WCPT (820 AM) is a commercial

progressive talk Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independent personalities such as ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to

Willow Springs, Illinois Willow Springs is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into DuPage County. The village was founded in 1892 and was named for the springs along the Des Plaines River. In 2020, the population was 5,857. ...

. Owned by Heartland Signal LLC, the station serves the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. The station's studios and daytime transmitter are located in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side, while its nighttime transmitter is located in Joliet.AM Query Results: WCPT
fcc.gov. Retrieved January 4, 2019.

History

WCBD

On June 23, 1923, the station signed on using the call sign WCBD, broadcasting at 870 kHz.Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce.
Commission on Communications
'. United States Government Print Office. May 8, 1929. p. 126-129. Retrieved May 11, 2020.WCBD, The 'Flat Earth' Radio Station
, '' Popular Communications''. June 1986. p. 31-34. Retrieved May 11, 2020. The station was located in

Zion, Illinois Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,655. History The city was founded in 1900 by John Alexander Dowie, a Scots-Australian evangelical minister and faith healer who had ...

, and was owned by Wilbur Glenn Voliva, who was the "General Overseer" of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, and was known for his

flat Earth Flat Earth is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of the Figure of the Earth, Earth's shape as a Plane (geometry), plane or Disk (mathematics), disk. Many ancient cultures, notably in the cosmology in the ancient Near East, anci ...

beliefs.History Cards for WCPT
fcc.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2018. WCBD was non-commercial, airing religious programming that reflected Voliva's viewpoints, along with vocal and instrumental music. The station originally ran at 500 watts. On February 2, 1925, its power was increased to 5,000 watts. From April 1924 until November 11, 1928, WCBD shared time on its frequency with WLS. In November 1928, its frequency was changed to 1080 kHz, where it shared time with WMBI. Both WCBD and WMBI were restricted to daytime operations to protect WBT in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. In 1934, WCBD's studios were moved to the Karcher Hotel in

Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan ( ) is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Chicago, Waukegan is a satellite city within the greater Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 89,321, makin ...

, and Gene T. Dyer was appointed station director. The station began to air some

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

programming. In 1936, the station was sold to Gene T. Dyer and its studios were moved to the Guyon Paradise Ballroom in Chicago. It became 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 ...

operation, and aired religious, ethnic, and music programming. On April 2, 1937, the station's transmitter and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church's Shiloh Tabernacle were destroyed in a fire set by a teenager who believed Voliva had swindled his father. Its transmitter site was relocated to Addison Township, in what today is part of

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 45,786 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History M ...

, and its studios were moved to 2400 W. Madison in Chicago. WCBD shared WMBI's transmitter while its new transmitter was being built. In 1940, Voliva filed suit against WCBD, alleging that the station's insistence that he provide scripts of speeches violated the terms of his contract, which allowed him to speak on the station without censorship."Suit to Enjoin Radio Station Filed by Voliva", ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''. August 7, 1940. p. 7. Dyer stated that the requirement was necessary because Voliva had violated his promise not to air his political views. WCBD's frequency was changed to 1110 kHz in March 1941, as a result of the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, ; ) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreements also addressed how frequency assignments were d ...

WAIT

In June 1941, the station's frequency was changed to 820 kHz. It ran 5,000 watts, signing off at sunset in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

to protect WBAP in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. The call sign was changed to WAIT on September 15, 1941. In 1947, the station began sharing time with a new WCBD, owned by the Christian Catholic Church in Zion, Illinois, which operated on Sundays only.Media reports
, ''

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

''. May 25, 1959. p. 79. Retrieved October 1, 2018. In 1959, WAIT's owners purchased WCBD for $132,000, and WAIT was granted full daytime operations on the frequency."Church Radio Station WCBD sold to WAIT", ''

''. May 22, 1959. Part 2, p. 4. Daddy-O Daylie began his radio career on WAIT in 1948, hosting a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

program. Daylie remained on the station until 1956, when he began hosting a nighttime show on 670 WMAQ. In 1951, the station's studios were moved to its transmitter site in Elmhurst. In 1954, it was sold to Robert Oscar Miller and family.

