Edwin Armstrong began testing his new 43-48 megacycle system in 1934 from atop the Empire State Building in New York. The first known Chicago FM broadcast station was W9XZR, on 42.8 megacycles, owned by the Zenith Radio Corporation went on the air in 1939. In 1942, there were eight Chicago area FM stations on the air..
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FREQ |
CALL | CITY | OWNER |
| 44.7 | W47C | Chicago | WJJD,inc. |
| 45.1 | W51C | Chicago | Zenith Radio Corp |
| 45.9 | W59C | Chicago | WGN, Inc |
| 46.3 | W63C | Chicago | National Broadcasting Co. |
| 46.7 | W67C | Chicago | Columbia Broadcasting System |
| 47.5 | W75C | Chicago | Moody Bible Institute of Chicago |
| 47.9 | ---- | Chicago | Chicago Federation of Labor |
| 47.9 | W79C | Chicago | Oak Park Realty & Amusement Co |
| 48.3 | Cicero | WHFC, Inc. |
Bypassing Armstrong patents, David Sarnoff created our current FM radio band. There were five Chicago FM stations on the air in 1945...
|
FREQ |
CALL |
CITY |
OWNER |
| 99.3 | WBBM-FM | Chicago | Columbia Broadcasting System |
| 99.7 | WDLM | Chicago | Moody Bible Institute of Chicago |
| 100.1 | WEHS | Chicago | WHFC, Inc. |
| 98.9 | WGNB | Chicago | WGN, Inc |
| 98.5 | WWZR | Chicago | Zenith Radio Corp |
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| One of WMBI's radio studios |
Chicago FM Broadcast Stations in 1950..
| FREQ | CALL | CITY | POWER | - | FREQ | CALL | CITY | POWER |
| 88.1 | WEPS | Elgin IL | 10 cp | - | 98.7 | WWGNB | Chicago IL | 35000 |
| 88.5 | WDLJ | Evanston IL | 10 cp | - | 99.5 | WEFM | Chicago IL | 30000 |
| 91.5 | WBEZ | Chicago IL | 15000 | - | 100.3 | WFMF | Chicago IL | 23000 |
| 92.1 | WILA | Woodstock IL | 1000 | - | 101.1 | WMAQ-FM | Chicago IL | 24000 |
| 92.3 | WJIZ | Hammond,IN | 9300 | - | 101.9 | WXRT | Chicago IL | 25000 |
| 93.1 | WFJL | Chicago IL | 29000 | - | 102.3 | WNOI | Oak Park IL | 1000cp |
| 93.9 | WAAF-FM | Chicago IL | 28000cp | - | 102.7 | WMOR | Chicago IL | 40000 |
| 94.7 | WENR-FM | Chicago IL | 25000 | - | 103.1 | WRGK | Brookfield IL | 1000 |
| 95.5 | WMBI-FM | Chicago Hts IL | 50000 | - | 103.9 | WBNU | Aurora IL | 1000 |
| 95.9 | WCHI | Chicago Hts IL | 400 | - | 105.1 | WEAW | Evanston IL | 36000 |
| 96.3 | WBIK | Chicago IL | 19100 | - | 106.3 | WEXI | St. Charles IL | 250 |
| 97.1 | WBBM-FM | Chicago IL | 13500 | - | 106.7 | WKRS-FM | Waukegan IL | 12000 |
| 97.9 | WEHS | Cicero IL | 16000 | - | 107.1 | WLEY | Elmwood Pk IL | 1000 |
| 98.3 | WOAK | Oak Park,IL IL | 35000 | - | 107.9 | WTQS | Evanston IL | 30000cp |
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| Radio Station in 1959 | FM 99.5 WEFM in 1961 |
Broadcasting on 95.5 Megacycles began in the late 1940's with the Moody Bible Institute's WMBI-FM. In 1956 the station was sold to the DeHann Hi Fi Store in Evergreen Park, Illinois. The WDHF format in the 1960's was classical and easy listening. In 1974, Metromedia Radio purchased WDHF and turned it into a top 40 format. The Casey Casem' American Top 40 syndication was syndicated on WDHF in 1974 after WCFL canceled it.
