Broadcast area Chicago, Illinois Class B Frequency 820 kHz Format Progressive talk radio Area Chicago | First air date 1927 Facility ID 16849 City of license Willow Springs Owner Newsweb Corporation | |
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Power 5,800 watts (day)
3,200 watts (auxiliary day)
1,500 watts (night) Transmitter coordinates (day and auxiliary day)
(night) Branding AM 820 WCPT, Chicago's Progressive Talk Slogan Our Kind of Talk for Our Kind of Town | ||
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.
History
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.
In 1990, the station's transmitter site in Elmhurst, Illinois was sold and the station was taken off the air. On January 2, 1992, the station returned to the air from a new site, though without nighttime operations, as WSCR "The Score", becoming the first all-sports station in Chicago. In 1997, after the "Score" programming moved to 1160 AM, the station changed its call letters to WYPA, airing "Personal Achievement Radio". On June 5, 1998, the station adopted a Spanish language format as an affiliate of Radio Unica. In mid-1999, WYPA was purchased by Catholic Family Radio and began airing a Catholic oriented talk format.
In early 2001, WYPA was purchased by Newsweb. The station changed its call letters to WCSN, and it again aired an all sports format, as an affiliate of Sporting News Radio. In April 2003, Starboard Broadcasting began leasing two hours of airtime a day to air the Relevant Radio Catholic network, and in December 2003, began leasing programming for the entire day. Relevant Radio continued to air on the station until November 25, 2007, when the format moved to WNTD.
On May 3, 2005, the station's call letters changed to WAIT when AM 850 WAIT launched progressive talk with the new call letters WCPT.
On November 26, 2007, WCPT moved its frequency from 850 AM to 820 AM, doubling its power and providing coverage to all of Chicago. The WCPT call letters moved along with the format to 820 AM, and the WAIT call letters returned to 850 AM.
On June 18, 2010, the FCC granted the station a license to again transmit 24 hours a day, albeit at reduced power after sunset in order not to interfere with clear channel WBAP in Fort Worth, Texas, the dominant radio station on AM 820. While WCPT operates at 5,000 watts by day, it must reduce power to 1,500 watts at sundown, limiting its coverage in some of the suburbs of Chicago.