Nelson Eddy Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs ...

, the Wayne King Orchestra,

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish Americans, Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, ...

, '' Coke Time with Eddie Fisher'', and '' The Hour of Charm'' were heard on WAIT in the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, WAIT published a chart of the top 20 popular songs in Chicago.
WAIT Platter Pulse
', WAIT. October 13, 1956. Retrieved May 2, 2020. Reed Farrell and Lloyd 'Spider' Webb were DJs on the station during this period. In 1957, the station's studios were moved to the Steuben Club Building. In 1963, its studios were moved back to its transmitter site in Elmhurst, though its offices remained in the Steuben Club Building.
1966 Broadcasting Yearbook
',

, 1966. p. B-46. Retrieved May 5, 2020. In 1962, the station was sold to a partnership led by Maurice and Lois Rosenfield, for $1 million. It adopted a beautiful music format in early 1963, which it continued to air through the 1970s.O'Connor, Richard. (2009).
A Brief History of Beautiful Music Radio
', Percy Faith Pages. Retrieved September 30, 2018.Stations, everywhere: a listeners' guide to the AM and FM bands
, '' Chicago Tribune Magazine''. March 4, 1979. p. 34. Retrieved September 30, 2018. It was branded "The World's Most Beautiful Music" and used the slogan "try a little tenderness". Personalities heard on WAIT during this era included Ken Alexander, Dick Buckley, and

John Doremus John Doremus (August 3, 1931 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma – July 6, 1995 in Naperville, Illinois) was an American radio personality, best known for his radio syndication of ''Passing Parade, The Passing Parade'', a series of short stories of remarka ...

. In 1967, the station applied to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

for a waiver of its

clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...

rules so that it could operate at night."WAIT Loses Bid on Night Broadcasts", ''

''. November 21, 1972. Section 1A, p. 13. When the FCC denied its application, it appealed to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which upheld the FCC's decision. In autumn 1976, the station shifted to an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format. In October 1977, WAIT switched to a talk format. However, its ratings dropped considerably after it abandoned the beautiful music format, and in August 1978 it returned to the beautiful music format it had long aired.Duncan, James H.
Chicago: 12+ Metro Share
, ''An American Radio Trilogy 1975 to 2004''. Volume 1: The Markets. Duncan's American Radio. Retrieved May 5, 2020. In 1979, the station's license was assigned to Century Chicago Broadcasting, a partnership of Century Broadcasting Corporation and the station's previous owners. In 1980, it applied to the FCC for a

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

to add nighttime operations at 1,000 watts. The permit was granted in 1981, and it began nighttime operations by 1982.Condon, David. "WAIT–it sounds like the Wildcats", ''

''. July 29, 1981. Section 4, p. 1.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1983
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1983. p. B-70. Retrieved September 30, 2018. In 1981, the station started carrying

Northwestern Wildcats football The Northwestern Wildcats football team represents Northwestern University as an NCAA Division I college football team and member of the Big Ten Conference based near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern began playing fo ...

games. In October 1982, WAIT began airing an

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

format branded "Great Hits", featuring the hits of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
Chicago Radio Guide
'. Vol. 1, No. 1. May 1985. Retrieved September 30, 2018. The station aired '' Chuck Schaden's Radio Theatre'' weekday evenings. Eddie Hubbard joined WAIT in 1983, and hosted the morning drive show. Dick Buckley hosted a jazz program Saturday nights from 1984 to 1985.

Soft AC era

On April 7, 1986, the station began airing a

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format as "Cozy" WCZE. Feder, Robert. "'Night owl' Schwartz flaps over split in shift at WGN", ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

''. April 8, 1986. p. 50.Boss, Kit;
Radio`s Satellite Networks Beam With Success
, ''

''. July 17, 1986. Retrieved October 2, 2018. Gary Parks hosted morning drive, while the rest of its programming was delivered by satellite from

Transtar Radio Networks Transtar was the first radio network to provide 24-hour music programming to local affiliates. The slate of 24-hour networks is now owned by Westwood One and operated by Dial Global. The studios were located in Valencia, California. History T ...

