WJBC (AM)
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| City | Bloomington, Illinois |
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| Broadcast area | Bloomington-Normal |
| Slogan | The Voice of Central Illinois |
| Frequency | 1230 kHz |
| First air date | May 1925 |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 5876 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°27′1.1″N 89°0′42.3″W / 40.450306°N 89.011750°WCoordinates: 40°27′1.1″N 89°0′42.3″W / 40.450306°N 89.011750°W (NAD83) |
| Callsign meaning | "Where Jazz Becomes Classic" (old mnemonic for sequentially assigned callsign) |
| Former frequencies | 1200 kHz (LaSalle/Normal, 1928–1941) 1320 kHz (LaSalle, 1927–1928) 1280 kHz (LaSalle, 1925–1927) |
| Affiliations |
CBS Radio Network NBC Blue/ABC (former) |
| Owner |
Cumulus Media (Cumulus Licensing LLC) |
| Sister stations | WBNQ, WBWN, WJBC-FM, WJEZ |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
WJBC (1230 kHz) is an AM radio station based in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.
Part of a five-station cluster, WJBC is the only AM station of the group. It has five full-time news people and an agribusiness director. The station is now owned by Cumulus Media.
The station calls itself "The Voice of McLean County".
WJBC has been the longtime home to the Illinois State Redbirds, Illinois Wesleyan Titans, as well as local high school sports, the Chicago Bears and the St. Louis Cardinals. WJBC is the home station for the Normal CornBelters, although their games are usually streamed online only due to the Cardinals broadcasts. WJBC also carries the Bloomington Flex, Bloomington Thunder, and Bloomington Edge on occasion.
WJBC has been known for many years as a station that broadcasts all-local talk programs. This fact has consistently made WJBC one of the top radio stations in the Bloomington area. During the high school football season, the station airs the WJBC High School Football Extravaganza, where reporters call in with game summaries until 11:00 p.m.
WJBC carries The Dave Ramsey Show and The Alan Colmes Show at night, in addition to its local shows.
The station began broadcasting from La Salle, Illinois in May 1925 with 1000 watts on 1280 kHz. Its call letters were apparently assigned arbitrarily during the AM radio expansion era of the 1920s. The station was initially music-oriented, and for a while it adopted the mnemonic slogan "Where Jazz Becomes Classic". The station was originally at the Hummer Furniture Store, then at the Kaskaskia Hotel. During the years in LaSalle, it moved to 1320 kHz, then 1200 kHz. The Great Depression eventually closed both the companies backing the station in LaSalle, and the owner of Hummer Furniture owner moved the station to Bloomington-Normal.
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