WJBC (1230

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

AM radio station licensed to

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

, and serving the Bloomington-Normal region. It broadcasts a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

and is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

, part of a five-station cluster. It has two full-time show hosts. The station calls itself "The Voice of Central Illinois". WJBC is powered at 1,000 watts, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is on Greenwood Avenue at West Hamilton Road in Bloomington. Programming is also heard on 50-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

W271DC at 102.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

Programming

Talk

In morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, Scott Miller is heard. In afternoon drive, Blake Haas hosts.

Syndicated programming Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

on the station includes ''

The Ramsey Show ''The Ramsey Show'' (formerly known as ''The Dave Ramsey Show'' and ''The Money Game'') is an American self-syndicated radio program hosted by finance author Dave Ramsey and a rotating group of co-hosts, that airs Monday through Friday from 2:0 ...

'', ''

The Rich Eisen Show Richard Eisen ( ; born June 24, 1969) is an American television sportscaster and radio host. Since 2003, he has worked for NFL Network as a host of various pregame, halftime, and postgame shows and doing occasional play-by-play. He also hosts a ...

'', ''CBS Eye on the World'' with

John Batchelor John Calvin Batchelor (born April 29, 1948) is an American author and the host of ''Eye on the World'' on the CBS Audio Network. His flagship station is WOR in New York City. The show is a hard-news-analysis radio program on current events, wo ...

, ''Our American Stories'', ''

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 198 ...

with

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is radio syndication, syndicated to ...

'', and ''

America in the Morning ''America in The Morning'' is a news program airing on numerous talk radio stations, syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. The one-hour live program airs weekdays at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is hosted by John Tro ...

''. On weekends, WJBC has shows on home repair, real estate, technology and travel. Weekend hosts include

Kim Komando Kimberly Ann Komando (born July 1, 1967) is an American radio personality and the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websi ...

and

Chris Plante Christopher Plante (born 1959) is an American talk radio host and journalist currently hosting a syndicated radio program heard on Westwood One and a nightly TV talk show on Newsmax TV. Early life Plante was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Ju ...

. Most hours begin with

CBS News Radio CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

. A station staff supplies local news, sports and agricultural reports.

Sports

WJBC has been the longtime home to the

Illinois State Redbirds The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level ( FCS in football). Most teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference except football (M ...

, as well as local high school sports. It also carries

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

football and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

baseball. On occasion, WJBC has also broadcast the

Central Illinois Flying Aces The Central Illinois Flying Aces were a Tier I junior hockey team that played as a member of the United States Hockey League. Based in Bloomington, Illinois, the Flying Aces played their home games at the Grossinger Motors Arena, located in dow ...

and the

Bloomington Edge The Bloomington Edge was a professional indoor football team based in Bloomington, Illinois. While it was in operation, the team hosted home games at Grossinger Motors Arena. Originally named the Bloomington Extreme, the team was a member of Un ...

History

Early years

The station was first licensed on April 17, 1925, to the Hummer Furniture Store at Second and Joliet streets in

La Salle, Illinois LaSalle or La Salle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates Interstate 39, 39 and Interstate 80, 80. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 o ...

. It was initially powered at 100 watts on 1280

. The WJBC call sign was randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call letters. However, for a while the station adopted the

mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...

slogan "Where Jazz Becomes Classic". The station later moved from the Hummer store to the Kaskaskia Hotel. During the years in La Salle, it moved to 1320 kHz, then 1200 kHz.

Move to Bloomington

The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

eventually closed both the companies backing the station in LaSalle, and the owner of Hummer Furniture owner moved the station to Bloomington-Normal. Malcolm Magregor bought WJBC from Kaskaskia Broadcasting Company effective April 1, 1933. At that time, WJBC was still a 100-watt station, sharing time with WJBL in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

New facilities

On September 11, 1934, WJBC began transmitting from its new facilities, making it the first radio station in Bloomington. The transmitter was in Normal and its main studio was at

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

in Bloomington. Other studios were at Illinois State Normal School and the

Illinois Farm Bureau The Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) is a nonprofit U.S. organization controlled by farmers who join the IFB through one of the 96 county Farm Bureaus in Illinois. The organization's legal name is the Illinois Agricultural Association. The IFB was foun ...