' "Format 41" service. In April 1988, its call sign was changed to WXEZ, standing for "Extra Easy", and it became a

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) ...

of WXEZ-FM, airing

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

music.
Chicagoland Radio Waves
', MediaTies. Summer 1988. Retrieved September 30, 2018. In 1989, it shifted back to a soft AC format, playing more vocals and fewer instrumentals. On November 16, 1990, the station's call sign was changed to WPNT, and it briefly aired a

hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

format branded "The Point," simulcasting WPNT-FM. In early January 1991, the station was taken off the air, as its owner disposed of its transmitter site in Elmhurst, Illinois.

The Score

In late 1991, the station was sold to Diamond Broadcasting. At 7:15 a.m. on January 2, 1992, it returned to the air from a new site in Chicago's Cragin neighborhood, though without nighttime operations. It became

WSCR WSCR (670 AM radio, AM) – branded 670 The Score – is a Commercial radio, commercial sports radio station, licensed to Chicago, Illinois, which serves the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WSCR is a clear-channel station wit ...

"The Score," the first all-sports station in Chicago. The Score's original hosts included Tom Shaer, Dan Jiggetts partnered with

Mike North Mike North (born May 1, 1951) is an American radio sports personality, formerly working for Clear Channel Communications as a cohost with Andy Furman on ''Fox Sports Daybreak'' Mon-Friday from 5am-8am CST on their Fox Sports Radio subsidiary, un ...

, and Dan McNeil. McNeil would later be partnered with Terry Boers.History Of The Score: Chapter II – The AM 820 Years
,

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington St ...

. January 3, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2018. Former

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 ...

coach

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka ( ; born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former professional American football, football player, coach, and television commentator. During his playing career, he was UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year, UPI NFL R ...

hosted a weekly show in 1992, and served as an analyst during football season until 1997, when he was hired to coach the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. WSCR carried Illinois Fighting Illini basketball in the 1993–1994 season, but their status as a daytimer limited the number of games they could air.Conklin, Mike. "Odds & Ins", ''

''. November 11, 1993. Section 4, p. 11. Night games instead aired on 92.7 WCBR-FM. On November 10, 1994, WSCR was granted a construction permit to broadcast at night, running 1,200 watts from a site in

Lemont, Illinois Lemont is a village located in Cook, DuPage, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,629 as of the 2020 census. The village is situated on a hillside along the south banks ...

. In 1995, the station was sold to Westinghouse (Group W), along with

WXRT WXRT (93.1 FM), also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an alternative rock radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station broadcasts from a transmitter atop John Hancock Center and its studios are located at T ...

, for $60 million. Westinghouse decided against building the nighttime transmitter site in Lemont, and instead made plans to move "The Score" to

1160 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1160 kHz: in the United States and Mexico. Radio station KSL in Salt Lake City is the dominant Class A station on 1160 AM, a United States clear-channel frequency, according to the U.S ...

. The construction permit to add nighttime operations was cancelled. On April 7, 1997, at 2:30 p.m., "The Score" moved to 1160 AM, along with the WSCR call letters.

WYPA

In early 1997, the station was sold to N. John Douglas's Personal Achievement Radio, Inc. for $7.5 million. On April 7, 1997, it began airing a motivational talk format as "Personal Achievement Radio", and its call sign was changed to WYPA. Its programming was presented in short segments, less than ten minutes long, and included material culled from the libraries of self-help publishers featuring speakers such as Tony Robbins, as well as locally produced segments featuring

Wayne Messmer Wayne P. Messmer (born July 19, 1950, in Chicago, IL) is a professional speaker, singer, broadcaster, author and actor. He is a professional member of SAG/AFTRA and the National Speakers Association. He was the long-time public address announcer ...

and Mary Laney.Obejas, Achy.
Self-Help Radio: Local Station Says New Feel-Good Format is Smart Enough, Good Enough, and Doggone It, People Like It
, ''

''. March 9, 1998. Retrieved May 9, 2020. Weekends featured longer shows, with local hosts such as Les Brown, as well as

brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot com ...

