WDCB
Broadcast areaChicago metropolitan area
Frequency90.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Programming
FormatPublic radio - Jazz
AffiliationsNational Public Radio (NPR)
Public Radio Exchange (PRX)
Ownership
OwnerCollege of DuPage (District 502)
History
First air date
July 5, 1977 (1977-07-05)[1]
Call sign meaning
"DuPage Community Broadcasting"[2]
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID12281
ClassA
ERP5,000 watts
HAAT91.0 meters (298.6 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°50′36.00″N 88°5′0.00″W / 41.8433333°N 88.0833333°W / 41.8433333; -88.0833333
Repeater(s)90.7 WRTE (Chicago)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.wdcb.org

WDCB (90.9 MHz is a non-commercial public FM radio station licensed to Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It largely airs jazz programming and is owned by the College of DuPage. Most shows are locally-hosted but some select programs come from National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX).[4] WDCB is listener-supported and seeks donations on the air and on its website. Funding also comes from grants and corporate sponsorships. The studios are on Fawell Boulevard on the DuPage campus.

WDCB has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 5,000 watts. The transmitter is off Fawell Boulevard at Briarcliff Boulevard in Wheaton.[5] Programming can be heard on CAN TV channel 42 in Chicago.[6] It is also simulcast on WRTE 90.7 FM on Chicago's west side.

History

Early years

The station signed on the air on July 5, 1977.[1] It was originally a part-time station, sharing time on the frequency with WEPS.[1][7][2][8] The station's call sign stood for "DuPage Community Broadcasting".[2]

In its early years, the station aired classical music, jazz and folk music, College of DuPage educational courses, community affairs, and entertainment programming.[7][2][9][10][8] The station began full-time operations in October 1987, after an agreement was reached for WEPS to move to a new frequency.[1][8] Throughout the 1980s, WDCB was also used on the Cablevision of Downers Grove's Local/Public Access Channel.

Jazz music

By the late 1980s, jazz had become the station's primary format.[1][10] While jazz remains its focus, WDCB plays a diverse variety of musical genres, including blues, roots rock, bluegrass, Celtic, folk, big band, Afro-Cuban jazz, and world music, along with old-time radio shows.[11][12]

Educational courses continued to air on the station until 2001.[11] Classical Confab aired Sundays until late 2005.[11][13][14]

WDCB is also the home of Those Were The Days, the long-running old-time radio program that had originally been hosted by Chuck Schaden.[12][14] In 2009, Steve Darnall took over as the second host of the show.[15] The show was co-hosted from February 2001 to October 2022 by Ken Alexander, who died on November 2, 2022.[16]

As the result of a 2016 agreement with Chicago Public Media, WDCB's programming is now also heard on WRTE 90.7 FM, from a low power 6-watt signal located on Chicago's near-west side.[17] While WDCB's primary 90.9 FM signal does reach all of Chicago, the 90.7 FM signal offers better reception for many WDCB listeners on the west side of Chicago, as well as Chicago's near-north and near-south side neighborhoods.

Programming

WDCB broadcasts more than 130 hours of jazz every week. From 2000 to 2022, John Russell Ghrist hosted the Saturday afternoon big band program Midwest Ballroom.[18][19] Steve Darnall hosts the long running old-time radio program Those Were The Days, which airs Saturday afternoons.[20] WDCB's extensive blues lineup includes a 10-hour block of blues every Saturday night, led off by popular Chicago blues radio veteran Tom Marker ( who began hosting on WDCB in 2015),[12][21] and ending with Steve Cushing's historical, early-blues program Blues Before Sunrise. In 2015, WDCB became the new broadcast home of former XM host Michelle Sammartino's program, Jammin' Jazz: Jazz for the New Generation.[22][23] Local celebrity Wayne Messmer also hosts a vocal jazz show on Sunday nights.[24] In 2017, WDCB added prominent Chicago jazz singer Dee Alexander to its on-air lineup.[25]

In addition to its predominantly live and locally hosted programming, WDCB also airs a number of nationally syndicated music programs, including NPR's "Jazz Night in America" as well as independent programs including "American Routes," "Night Lights," "Blues From the Red Rooster Lounge," and "The Grateful Dead Radio Hour."[12] WDCB was also home to The Folk Sampler until it ended its run in Summer 2018.[26]

Staff

The station manager of WDCB is Dan Bindert.[27] The music director is Paul Abella.[27] WDCB is not student-operated, though COD students work at the station.[11]

WDCB's stable of on-air personalities includes Bruce Oscar, Paul Abella, Orbert Davis, Dee Alexander, Bill O'Connell, and Marshall Vente, all of whom are prominent Chicago-based jazz musicians, along with longtime hosts Leslie Keros, Jay Greene, Matthew Hermes, Jeanne Franks, Bob Signorelli, Dona Mullen, Al Carter-Bey, and Andy Schultz. The daily lineup of Abella (mornings), Keros (middays), and Oscar (afternoons) has been intact since late 2019, after the retirement of long-time jazz personality Barry Winograd (who still hosts his early-jazz show When Jazz Was King on Saturday mornings). Oscar has been with WDCB since 1992.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilhelmson, Brenda. "Radio In Du Page", Chicago Tribune. February 25, 1990. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "WDCB on the air", La Grange Suburban Life. November 2, 1977. pt. 2, p. 11. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WDCB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ↑ "WDCB Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  5. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WDCB
  6. ↑ "WDCB-FM Partners With Chicago's CAN TV", Chicagoland Radio and Media. June 11, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Broadcasting Yearbook 1980, Broadcasting. 1980. p. C-68. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 Bagnato, Andrew. "College Station Clears the Air Over Frequency", Chicago Tribune. September 2, 1986. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  9. ↑ Danna, Sammy R. (1981) Educational and Industrial Television. C. S. Tepfer Publishing Company. Vol. 13. p. 86.
  10. 1 2 Spencer, LeAnn. "Tiny WDCB-FM Makes Big Plans to Jazz Up Its Image", Chicago Tribune. August 23, 2000. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  11. 1 2 3 4 WDCB History", WDCB. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "WDCB Program Grid", WDCB. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  13. ↑ "WDCB Programs". WDCB. Archived from the original on February 12, 2002. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  14. 1 2 "WDCB Program Schedule". WDCB. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  15. ↑ Slowik, Ted. "Slowik: Nostalgia Digest celebrates golden age of radio entertainment", Daily Southtown. August 29, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  16. ↑ Radio, WDCB Public (21 August 1929). "Ken Alexander Tribute". 90.9fm WDCB. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Feder, Robert. "Public radio rivals team up to boost WDCB, Vocalo", RobertFeder.com. May 4, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Midwest Ballroom", WDCB. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  19. ↑ Constable, Burt. "DJ carves niche swinging to beat of different ballroom", Daily Herald. January 23, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Those Were the Days", WDCB. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Tom Marker", WDCB. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  22. ↑ "WDCB to add former XM host's 'Jammin' Jazz' show to weekly lineup!", WDCB. December 16, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Michelle Sammartino", WDCB. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  24. ↑ "The Wayne Messmer Radio Show", WDCB. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  25. ↑ "We're adding a new program 'Sunday Jazz with Dee Alexander'!", WDCB. April 25, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Folk Sampler Station Guide". The Folk Sampler. Archived from the original on December 9, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  27. 1 2 "WDCB Staff", WDCB. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
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