On October 13, 1924, the station first signed on with the call sign WJJD.[3][4] The station was owned by theLoyal Order of Moose and was located inMooseheart, Illinois.[3][5][6][7] It was powered at 500 watts and operated at 278 meters (1080 kHz).[3][5] In January 1925, its frequency was changed to 990 kHz and in December 1925 it was changed to 810 kHz.[3][8][9] By 1926, the station's power had been increased to 1,000 watts.[9]
In 1926, auxiliary studios were established in thePalmer House, from which a variety of musical programming was broadcast.[3][10][11][12] In 1927, the station's frequency was changed to 820 kHz, and the following year its frequency was changed to 1180 kHz and its power was increased to 20,000 watts.[6] In 1929, its frequency was changed to 1130 kHz.[6] For most of its history, WJJD was adaytimer, required tosign off at sunset inSalt Lake City, to protectclear-channel station,KSL.[6]
WJJD aired a variety of music, general entertainment, sports, and public interest programming in the 1920s,[3][10] 30s,[11][12][13] and 40s.[14][15]
Lew Fonseca andCharlie Grimm broadcastChicago Cubsbaseball games on WJJD during the1939 and1940 seasons.[18] WJJD won the exclusive rights to broadcast Cubs games locally in1944, though 560WIND won exclusive rights to broadcast the following season.[19]Ed Short was the station's director of sports publicity and promotion from 1946 until 1950, when he became theChicago White Sox press and promotion director.[20][21]
In 1944, the station was sold toField Enterprises for approximately $750,000.[22][23][24] In 1947, the station's power was increased to 50,000 watts, although it could only broadcast during the daytime.[6] In 1947, WJJD began airingHere Comes Tomorrow, which was the first radio serial with an all African-American cast.[25][26]Al Benson was aR&B disc jockey on WJJD in the late 1940s.[27]
In 1953,Plough Broadcasting purchased WJJD for $900,000.[28] Plough Broadcasting was asubsidiary of the large pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough. WJJD featured bothpop[29][30][31][32] andcountry music programs in the 1950s, in an era where country and western music was not common on radio stations in Northern U.S. cities.[33][34]
In June 1956, WJJD left country music for several years, flipping to aTop 40 format.[35] But with tough competition from 890WLS in the early 1960s, WJJD shifted to apop standard format.[36][37][38][39] In 1961, the studios were moved to the transmitter site in Des Plaines.[6]
WJJD's studio building in Des Plaines
On February 15, 1965, WJJD adopted a country music format.[39][40][41] The station's programming wassimulcast on 104.3WJJD-FM, with the FM station continuing WJJD's country programming after sunset.[41] In 1966, its studios and transmitter were moved one mile west.[6] In 1977, the simulcast ended when 104.3 FM switched to a "beautiful country" format as WJEZ.[42]
In April 1982, the station began 24-hour operations, running 2,500 watts at night, with plans to increase its nighttime power to 10,000 watts in July.[43][44] However, its nighttime power was reduced to 5,000 watts later that decade.[45][46]
In 1984, WJJD and WJEZ were sold toInfinity Broadcasting for $13.5 million.[58]Clark Weber joined WJJD in 1985, hosting a talk show weekday mornings, while adult standards continued to air in the remainder of the schedule.[59][60][61][54] In April 1993, the station began airingG. Gordon Liddy's syndicated talk show middays.[62][63]
In November 1994, WJJD dropped adult standards music altogether for a full-timetalk format.[64][65] Hosts includedEd Vrdolyak, Ty Wansley, G. Gordon Liddy,David Brenner, theDon and Mike Show,Tom Leykis andJim Bohannon.[65] WJJD began airingThe Howard Stern Show mornings in October 1995.[66] Ed Vrdolyak and Ty Wansley were moved from mornings, and replaced Don and Mike in the afternoon.[66] On July 29, 1996, WJJD returned to an adult standards format, though it retained G. Gordon Liddy and Tom Leykis's programs.[67]
In 1996, Infinity Broadcasting was purchased by the parent company ofCBS.[68] That meant WJJD was nowsister stations withWBBM andWBBM-FM. On February 3, 1997, the station began simulcasting theoldies programming of 104.3WJMK.[69]
On August 1, 2000, Infinity Broadcasting ended 670WMAQ'sall news format, leaving co-ownedWBBM 780 as the only all-news formatted station in Chicago. At that point, WMAQ began simulcasting WSCR's sports programming.[74][75] Two weeks later, the WSCR call sign officially moved to AM 670, retiring the long-standing WMAQ call letters on 670 in the process.[75][76] On August 15, 2000, 1160's call sign was changed to WXRT, and the station began simulcasting theadult album alternative programming of 93.1WXRT-FM.[76][1]
In late 2000, Salem Communications purchased the station for $29 million.[77] In February 2001, Salem moved the Christian talk programming ofWYLL 106.7 FM to 1160 AM, along with the WYLL call letters.[78][1] The station was branded "Chicago's Word".[79] FM 106.7 switched to aChristian contemporary music format the following month.[80][81]
In addition to the primarily national Christian talk and teaching programming heard on the station, Sandy Rios hosted a local talk show weekday afternoons on WYLL from 1994 to 2001 and again from 2007 to 2010, when she moved to Washington, D.C.[82][83]
On April 7, 2005, WYLL's nighttime power was increased to 50,000 watts.[84][85] The higher power required a six-towerdirectional array, with thetowers used for daytime broadcasts about 30 miles away from the towers used for nighttime operation.
^abAlridge, Ron. "WJJD having time of its life with 'Music of Your Life'",Chicago Tribune. July 5, 1982. Section 2, p. 8.
^Duncan, James H. "Chicago: 12+ Metro Share",An American Radio Trilogy 1975 to 2004. Volume 1: The Markets. Duncan's American Radio. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