. On June 9, 1998, "Personal Achievement Radio" moved to

WNDZ WNDZ (750 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a Classic Hits format. Licensed to Portage, Indiana, it serves the Chicago metropolitan area. The station is owned by Newsweb Corporation. WNDZ is a daytimer station. It transmits 1 ...

, and WYPA adopted a Spanish language talk format as an affiliate of "Radio Unica."Format Changes & Updates
, ''The M-Street Journal''. June 10, 1998. Vol. 15 No. 23. p. 1. Retrieved April 28, 2020. Personalities heard on Radio Unica included Pedro Sevcec, Isabel Gómez-Bassols, among others. In 1998, the station's owner, Achievement Radio Holdings, merged with Z-Spanish Media. On May 15, 1999, Radio Unica moved to 950

WNTD WNTD (950 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station city of license, licensed to Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc., simulcasting a Catholic Church, Catholic Christian talk and teaching, talk and teaching radio forma ...

, though it continued to simulcast on WYPA. Feder, Robert. "3 radio stations find new spots on the dial", ''

''. May 14, 1999. p. 57.Kirk, Jim.
One-On-One Sports Soon Zero For One On AM
, ''

''. February 24, 1999. Retrieved October 2, 2018.Format Changes & Updates
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 16 No. 20. May 19, 1999. p. 2. Retrieved October 2, 2018. In mid-1999, the station was purchased by Catholic Family Radio for $10.5 million, and on June 9 it began airing a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

talk format.Elsewhere
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 16, No. 25. June 23, 1999. p. 10. Retrieved October 2, 2018. Hosts included Ray Guarendi, Raymond Flynn,

Dan Lungren Daniel Edward Lungren (born September 22, 1946) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and former politician. A native of Long Beach, California, his career as an elected official began when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives ...

, and Al Kresta.The Ticker: Midwest Briefs
, ''

''. May 27, 2000. Retrieved May 9, 2020. In April 2000, Catholic Family Radio placed all of its radio stations up for sale, and on May 29, most of Catholic Family Radio's programming was replaced by EWTN Radio, with Al Kresta's show being the only Catholic Family Radio show remaining on the station.

Newsweb ownership

In early 2001, WYPA was purchased by

Newsweb Corporation Newsweb Corporation is a printer of ethnic and alternative newspapers in the United States, based in Chicago, Illinois. The company also owns AM 750 WNDZ. Newsweb was founded in 1971 by Chicago entrepreneur, political activist, and philanthropis ...

for $10.5 million. On March 1, 2001, One on One Sports moved its programming from WJKL to WYPA, and the station adopted a sports format.M Street Bazaar
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 18, No. 09. February 28, 2001. p. 9. Retrieved October 2, 2018. On March 26, 2001, One-on-One Sports' name was changed to Sporting News Radio, and the station's call sign was changed to WCSN. Personalities heard on the station included

Jay Mariotti Jay Mariotti ( ; born June 22, 1959) is an American sports journalist and commentator who currently hosts the sports-related podcast ''Unmuted''. He previously spent 17 years as a ''Chicago Sun-Times'' columnist and eight years as a regular pa ...

, Chet Coppock,

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...

, and Bruce Murray. In April 2003, Starboard Broadcasting began leasing two hours of airtime a day to air the

Relevant Radio Relevant Radio (corporate name Relevant Radio, Inc.) is a radio network in the United States, mainly broadcasting talk radio and religious programming involving the Catholic Church. Relevant Radio broadcasts "talk radio for Catholic life" over a ...

Catholic network. On December 1, 2003, it began leasing the entire day. On May 3, 2005, the station's call letters were changed back to WAIT when Newsweb's WAIT (850 AM) launched a progressive talk format with the new call letters WCPT.Call Sign History
fcc.gov. Retrieved October 2, 2018.WCPT/Chicago To Move To 820 AM
, ''All Access Music Group''. November 8, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2018. Zorn, Eric.
'Air America' return may not be a good thing
, ''

''. May 2, 2005. Retrieved October 2, 2018. Newsweb's owner, Fred Eychaner, is a significant donor to Democratic Party causes. Later that year, the station's

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

was changed from Chicago to Willow Springs. In October 2007, Relevant Radio moved to WNTD, though it continued to simulcast on WAIT until November 25. Feder, Robert.
Split Personality
, ''

''. October 24, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2018.

