format to a full service station playing middle-of-the-road popular music. Within a few years, WDHF adopted a Top 40 format. On December 1, 1976,^[3] WDHF's call letters were changed to WMET, while keeping a top 40 format. Several months after the format flip of WEFM from Classical to Top 40 as "WE-FM" in 1978, Metromedia flipped WMET to an AOR format. Ratings were good into the early 1980s.

Metromedia would buy Field Communications's TV station WFLD in 1983. In March 1986, though, Metromedia sold all of their TV stations, including WFLD-TV, which was later owned by Fox, and restructured and became Metropolitan Broadcasting. WMET was then sold to Doubleday Broadcasting, which altered the format to "Rockradio, The New WMET." In January 1985, WMET was flipped to a highly unsuccessful mid-tempo AC for a short while. Then, the calls were briefly changed to WRXR, and the format became an oldies/classic hits hybrid.

In the fall of 1986, a new-age music show was added in evenings from 7 p.m. - midnight. Shortly after, WRXR was sold to Pyramid Broadcasting. The new-age music was added in overnights by the spring of 1987.

On August 3, 1987, the station's call letters were changed to WNUA as a full-time new-age broadcast began (which is believed to be the source of the call letters). Indeed, for a time the station's slogan was "Music For a New Age". Initially the station only played new-age music but by the Winter of 1988 it added smooth jazz music before 7 p.m. during the day. The station at that point was still all instrumental.

By the Summer of 1988, the station added four vocals per hour during the day. The vocalists were R&B artists, soft hits by rock artists, and a few AC cuts. By 1989, the station was about half vocals and half instrumentals during the day and still all new-age instrumentals at night.

By 1990, the station began to grow and attract many listeners. Smooth Jazz and a couple vocalists per hour at nights were also added. During the day, vocals were pulled back to about 1/3. New-age music was being played less than before. As a Smooth Jazz station, WNUA had become a major pioneer in the format, spawning imitators in other cities, such as KMYT in Temecula, California. KMYT used the same on-air jingles as WNUA, which mentioned the call letters first and the frequency second (sung as "WNUA 95.5" and "KMYT 94.5"). Some other former smooth jazz stations, such as KKSF in San Francisco, California, WSMJ (104.3 FM) in Baltimore, Maryland, WSJT in Tampa, Florida, WZJZ in Fort Myers, Florida and WJJZ (106.1 FM) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also used these jingles, and the new WJJZ (97.5 FM), also in Philadelphia, would use exactly the same jingles as a tribute to the old station's heyday, after originally using different-sounding ones that could easily be told from those of its predecessor. (It should be noted, though, that the new WJJZ's jingles used a slightly different arrangement, as they were last sung as "WJJZ 97-5," omitting the "point" that was included in the 106.1 version.) KYOT-FM (95.5 FM) in Phoenix, Arizona, sometimes used the jingles as well, but its identity was never sung. Prior to a format change in January 2009, WJZZ (107.5 FM) in Atlanta, Georgia (now WAMJ), used similar jingles that mentioned the frequency before the callsign, thus sung as "107.5 WJZZ". The jingles were used for the Smooth Jazz Network until 2012.

In 1994, Pyramid sold WNUA to Shamrock Broadcasting, which would merge with Chancellor in 1995 and then merge with Evergreen in 1997. WNUA was then owned by Chancellor, which restructured as AMFM Inc. in 1999. In 2000, AMFM merged with Clear Channel Communications, making WNUA a Clear Channel station.

WNUA was the home of the now-defunct Ramsey Lewis morning show, and it was also where he recorded his syndicated show, Legends of Jazz (which showcased the music of instrumentalists Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson and Miles Davis, as well as vocalists Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald) for distribution to other smooth jazz stations across the nation. The show lived on in Chicago on WLFM-LP during that station's run, and continues on smooth jazz stations across the country.

In late 2006, three Smooth Jazz personalities, WNUA's Ramsey Lewis, Annie Ashe, and Dave Koz, were tapped by Broadcast Architecture to syndicate their respective shows on its Smooth Jazz Network. Lewis's morning show aired in other parts of the country for the first time. Ashe hosted the night time show, known locally as the now-defunct "Lights Out Chicago," for approximately two months; however, in December 2006, the show reverted to its local format as Danae Alexander was moved back to the 7 p.m.-12 a.m. slot after being in the afternoon slot for the past year. As of the first of the year, the afternoon slot was hosted via syndication by Dave Koz, the well-known saxophonist regularly featured on smooth jazz radio stations.

