WLIT-FM
| File:93.9 My FM logo 2013-12 853.png | |
| City of license | Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana |
| Branding | 93.9 My FM |
| Slogan | "More Variety from the 90's til Now" (General) "Chicago’s Christmas Music Station" (Nov. - Dec.) |
| Frequency | 93.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | April 7, 1958 (as WEBH) |
| Format | FM/HD1: Mainstream AC Christmas (Nov. - Dec.) HD2: Soft AC "Delilah Radio" |
| ERP | 4,000 watts |
| HAAT | 482 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 70042 |
| Callsign meaning | LITe FM (previous branding) |
| Former callsigns | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
| Owner | iHeartMedia, Inc. (AMFM Broadcasting Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
| Webcast | Listen Live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | www |
WLIT-FM 93.9 FM, ("93.9 My FM") is a radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of Mainstream AC music. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications until September 2014). WLIT has studios located at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago, and it broadcasts from a 4kw transmitter based atop Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) with a frequency of 93.9 FM. WLIT-FM broadcasts with its maximum allowed power.[1]
History
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 93.9 FM in Chicago had been known as WEBH (from the Edgewater Beach Hotel) from 1958 through 1970. WEBH changed to WWEL sometime in 1970. The station broadcast "beautiful music", an easy listening format with mostly instrumentals and a couple of soft vocal songs per hour.
WWEL was "WW-EL" from mid 1970 to 1972, to describe the easy listening format that was broadcast. WWEL changed call letters to WLAK in 1972. At that time Viacom bought WLAK. WLAK continued to play mostly instrumental easy listening but increased vocals to about four an hour. In 1983 WLAK switched to Soft AC playing 99% vocal songs and virtually no instrumentals. Core artists were Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand and others. WLAK was very successful in the format, actually one of the first in the nation preceding its sister station WLTW in New York. WLAK changed call letters in 1989 to WLIT, and rebranded as "93.9 The Lite."
WLIT has continued to broadcast in the Chicago area since then. In the mid-1990s, WLIT evolved out of Soft AC and into a straight AC format. Viacom sold their radio stations to Chancellor in 1997, making WLIT a Chancellor station. Chancellor restructured and became known as AMFM Inc. in 1999. In 2000, WLIT fell under the ownership of Clear Channel Communications after Clear Channel's merger with AMFM. It later became "93.9 Lite FM."
WLIT became Chicago's only adult contemporary station on August 1, 2011, when former rival WCFS-FM flipped to a simulcast of WBBM-AM. This marks it the first time in years Chicago has had only one adult contemporary radio station.
On June 17, 2013, WLIT rebranded as "93.9 My FM".[2][3][4] The change updated to the station's playlist to be more current/recurrent-based but not be completely outside the Adult Contemporary vein.
Its slogan was perviously "More Variety from the 80's til Now", but in 2014, the slogan was changed to "More Variety from the 90's til Now". However, despite the slogan change, the station continues to play small amounts of 80's music, becoming more of a Mainstream AC.
HD programming
In February 2006, WLIT began broadcasting in HD Radio. WLIT's HD-2 was originally a simulcast of the now-defunct "Real Oldies" WRLL (now WVON) 1690 AM, then changed to a mix of disco music and 1970s/1980s called "Flashback." In August 2009, the format changed again, this time to a gold-based AC format known as "Chicago's Classic Lite", branded as Delilah.[5]
Christmas broadcasting
From November through Christmas Day each year, WLIT changes its branding to The Holiday Lite and format to continuous Christmas music, resuming its regular branding and format on December 26. During the period between December 26 and January 2, the Christmas music moves to the HD2 channel while the main terrestrial station resumes the regular format. After the mid-2013 rebranding, the all-Christmas tradition was continued without reference to "lite".[6][7]
References
- ↑ http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/fmpower
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-06-17/business/chi-lite-fm-20130617_1_playlist-christmas-music-station
- ↑ http://www.hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=25
- ↑ http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/11/13/wlit-goes-all-christmas-just-after-midnight/
- ↑ http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/6961-wlit-fm-begins-its-annual-teasing-of-listeners-waiting-for-christmas-music
External links
- Official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WLIT
- Radio-Locator information on WLIT
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WLIT
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