WRTE (90.7 FM) is an American

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 ...

broadcasting a

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

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 ...

format. It is licensed to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States, and serves the city of Chicago. The station is owned by

Chicago Public Media Chicago Public Media (CPM) is a not-for-profit radio and print media company. CPM operates as the primary National Public Radio member organization for Chicago. It owns three non-commercial educational FM broadcast stations and one FM transl ...

. WRTE broadcasts in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

format.

History

WCYC

WRTE signed on in 1970 as WCYC, owned by the Boys Clubs of Chicago on 88.7 MHz. In 1988, the station's frequency was changed to 90.5 MHz. The station aired an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

format and was staffed by teenage volunteers."Hanging Out: Teens are making waves—radio waves—at WCYC in the heart of gang land", ''

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 ...

''. May 18, 1988. Section 7, p. 4. DJs were not allowed to say their last names, nicknames, or street names on the air, after a volunteer DJ was shot by someone who was waiting for them outside of the studio. Some of WCYC's volunteers went on to work as DJs at

WGCI-FM WGCI-FM (107.5 Hertz, MHz) is an urban contemporary radio station that is city of license, licensed to Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia (formerly k ...

. The station also carried ''

The Lutheran Hour ''The Lutheran Hour'' is a U.S.-based Christianity, Christian radio program produced by Lutheran Hour Ministries. The weekly broadcast began on October 2, 1930, as an outreach ministry of the Lutheran Laymen's League, part of the Lutheran Church� ...

''.

Radio Arte

The Boys and Girls Clubs sold the radio station to the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum (now

National Museum of Mexican Art The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) is a museum featuring Mexico, Mexican and Chicano art and culture. It is located in Harrison Park in the Lower West Side, Chicago, Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, Illinois. The museum ...

) in 1996, and its call sign was changed to WRTE on July 1, 1997. It was branded "Radio Arte", and aired a bilingual format, with Spanish and English language programming, as well as Spanish-language rock. In the final years of the National Museum of Mexican Art's ownership of the station, it underwent fundraising challenges, and in the spring of 2011 the station was put up for sale.

Chicago Public Media ownership

On June 22, 2012, it was announced that Chicago Public Media would purchase WRTE for $350,000 cash, plus program announcements over four years, valued at $100,000. The sale was consummated on December 31, 2012. On July 31, 2012, Chicago Public Media applied to the

U.S. 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 ju ...

(FCC) to move WRTE's transmitter site from 2801 S. Ridgeway in Chicago, to University Hall on the East campus of the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. On September 28, 2012, the FCC granted Chicago Public Media a construction permit to move the station's transmitter site to its new location. On October 12, 2012, Chicago Public Media applied with the FCC change the station's frequency to 90.7 MHz FM. On November 15, 2012 the FCC granted 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 ...

for the move to 90.7 MHz. The

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

decreased to 6 watts and the HAAT increased to 107.3 meters. On February 11, 2013 WRTE moved to 90.7 FM, and it began simulcasting

WBEW WBEW (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial educational (NCE), Class B1 public radio station at Chesterton in Northwest Indiana. Since June 2007, the station has been branded Vocalo, initially airing listener submitted content and later airing an ur ...

's "Vocalo" programming. In May 2016, an agreement was finalized for WRTE to simulcast Glen Ellyn jazz station

WDCB WDCB (90.9 MHz) is a non-commercial public FM radio station licensed to Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It largely airs jazz programming and is owned by the College of DuPage. Most shows are locally-hosted ...

, strengthening the western suburban station's coverage in the city of Chicago, and ending the Vocalo simulcast.

References

External links

* {{Chicago FM Jazz radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1970 1970 establishments in Illinois RTE