Chicago's Progressive Talk

On November 26, 2007, Chicago's Progressive Talk moved from 850 AM to 820 AM, doubling its power and providing coverage to all of the Chicago metropolitan area. The WCPT call letters moved along with the format to 820 AM, and the WAIT call letters returned to 850 AM. Hosts included

Ed Schultz Edward Andrew Schultz (January 27, 1954 – July 5, 2018) was an American television and radio host, Pundit, political commentator, news anchor and sports broadcaster. He was the host of ''The Ed Show'', a weekday news talk program on MSN ...

Stephanie Miller Stephanie Catherine Miller (born September 29, 1961) is an American political commentator, comedian, and host of '' The Stephanie Miller Show'', a Progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles, California, by WYD Media Management and ...

Randi Rhodes Randi Joyce Robertson (née Bueten; born January 28, 1958), better known by her Stage name#Reasons for use, air name Randi Rhodes, is an American progressivism, progressive political commentator, activist and talk radio host. ''The Randi Rhode ...

Thom Hartmann Thomas Carl Hartmann (born May 7, 1951) is an American radio personality, author, businessman, and progressivism, progressive pundit, political commentator. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, ''The Thom Hartmann Progr ...

, Bill Press, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On March 29, 2008, Jake Hartford joined WCPT, hosting Saturday mornings. On May 19, 2008, WCPT began airing '' The Rachel Maddow Show'', and in January 2010 the station began airing '' The Norman Goldman Show''. In late October 2008, the station started simulcasting on 92.7 WCPT-FM in Arlington Heights, 92.5 WCPY in DeKalb, and 99.9 WCPQ in Park Forest.Chicago AM launches Progressive Talk network
, ''Radio & Television Business Report''. October 17, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2020. On March 19, 2009, WCPT and

WIND Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

hosted "The Great Debate", featuring Thom Hartmann representing the liberal viewpoint and

Michael Medved Michael S. Medved (born October 3, 1948) is an American radio show host, author, political commentator, and film critic. His talk show, ''The Michael Medved Show'', is syndicated from his home station KTTH in Seattle. It is available via Cable ...

representing the conservative viewpoint, and moderated by Cisco Cotto and Dick Kay. On April 29, 2010, WCPT began broadcasting 24 hours a day, although it reduces power to 1,500 watts after sunset so not to interfere with WBAP in Fort Worth. On June 2, 2014, WCPT-FM and WCPQ broke away from the simulcast, and 92.5 in DeKalb took the WCPT-FM call sign. In 2016, WCPT's daytime power was increased to 5,800 watts, and its daytime transmitter was moved to Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood.Federal Communications Commission AM Broadcast Station License
, FCC.gov. February 17, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2018.Application for Construction Permit Information Radio Station WCPT Willow Springs, Illinois
, FCC.gov. July 27, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2018. In 2018, WCPT-FM was sold to

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...

and became an affiliate of

K-Love K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music. As of June 2019, the network's progr ...

, a Christian contemporary music network. Joan Esposito joined WCPT as weekday afternoon host on February 11, 2019. In late February 2019, the station began carrying '' The Rick Ungar Show''. Santita Jackson joined WCPT as morning drive host on June 3, 2019. On November 18, 2021, the station launched an associated digital newsroom, Heartland Signal. In 2024, Newsweb transferred WCPT and

WSBC WSBC (1240 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. It broadcasts brokered programming, mostly ethnic and religious. It is owned by Heartland Signal LLC. WSBC transmits with 1,000 wa ...

to Heartland Signal for $1.

References

External links

* {{News/Talk Radio Stations in Illinois 1923 establishments in Illinois News and talk radio stations in the United States Progressive talk radio Radio stations established in 1923 CPT