Chicago Public Radio

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Chicago Public Radio is a noncommercial public radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Financed primarily by listener contributions, Chicago Public Radio is affiliated with both National Public Radio and Public Radio International.

Contents

1 Stations and Call signs
2 History
3 Programming
4 External links

Stations and Call signs

Chicago Public Radio is broadcast on three FM radio stations, with call signs WBEZ (91.5 FM) in Chicago, WBEQ in Morris, Illinois (90.7 FM), and WBEW (89.5 FM) in Chesterton, Indiana. Listeners can also tune into Chicago Public Radio online, or listen in podcast form.

CPR also manages Loyola University of Chicago's WLUW (88.7 FM, heard on the North Side of Chicago and adjacent suburbs).

History

Chicago Public Radio began as an extension of the Chicago Board of Education and began broadcasting as WBEZ in 1943. For most of its early years, the station only broadcast instructional programs, operating during the school year on weekdays while Chicago Public Schools were in session. In 1972, WBEZ joined National Public Radio and began general programming outside of school hours, not completely dropping instructional programs until the early 80s. The Board of Education sold the station to the current license holders, the not-for-profit WBEZ Alliance, Inc., in 1990. It now draws an estimated 600,000 listeners each week. The general manager since 1995 is Torey Malatia.

Programming

Programming on Chicago Public Radio includes the usual instantiations of world music, jazz, quiz shows, and international and local news on a regular basis. It offers such staples as All Things Considered, Cartalk, Marketplace, Morning Edition, A Prairie Home Companion, and Whad'ya know. Currently, Chicago Public Radio is perhaps best known as the producers of This American Life (through PRI) and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! (through NPR), though it also produces Worldview (which is heard nationally on Sirius Satellite Radio's PRI channel). In addition, the station plans to nationally distribute the rock music talk show Sound Opinions, which it recently acquired from WXRT, through American Public Media in 2006 (it is already heard on the Twin Cities' KCMP). Generally, news and talk programming is heard during the day, with jazz and other music programming at night, excepting the traditional Sunday afternoon time slot of jazz disc jockey Dick Buckley, who has been with the station for around 30 years (and in Chicago radio for around 65 years).

Chicago Public Radio is also the flagship station of Steve Cushing's nationally distributed Saturday night blues music program Blues Before Sunrise, which started in 1979 and has been independently produced and distributed by Cushing since 1995. The station is also the flagship station of [The Annoying Music Show!], a 3-5 minute program (which airs during a station break) that showcases generally annoying songs. The program is produced by Nayder Communications, headed by former WBEZ program director Jim Nayder. (Nayder Communications also produces the somewhat more serious Magnificent Obsession, a program of interviews with persons who have overcome various addictions, which also uses CPR as its flagship station.)

Its morning magazine program 848 was named after the postal address of the station, 848 East Grand Avenue, though the name is sometimes misinterpreted as referring to its air time (originally 9:30am, later 9:00am).

In addition, Chicago Public Radio sponsors and administers the Third Coast International Audio Festival, a showcase for independent radio producers.

In April 2006, Chicago Public Radio announced that effective early in 2007, all music programming would be dropped from WBEZ, to be replaced by news and talk programs, and that WBEW and WBEQ would take on a new public affairs format described as unlike other talk formats on commercial or non-commercial radio. At that time, music programming coordinator Chris Heim was let go by the station after almost 20 years of service. According to the Chicago Reader, all other jazz disc jockeys (except Buckley, who was an independent contractor and will have his services terminated) will be reassigned at the station and music programming from outside sources will be dropped. Although the separation of WBEW and WBEQ from WBEZ had been in the works for some time, it was widely considered that the stations would be adopting some sort of music format, either an extension of the present jazz format or a AAA format similar to Los Angeles' KCRW, Philadelphia's WXPN or Minnesota Public Radio's KCMP. The announcement resulted in objections from some listeners and members of the Chicago jazz community.

External links

[Chicago Public Radio]
[Complete programming schedule for Chicago Public Radio]
[National Public Radio]
[Public Radio International]
[Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!]
[Third Coast International Audio Festival]
[This American Life Forum]
["The Business: All Talk,"], Chicago Reader, April 14, 2006, Section 2, pg. 2

FM Radio Stations in the Chicago Market

By frequency: 88.1 | 88.3 | 88.5 | 88.7 | 88.9 | 89.1 | 89.3 | 89.3 | 90.1 | 90.5 | 90.9 | 91.5 | 91.9 | 92.3 | 92.5 | 92.7 | 93.1 | 93.9 | 94.3 | 94.7 | 95.1 | 95.5 | 95.9 | 96.3 | 96.7 | 97.1/96.9 | 97.9 | 98.3 | 98.7 | 99.5 | 99.9 | 100.3 | 100.7 | 101.1 | 101.9 | 102.3 | 102.7 | 103.1/93.5 | 103.5 | 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

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