. At first it was only on the air a few hours a day, with eight daily newscasts, weather twice a day, and the Western Union time announced at the top of each hour. For much of the 1940s and 1950s, WJBC was affiliated with the

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Co ...

and its successor, the

ABC Radio Network Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which ...

. It carried a line up of dramas, comedies, news, sports and other programs during the "

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

". It was owned by the Bloomington Broadcasting Company, which also put an FM station on the air in 1947, 101.5 WJBC-FM (now

WBNQ WBNQ (101.5 FM) is the most powerful FM radio station in McLean County, Illinois, United States, broadcasting on at 50,000 watts of effective radiated power. It has had a contemporary hit radio music format since 1975. History WBNQ first sig ...

). The two stations mostly

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

for the FM station's first two decades on the air.

Rev. R.J. Zehr

On the morning of August 25, 1971, the station broadcast the last radio program of the Reverend R.J. Zehr, who died later that morning. Zehr's first broadcast on the station was on a Sunday in October 1934; shortly thereafter, he was given a daily slot, which he continued - without missing a day - until the mid-1960s. Almost all of Zehr's broadcasts were live, not prerecorded. In 1949, he began doing the program from his house, via telephone. His program's time slot varied over the years, but normally aired between 5:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., and lasted 15 to 30 minutes. The audio tape cartridge machine, which fundamentally changed the way radio stations played commercials and music on air, was developed at WJBC in 1959. Ted Bailey (then Chief Engineer of WJBC) and staff engineer Jack Jenkins developed the ATC (Automatic Tape Control) machine. A joint patent was granted to Bailey, Jenkins and Nolte (station manager of WJBC) as inventors.

Cumulus Media

On April 30, 2012, Townsquare Media announced that it was selling the station to

. The assignment of the station's license to Cumulus was consummated on July 31, 2012. In 2005, and again in 2009, the station won the Marconi Award from the National Association of Broadcasters for Best Small Market Radio Station in the United States."2005 Marconi Radio Award Winners"
National Association of Broadcasters, retrieved April 14, 2008 WJBC has won several Edward R. Murrow Awards for its local news coverage, as well as several Illinois Silver Dome Awards.

Personalities

Current

*Blake Haas *Scott Miller *Eric Lapan

Former

*Denny Adkins *Bob Arya *Bones Bach *Marla Behrends *Ken Behrens *Nancy Blair *Keith Blankenship *Mike Bradd *Chris Brathwaite *Dara Brockmeier *Jim Browne *Adam "Cha-Cha" Chandler *Jim Cheney *Craig Collins *Elizabeth Estes Cooper *Sarah Curtis *L.A. Decker *Ryan Denham *Mark Dennis *Zach Dietmeier *Neil Doyle *Paul Dunn *Jim Durham *Karen Erks *John Fitzgerald *Jim Fitzpatrick *Jake Fogal *Keith Gottschalk *Lee Hall *TJ Hart *Cameron D. James *Terry James *Mark Johnson *Rob Kass *Willis Kern *Art Kimball *Scott Laughlin *Tim Lewis *Dick Luedke *Gene Lyle *Stacy Marshall *R.C. McBride *Nick McClintock *Amy Meyer *Paul Morello *Don Munson *Katherine Murphy *Lori Nelson *Don Newberg *Adam Nielsen *Royal Norman *Don Norton *Howard Packowitz *Zach Parcell *Stephanie Pawlowski *Patti Penn *L.P. Phillips *Red Pitcher *Joe Ragusa *Colleen Reynolds *Scott Robbins *Daune Robinson *Chris Rongey *Ron Ross *Scott Ross *Stew Salowitz *Jim Sauers *J.D. Scott *Art Sechrest *Alan Sender *Harvey J. Steele *Adam Studzinski *Dan Swaney *Dick Templeton *Steve Vogel *Bill Walberg *Beth Whisman *Larry Whittaker *Todd Wineburner *Lyle Wood *Sean Copeland

References

External links

WJBC.com
— official website * * {{Authority control JBC LaSalle County, Illinois News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1925 1925 establishments in Illinois Cumulus Media radio stations