WCBD On June 23, 1923, the station signed on using the call sign WCBD, broadcasting at 870 kHz. The station was located in
Zion, Illinois, and was owned by
Wilbur Glenn Voliva, who was the "General Overseer" of the
Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, and was known for his
flat Earth beliefs. WCBD was non-commercial, airing
religious programming that reflected Voliva's viewpoints, along with vocal and instrumental music. The station originally ran at 500 watts. From April 1924 until November 11, 1928, WCBD shared time on its frequency with
WLS. In 1936, the station was sold to Gene T. Dyer and its studios were moved to the
Guyon Paradise Ballroom in Chicago. On April 2, 1937, the station's transmitter and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church's Shiloh Tabernacle were destroyed in a fire set by a teenager who believed Voliva had swindled his father. Dyer stated that the requirement was necessary because Voliva had violated his promise not to air his political views. In 1959, WAIT's owners purchased WCBD for $132,000, and WAIT was granted full daytime operations on the frequency.
Daddy-O Daylie began his radio career on WAIT in 1948, hosting a
jazz program. Daylie remained on the station until 1956, when he began hosting a nighttime show on 670
WMAQ. In 1951, the station's studios were moved to its transmitter site in Elmhurst.
Nelson Eddy, the
Wayne King Orchestra,
Liberace,
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher, and
The Hour of Charm were heard on WAIT in the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, WAIT published a chart of the top 20 popular songs in Chicago. Reed Farrell and Lloyd 'Spider' Webb were DJs on the station during this period. In 1957, the station's studios were moved to the
Steuben Club Building. In 1962, the station was sold to a partnership led by Maurice and Lois Rosenfield, for $1 million. It adopted a
beautiful music format in early 1963, which it continued to air through the 1970s. It was branded "The World's Most Beautiful Music" and used the slogan "try a little tenderness". Personalities heard on WAIT during this era included Ken Alexander,
Dick Buckley, and
John Doremus. In 1967, the station applied to the
Federal Communications Commission for a waiver of its
clear-channel rules so that it could operate at night. When the FCC denied its application, it appealed to the
D.C. Court of Appeals, which upheld the FCC's decision. In autumn 1976, the station shifted to an
adult contemporary format. In October 1977, WAIT switched to a
talk format. However, its ratings dropped considerably after it abandoned the beautiful music format, and in August 1978 it returned to the beautiful music format it had long aired. In 1980, it applied to the FCC for a
construction permit to add nighttime operations at 1,000 watts. In 1981, the station started carrying
Northwestern Wildcats football games. The station aired ''
Chuck Schaden's Radio Theatre'' weekday evenings. Dick Buckley hosted a jazz program Saturday nights from 1984 to 1985.
Soft AC era On April 7, 1986, the station began airing a
soft adult contemporary format as "Cozy" WCZE. Gary Parks hosted morning drive, while the rest of its programming was delivered by satellite from
Transtar Radio Networks' "Format 41" service. In April 1988, its call sign was changed to WXEZ, standing for "Extra Easy", and it became a
simulcast of
WXEZ-FM, airing
easy listening music. In 1989, it shifted back to a soft AC format, playing more vocals and fewer instrumentals. On November 16, 1990, the station's call sign was changed to WPNT, and it briefly aired a
hot AC format branded "The Point," simulcasting WPNT-FM. In early January 1991, the station was taken off the air, as its owner disposed of its transmitter site in Elmhurst, Illinois.
The Score In late 1991, the station was sold to Diamond Broadcasting. At 7:15 am on January 2, 1992, it returned to the air from a new site in Chicago's
Cragin neighborhood, though without nighttime operations. It became
WSCR "The Score," the first
all-sports station in Chicago. The Score's original hosts included Tom Shaer,
Dan Jiggetts partnered with
Mike North, and Dan McNeil. Former
Chicago Bears coach
Mike Ditka hosted a weekly show in 1992, and served as an analyst during football season until 1997, when he was hired to coach the
New Orleans Saints. WSCR carried
Illinois Fighting Illini basketball in the 1993–1994 season, but their status as a daytimer limited the number of games they could air. Night games instead aired on 92.7
WCBR-FM. On November 10, 1994, WSCR was granted a construction permit to broadcast at night, running 1,200 watts from a site in
Lemont, Illinois. In 1995, the station was sold to
Westinghouse (Group W), along with
WXRT, for $60 million. Westinghouse decided against building the nighttime transmitter site in Lemont, and instead made plans to move "The Score" to
1160 AM. The construction permit to add nighttime operations was cancelled. On April 7, 1997, at 2:30 pm, "The Score" moved to 1160 AM, along with the WSCR call letters.