WNUA won R&R Smooth Jazz Station of the Year from 1998–2005, and was a recipient of the Marconi Award for Smooth Jazz Station of the Year, 2004.

Full-time on-air staff included Ramsey Lewis, Karen Williams, Rick O'Dell, Danae Alexander, Dave Koz, Bill Cochran, and Scott Adams. Domingo Castillo was the only part-time on-air host.

Rick O'Dell was the program director until mid-January 2009.^[4] Glenn Cosby was his replacement.

Spanish-language era

On May 22, 2009, at 9:50am, after the station played David Sanborn's "Chicago Song", WNUA stunted for 5 minutes with a ticking clock and an announcer saying "In _ minutes, 95.5 reaches its big/mega event." Along with the clock sound, they aired a recap of jingles and moments from its history as WDHF, WMET, WRXR, and WNUA. 95.5 then had a countdown from 10 to 1 switching in the middle from English to Spanish. At 9:55 am, WNUA flipped formats to Spanish contemporary as Mega 95.5 to cater to Chicago's Hispanic community. It competed with WPPN for the younger Spanish speaking Hispanic audience in addition to its English sister station WKSC, which is heavily targeted towards the Hispanic population. The downslope of smooth jazz stations' popularity nationwide likely contributed to the flip.

The Smooth Jazz format was picked up a few hours later by television station WLFM-LP (Channel 6) by audio available through a technical quirk within Chicago proper on 87.7 FM, but in October 2010, the format was tweaked to a Smooth AC hybrid. "Smooth 87.7" featured several former WNUA smooth jazz hosts during the day on weekdays, and aired Broadcast Architecture's Smooth AC Network the remainder of the time. On April 30, 2012, Merlin Media, LLC took over the station, changed the format to a simulcast of Merlin's all-news station, WIQI, followed by a call sign change from WLFM-LP to WKQX-LP, and another format change to alternative rock. On May 3, 2012, Merlin added a satellite-fed version of Broadcast Architecture’s "Smooth Jazz Network" format on the HD3 subchannel of its WLUP-FM (97.9-HD3).^[5] On November 12, 2012, Rick O'Dell launched online radio station SmoothJazzChicago.net,^[6]^[7] which ran until midnight on January 1, 2016.

WEBG-HD2

Since 2012, WNUA-HD2 has carried ESPN Deportes Radio programming, which is translated by Hillside-licensed W248BB at 97.5 FM, a station owned by the Educational Media Foundation, a frequent collaborator on iHeartMedia's translator operations.^[8]^[9]

Regional Mexican era

On June 19, 2012, WNUA shifted to a Regional Mexican format known as "El Patrón 95.5" to more directly compete with WLEY and WOJO. The shift was affected by low ratings from the previous Spanish Language Hot AC format. However, the ratings still remained at a 1.0 to 1.5 over the tenure of El Patron, lower than Mega. In the December 2014 Nielsen Audio PPM ratings, WNUA registered a 1.9 share, albeit on an upward trend from 1.5 in October.

Conversion to country

On January 5, 2015, at Noon, WNUA flipped to country as "Big 95.5", taking direct aim at WUSN, who has been unrivaled in the format since WKXK (now WLS-FM) in 1996. The first song on Big 95.5 was This Is How We Roll by Florida Georgia Line.^[10]

On January 12, 2015, WNUA changed call letters to WEBG to match the "Big" branding.^[11]

References

↑ All Stations - Delilah
↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=3 HD Radio Guide for Chicago
↑ Deeb, Gary (November 11, 1976). Chicago Tribune. p. A12. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ WNUA-FM's Rick O'Dell Ousted as Clear Channel Starts Cutting; CEO Confirms Elimination of Around 1,850 Jobs, Chicago Tribune, January 20, 2009
↑ "Smooth Jazz, Alternative Returns to Chicago Air". Radio Online. May 3, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
↑ Feder, Robert (November 12, 2012). "Cue the sax: Rick O'Dell launches SmoothJazzChicago.net". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
↑ "Rick O'Dell Streams Jazz Back To Chicago". All Access Music Group. November 13, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
↑ ESPN Deportes To Also Debut Tomorrow On 97.5 FM - Chicagoland Radio and Media
↑ Clear Channel To Launch 97.5 ESPN Deportes/Chicago On Wednesday - All Access
↑ iHeartMedia Launches Big 95.5 Chicago - Radio Insight
↑ Feder, Robert (January 12, 2015). "It's out with WNUA, in with WEBG at new country Big 95.5". RobertFeder.com. Retrieved January 12, 2015.

