Early years The station began experimental broadcasts in November 1941, as W67C, broadcasting on 46.7 MHz. Bud Kelly was the announcer for "The Young Sound" on WBBM-FM. The station was branded as "Stereo 96 WBBM-FM, Chicago's Favorite Rock!" Bob Johnston served as program director. In 1971, the station's transmitter was moved to the
John Hancock Center.
Mellow sound By 1977, WBBM-FM and several other FM stations owned by CBS had adopted an
adult contemporary format defined as the "mellow sound", playing contemporary music but without the harder-edged titles. During this era, the station was branded as "The Mellow Sound of Chicago" and "Soft Rock 96". Initially, all of CBS's "mellow sound" stations were automated. WBBM-FM briefly carried
American Top 40 with
Casey Kasem during the soft rock years.
B96 In May 1982, WBBM-FM began airing a Top 40/CHR format known as "
Hot Hits", which was created by consultant Mike Joseph. Concurrent with the format change was the phase-out of all automation. During the latter half of 1986, B96's format began to tweak slowly towards a
rhythmic top 40 direction, and a couple of years later during the late 1980s, began to embrace dance product. Despite those moves at the time, the station retained a selection of mainstream titles. In May 1990, the station became known as "The Killer Bee: B96". In October 2008, the station's slogan was changed from "Chicago's Hits and Hip-Hop" to "Chicago's #1 Hit Music Station", as its format shifted back to mainstream Top 40. On April 21, 2023, WBBM-FM shifted to a "
gold"-based
rhythmic top 40 format featuring some current top 40/CHR songs, along with a broader playlist of songs from the 1990s to the present day. This follows the trend of other struggling Top 40/CHRs flipping to the format, such as
WFLC in Miami and
KLIF-FM in
Dallas-Fort Worth, to attract a wider listener base. The station also reverted to its heritage logo used throughout the 2000s and 2010s. Since 1992, the station has presented the
B96 SummerBash concert.
Morning shows B96's longtime morning program was the "
Eddie & JoBo"
morning zoo show. Joe Colborn (air name "Bohannon") first signed on at B96 in 1984 hosting evenings as "JoBo In Chicago". Ed Volkman started at B96 in 1986 hosting morning drive along with Karen Hand and
Mike Elston. When Elston left B96 in 1988, Bohannon was moved to mornings along with Volkman and Hand, launching the "Eddie & JoBo" show. On January 5, 2009, Julian Nieh and Jamar "J. Niice" McNeil started a new morning show, "J. Niice & Julian on the Radio". The two were previously together at
iHeartMedia's
WIHT in Washington, D.C. Nieh stayed with the show until December 2012. The show continued as "The J Show", with J. Niice as the host alongside Showbiz Shelly and Gabe. J. Niice left in March 2018 and in April, B96 debuted "DreX & Nina" with Gabe Ramirez still being kept on. DreX left B96 in February 2019 and the show became "Gabe and Nina in the Morning", hosted by Gabe Ramirez and Nina Hajian. In September 2021, Hajian left the station, with Ramirez continuing to host the show, which was renamed "B96 Mornings". In April 2022, 'The Morning Mess', hosted by Joey 'Nachoo' Rodriguez, Aneesh, Jeana and Karla, moved from
Phoenix sister station
KALV-FM to host mornings on WBBM-FM. In February 2024, 'The Morning Mess' would come to an end, as Rodriguez would return to KALV-FM, Jeana moved to middays, and Aneesh left the station; Karla remained in mornings. Later that month, John Moug, formerly of
KPLZ Seattle, would join the station for mornings.
Ownership changes CBS had owned WBBM-FM since its beginnings. In 1995, CBS was acquired by
Westinghouse.
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was acquired in December 1996, and shortly thereafter Westinghouse's name was changed to CBS Corp. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17. ==HD Radio==