WYPA In early 1997, the station was sold to N. John Douglas's Personal Achievement Radio, Inc. for $7.5 million. On April 7, 1997, it began airing a motivational talk format as "Personal Achievement Radio", and its call sign was changed to WYPA. Weekends featured longer shows, with local hosts such as
Les Brown, as well as
brokered programming. Personalities heard on Radio Unica included
Pedro Sevcec,
Isabel Gómez-Bassols, among others. In 1998, the station's owner, Achievement Radio Holdings, merged with Z-Spanish Media. On May 15, 1999, Radio Unica moved to 950
WNTD, though it continued to simulcast on WYPA. In mid-1999, the station was purchased by Catholic Family Radio for $10.5 million, and on June 9 it began airing a
Catholic talk format. Hosts included
Ray Guarendi,
Raymond Flynn,
Dan Lungren, and
Al Kresta. In April 2000, Catholic Family Radio placed all of its radio stations up for sale, and on May 29, most of Catholic Family Radio's programming was replaced by
EWTN Radio, with Al Kresta's show being the only Catholic Family Radio show remaining on the station. On March 1, 2001,
One on One Sports moved its programming from
WJKL to WYPA, and the station adopted a sports format. On March 26, 2001, One-on-One Sports' name was changed to Sporting News Radio, and the station's call sign was changed to WCSN.
Chet Coppock,
Phil Jackson, and
Bruce Murray. In April 2003,
Starboard Broadcasting began leasing two hours of airtime a day to air the
Relevant Radio Catholic network. On December 1, 2003, it began leasing the entire day. On May 3, 2005, the station's call letters were changed back to WAIT when Newsweb's
WAIT (850 AM) launched a progressive talk format with the new call letters WCPT. Newsweb's owner,
Fred Eychaner, is a significant donor to
Democratic Party causes. In October 2007, Relevant Radio moved to WNTD, though it continued to simulcast on WAIT until November 25.
Chicago's Progressive Talk On November 26, 2007, Chicago's Progressive Talk moved from 850 AM to 820 AM, doubling its power and providing coverage to all of the Chicago metropolitan area. Hosts included
Ed Schultz,
Stephanie Miller,
Randi Rhodes,
Thom Hartmann,
Bill Press, and
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On May 19, 2008, WCPT began airing
The Rachel Maddow Show, and in January 2010 the station began airing
The Norman Goldman Show. In late October 2008, the station started simulcasting on 92.7
WCPT-FM in
Arlington Heights, 92.5
WCPY in
DeKalb, and 99.9
WCPQ in
Park Forest. On March 19, 2009, WCPT and
WIND hosted "The Great Debate", featuring Thom Hartmann representing the liberal viewpoint and
Michael Medved representing the conservative viewpoint, and moderated by
Cisco Cotto and Dick Kay. On April 29, 2010, WCPT began broadcasting 24 hours a day, although it reduces power to 1,500 watts after sunset so not to interfere with WBAP in Fort Worth. In 2016, WCPT's daytime power was increased to 5,800 watts, and its daytime transmitter was moved to Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood. In 2018, WCPT-FM was sold to
Educational Media Foundation and became an affiliate of
K-Love, a
Christian contemporary music network. Joan Esposito joined WCPT as weekday afternoon host on February 11, 2019. In late February 2019, the station began carrying
The Rick Ungar Show.
Santita Jackson joined WCPT as morning drive host on June 3, 2019. On November 18, 2021, the station launched an associated digital newsroom, Heartland Signal. In 2024, Newsweb transferred WCPT and
WSBC to Heartland Signal for $1. ==References==