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FM 95.5 WDHF / WMET 1974-1978 Air Composite (Pt. 1) |
| --Top 40 Format-- | |
| Ronnie Knight 7-74, Tom Jeffries 11-74, John Bodnar 2-75, | |
| Bill Taylor 9-75, Steve Campbell 5-76, Dan Walker 5-76, | |
| Gary Price 5-76, Jay Hawkins 5-76, | |
| FJ Bailey WDHF-WMET Call Letter Change 12-1-76, | |
| Jim Channell 12-76, Mike O'Brien 12-76, Greg Brown 12-76, | |
| Chris Alan 11-77, Bill Brannigan 9-78 & Craig Roberts 9-78. | |
| Includes News & Sports Clips. |
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| WDHF studios (Jim Channell left) |
WDHF Promotion...
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WDHF Air Composite May 1976 | |
| 'Screamin' Jay Hawkins & Gary Price |
The WDHF-WMET Top 40 DJ Lineup 1974-1979
 Jim
Channell (Capt. Whammo) |
John
Bodnar |
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| Gary
Price |
Gary
Bryan |
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| Dan
Walker |
Jay
Hawkins |
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| Greg
Brown |
Steve
Campbell |
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| Bill
Taylor |
Chris
Alan |
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| F
J Bailey |
Craig
Roberts |
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| Bill
Brannigan |
Terry
Thompson |
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| Mike
O'Brien |
Mike
Troop (News) |
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| Tom
Jeffries |
Dave
Alpert (News) |
On December 1,1976, Metromedia owners changed calls from WDHF to WMET. The last song played under the old calls was Chicago's 1971 hit "Beginnings". The last week of American Top 40 on WMET was in early 1979. Then, WLS AM 890 carried it through 1983.
On April 20, 1979 Metromedia changed WMET to a album rock format and competed with WLUP-FM 98. WMET's slogan was "The Mighty MET" through early 1981 when they became "Chicago's Classic Rock" and "Rock Radio 95.5" in 1983 thru 1985.
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| 1979 Sticker |
The Sunday Night Doobie's Concert was GREAT!!!
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--Album Rock Format-- |
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Greg Brown's Last Show 4-79, Patti Haze 11-80, |
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Bill Evans 4-81, Slim Nelsen 4-81, |
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Scott McConnell 4-81, Dave Benson 11-81, |
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Red Muldoon 11-81, Brock Whaley 12-81, |
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John Fisher 12-81, Dan Michaels 1-82, |
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Dave Lee Austin 4-82, Ray Sherman 5-83 & |
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Matt Harrison 7-84. |
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Includes News, Sports Clips & Concert promos. |
| The 1980-81 Album Rock Personalities.. |
| (From the 1981 Classic Rock Book) |
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| WMET Vice President/General Manager Bruce Holberg (left) and Mayor Jane Byrne presented the Chicago band STYX with an award for their #1 gold album "Paradise Skies" and proclaimed The City of Chicago to have a "Styx Day" in 1983. |
Metromedia sold WMET to the Doubleday Corporation in 1983.The format was changed to a album rock hits format in the summer of 1983. The 1981 personalities were replaced by Ray Sherman and Matt Harrison. The new rock format used heavy microphone reverb, as WBBM-FM did on their Mike Joseph "Hot Hits" format.
| 1984 Record Store Display |
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More WMET promotion...
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| The WMET Nitelight was one of many promotion items given away to listeners on Dan Michaels "All Night Drive Show" in 1980 and '81. |
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in 1986 WMET changed calls to WRXR and is currently WNUA, a smooth Jazz format..
WMET is an AM News Talk format in our nations capital..