External links

Official website
ESPN Deportes Radio Chicago
Smooth Chicago - info on other smooth jazz happenings in the Chicago area

Query the FCC's FM station database for WEBG

Radio-Locator information on WEBG

Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WEBG
Query the FCC's FM station database for W248BB
Radio-Locator information on W248BB
Thank You for Listening to Smooth Jazz WNUA 95.5

Radio stations in the Chicago market

By AM frequency	560 670¹ 720¹ 750 780¹ 820 850 890¹ 930 950 1000¹ 1030 1050 1080 1110 1160 1200 1220 1230 1240 1270 1300 1330 1340 1370 1390 1410 1420 1430 1450 1450 1490 1500 1500 1510 1530 1570 1590 1690

By FM frequency	87.7² 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.3 88.3 88.3 88.3 88.5 88.5 88.7 88.7 88.7 88.7 88.9 88.9 89.1 89.1 89.3 89.3 89.5 89.7 90.1 90.5 90.7 90.7 90.9 91.5 91.7 91.9 92.3 92.5 92.7 93.1 93.5 93.9 94.3 94.7 95.1 95.5 95.9 95.9 96.3 96.7 96.7 96.9 97.1 97.5 97.9 98.3 98.3 98.7 99.5 99.9 99.9 100.3 100.7 100.7 101.1 101.9 102.3 102.3 102.7 103.1 103.1 103.5 103.9 103.9 103.9 104.3 104.7 105.1 105.5 105.5 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.1 107.1 107.5 107.9

NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.400 162.425 162.500 162.550

Digital radio	780 1300 1390 1690 89.3-1 89.3-2 89.5-1 89.5-2 90.1-1 90.1-2 90.1-3 90.7-1 90.7-1 90.9-1 90.9-2 90.9-3 91.5-1 91.5-2 92.3-1 92.3-2 93.1-1 93.1-2 93.1-3 93.9-1 93.9-2 94.7-1 94.7-2 95.5-1 95.5-2 95.9-1 95.9-2 96.3-1 96.3-2 96.7-1 97.1-1 97.1-2 97.9-1 97.9-2 97.9-3 98.7-1 99.5-1 99.5-2 100.3-1 100.3-2 101.1-1 101.1-2 101.9-1 101.9-2 102.3-1 102.7-1 102.7-2 103.5-1 103.5-2 104.3-1 104.3-2 105.1-1 105.1-2 105.1-3 105.5-1 105.9-1 105.9-2 106.3-1 106.7-1 106.7-2 107.5-1 107.5-2

By callsign	KWO39 KXI41 KXI58 KZZ81 W219CD W244BQ W248BB W264BF W280EM WAES WAIT WAKE WBBM¹ WBBM-FM WBEQ WBEW WBEZ WBGX WBMF WCCQ WCEV WCFL WCFS-FM WCGO WCKG WCLR WCPT WCPT-FM WCPQ WCPY WCRX WCSJ-FM WDCB WDGC-FM WDRV WEDC WEEF WEFM WEBG WERV-FM WETN WFEL-LP WFMT WFXF WGCI-FM WGEN-FM WGN¹ WGRB WGVE-FM WRME-LP² WHFH WHPK WHSD WIIL WIIT WIMS WIND WJCH WJKL WJMK WJOB WJOL WKBM WKKC WKQX WKRS WKSC-FM WKTA WLEY-FM WLIT-FM WLJE WLPR-FM WLS¹ WLS-FM WLTH WLTL WLRA WLIP WLUP-FM WLUW WMBI WMBI-FM WMVP¹ WNDZ WNTD WNUR-FM WNVR WNWI WOJO WONC WONU WPJX WPNA WPPN WPWX WRDZ WRLL WRMN WRLR-LP WRSE WRTE WRTW WRTO WRXQ WSBC WSCR¹ WSHE-FM WSPY-FM WSRB WSRI WSSR WTMX WTZI WUSN WVAZ WVIV-FM WVIX WVON WWCA WWDV WWHN WWTG WXAV WXLC WXRD WXRT WYCA WYLL WZRD WZSR WZVN

Internet stations	WGN Plus WGN.FM Q101 Chicago

Defunct stations	WCFJ WCFL WCGO WCRW WEDC WENR WKKD WMAQ WMCW WNIB WRLL

Satellite radio local traffic/weather XM Channel 217 Sirius Channel 151 Nearby radio markets Benton Harbor-St. Joseph Kankakee LaSalle–Peru Milwaukee-Racine Rockford South Bend See also List of radio stations in Illinois List of radio stations in Indiana ¹ = Clear-channel stations with extended nighttime coverage ² = Audio signal of WRME-LP (oldies audio, with video of traffic conditions)

