Early years WDWS
signed on the air on January 24, 1937. It was the area's first commercial radio station;
WILL, the non-commercial radio station of the University of Illinois, dates its start to the 1920s. David W. Stevick, publisher of
The News-Gazette, had applied for a license in 1935, and his wife Helen and daughter Marajen continued the project. They named the station WDWS in his honor. In 1937, WDWS
affiliated with the
CBS Radio Network; it carried CBS's line up of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and
big band broadcasts during the "
Golden Age of Radio". In 1949, WDWS added an FM station at 97.5 MHz. For most of its early years, WDWS-FM
simulcast the programming of WDWS AM. In 1988 it switched its
call sign to
WHMS-FM to establish a separate identity.
Fighting Illini WDWS and WHMS-FM are the
flagship stations for
Illinois Fighting Illini football and basketball games, a role that WDWS has held throughout its history. Longtime sports director Jim Turpin also doubled as the radio voice of the Illini from 1960 until 2002. WDWS also airs the Illini women's basketball, volleyball, and baseball games exclusively. WDWS was the east central Illinois
network affiliate for the
St. Louis Cardinals baseball broadcasts from when it signed on until 2010. WDWS broadcast the
Chicago Cubs in 2011, however Cubs games moved to
WGKC in 2012. WDWS later became an affiliate of the
Chicago White Sox Radio Network.
CBS Radio Network WDWS has been a CBS Radio Network affiliate for its entire history, except for a period from 2001 to 2009 when it was affiliated with
ABC News Radio. The station carried
The Rush Limbaugh Show from 1997 until his death in 2021. Limbaugh's replacement,
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show is now heard in middays.
The Sean Hannity Show was added in 2009. WDWS's morning program is called "Penny for Your Thoughts." The show, formerly hosted by Jim Turpin, and later by Brian Barnhart, is known for its unique open-line call-in format. In October 2021, WDWS began
simulcasting on
FM translator W230CW at 93.9 MHz and rebranded itself as "Newstalk 1400 & 93.9FM DWS." ==Notable staff==