WCPT (AM)
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| City | Willow Springs, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Chicago, Illinois |
| Branding |
WCPT 820 Chicago's Progressive Talk |
| Slogan | "Our Kind of Talk for Our Kind of Town" "We Are Chicago's Progressive Talk AM/FM" "Where/Because Facts Matter" |
| Frequency | 820 kHz |
| First air date | 1927 |
| Format | Progressive Talk |
| Power | 5,800 watts (day) 3,200 watts (auxiliary day) 1,500 watts (night) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 16849 |
| Transmitter coordinates |
41°58′53″N 87°46′20″W / 41.98139°N 87.77222°W (day and auxiliary day) 41°32′30″N 88°2′3″W / 41.54167°N 88.03417°W (night) |
| Callsign meaning | We're Chicago's Progressive Talk AM/FM |
| Former callsigns | WCBD (1927-1941) WAIT (1941-1986) WCZE (1986-1988) WXEZ (1988-1990) WSCR (1992-1997) WYPA (1997-2001) WCSN (2001-2005) WAIT (2005-2007) |
| Former frequencies | 870 kHz (1927-1928) 1080 kHz (1928-1941) 1110 kHz (1941) |
| Affiliations |
Westwood One AP Radio News |
| Owner |
Newsweb Corporation (WYPA, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | WCPY, WCPQ, WCPT-FM |
| Website | wcpt820.com |
WCPT (820 AM) is a Progressive Talk radio station licensed to Willow Springs, Illinois, and serving the Chicago area. WCPT is owned by Newsweb Corporation. Newsweb's owner, Fred Eychaner, is a significant donor to Democratic Party causes. Studios are located in Chicago's Northwest Side.
WCPT airs syndicated talk programs including those hosted by Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller and Alan Colmes. WCPT's programs are simulcast on its sister station, 92.5 WCPT-FM in the daytime and early evening. WCPT-FM airs the separately programmed Dance Factory music format after 9 P.M., while 820 WCPT continues its Progressive Talk format at night.
The station was originally licensed in 1927 as WCBD, and broadcast at 870 kHz, sharing time with WLS. In 1928, the station moved to 1080 kHz, where it shared time with WMBI. The station briefly moved to 1110 kHz in 1941, as a result of North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, before moving to 820 kHz later that year. In late 1941, the station's callsign was changed to WAIT. The station broadcast with 5,000 watts during daytime hours only. From 1947 to 1959 the station shared time on Sundays with WCBD in Zion, Illinois. In the 1950s, the station published a chart of the top 20 popular songs in Chicago.
As WAIT, the station aired a Beautiful Music format throughout the 1960s and '70s. In 1978, WAIT briefly switched to an all talk format, before returning to the beautiful music format it had long aired. In 1980, the station applied for a construction permit to add nighttime operations at 1,000 watts. The station was granted a license for 24-hour operations in 1984, and the station began broadcasting with 5,000 watts during the day and 1,000 watts at night. In the mid '80s, the station aired a Big Band format. In April 1986, the station began airing a Soft AC format as "Cozy" WCZE, airing Transtar Radio Networks' soft adult contemporary "Format 41". In 1988, the station became a simulcast of WXEZ-FM 100.3, as WXEZ (AM), airing Easy listening music.
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