Country radio stations in the state of Illinois

By AM frequency	750 920 980 1060 1230 1240 1290 1330 1440 1490 1520 1530 1540 1580

By FM frequency	92.1 92.3 92.7 92.9 93.7 93.7 94.1 94.3 94.3 94.9 95.1 95.3 95.5 95.7 95.9 96.3 96.5 97.3 97.3 97.5 97.7 98.3 98.3 98.5 99.1 99.3 99.5 99.5 99.9 100.1 100.3 100.3 100.5 100.9 101.3 101.7 101.7 101.9 102.1 102.1 102.3 102.3 102.3 102.5 102.7 103.7 103.7 104.1 104.5 104.9 105.5 105.9 105.9 106.1 106.5 107.3 107.7 107.9

By callsign	KSD (FM) – St. Louis, Missouri KSGM – Chester WAAG – Galesburg WALS – Oglesby WBBA-FM – Pittsfield WBWN – Le Roy WCCI – Savanna WCCQ – Crest Hill Canton WCOY – Quincy WCRC – Effingham WDDD-FM – Johnston City WDQN – Du Quoin WDUK – Havana WDZQ – Decatur WEBG – Chicago WEBQ – Harrisburg WFMB-FM – Springfield WFPS – Freeport WFYR – Elmwood WGEL – Greenville WGKC – Mahomet WGLC-FM – Mendota WHCO – Sparta WHET – West Frankfort WHPO – Hoopeston WIBH – Anna WIBL – Fairbury WIBV – Mount Vernon WIL-FM – St. Louis, Missouri WIRL – Peoria WIXY – Champaign WJBC-FM – Pontiac WJRE – Galva WJVO – South Jacksonville WKJT – Teutopolis WKRO – Cairo WLCN – Atlanta WLFZ – Springfield WLIQ – Quincy WLLR-FM – Davenport, Iowa WLUV – Loves Park WLWF – Marseilles WMCI – Neoga WMCL – McLeansboro WMIX-FM – Mount Vernon WMKR – Pana WMOK – Metropolis WNLF - Macomb WOKZ – Fairfield WOOZ-FM – Harrisburg WRAM – Monmouth WRCV – Dixon WRIK – Brookport WRMJ – Aledo WRMS-FM – Beardstown WRUL – Carmi WRTB – Winnebago WRVY-FM – Henry WSEI – Olney WSMI – Litchfield WSMI-FM – Litchfield WSVZ – Tower Hill WUSN – Chicago WUSW - Taylorville WXCL – Pekin WXNU – Saint Anne WXXQ – Freeport WYOT – Rochelle WYUR – Gilman WYXY – Savoy WZUS – Macon WZZT – Morrison

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Illinois

iHeartMedia

Corporate officers	Bob Pittman (Chairman/CEO)

Board of directors	Lowry Mays Irving Azoff B. J. "Red" McCombs J. C. Watts John H. Williams

Radio stations	List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia

Radio networks	Fox News Radio Fox Sports Radio NBC News Radio Premiere Networks Premium Choice Total Traffic and Weather Network

Miscellaneous	Clear Channel Outdoor Clear Channel UK iHeartRadio List of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia Mediabase Radio Computing Services

ESPN Deportes Radio stations in the United States

Terrestrial Stations

Owned and operated	WEPN (New York, NY)

Affiliated stations	KBMB (Phoenix, AZ) KENO (Las Vegas, NV) KGOL (Houston, TX) KGST (Fresno, CA) KHHL (San Antonio, TX) KKSF (Oakland) KTKT (Tucson, AZ) KTRB (San Francisco, CA) KWAC (Bakersfield, CA) KWKU/KWKW (Los Angeles, CA) KXDP-LP (Denver, CO) WEBG-HD2/W248BB (Chicago, IL) WKRS (Waukegan, IL) WNMA (Miami, FL) WRRD (Milwaukee, WI) WSCP (Sandy Creek-Pulaski, NY) WTTN (Madison, WI)

Satellite Radio

Sirius (Ch. 91)

News/talk/sports brands: Air America; Bloomberg Radio; ESPN Radio; ESPN Deportes Radio; Fox Sports Radio; NPR; SB Nation Radio

Music brands: Bob FM; Cat Country (Country Only); Froggy; Hank FM; Jack FM; KISS-FM; MOViN; Nash FM (Country Only); Radio Disney; The Fox; The X

Religious brands: AFR; Air 1; K-LOVE

Coordinates: 41°53′56″N 87°37′23″W / 41.899°N 87.623°W / 41.899; -87.623

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.