WPWX

WPWX (92.3 FM) is an Urban Contemporary radio station licensed to Hammond, Indiana and serving the Chicago metropolitan area in addition to Northwest Indiana, and is owned by Crawford Broadcasting. The station broadcasts from a transmitter a few hundred feet west of the Illinois/Indiana state line in Burnham, Illinois, with studios on Calumet Avenue in Hammond.

WPWX
CityHammond, Indiana
Broadcast areaChicago metropolitan area
Northwest Indiana
Frequency92.3 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingPower 92.3
Slogan#1 In The Streets
Programming
FormatUrban Contemporary
SubchannelsHD2: Urban contemporary gospel (WYCA)
Ownership
OwnerCrawford Broadcasting
(Dontron Inc.)
History
First air date
1949
Former call signs
WJIZ (1949-1954)[1]
WJOB-FM (1954-1959)[1]
WYCA (1959[1]-2001)[2]
WVJM (2001)[2]
Call sign meaning
Po Wer X
Technical information
Facility ID17304
ClassB
ERP50,000 watts horiz
50,000 watts vert
HAAT150 meters (490 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°37′50.00″N 87°31′40.00″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
WebsitePower 92 Chicago

History

The station began broadcasting in 1949, and held the call sign WJIZ.[1] The station was owned by South Shore Broadcasting Company.[1] In 1954, the station's call sign was changed to WJOB-FM, and the station simulcast the programming of its sister station WJOB 1230.[1][3] In 1959, the station was sold to Percy Crawford for $119,000.[4][1] The station's call sign was changed to WYCA, standing for "Young People's Church of the Air", and the station began airing a Christian format.[5][1]

The station switched to an urban contemporary format on March 26, 2001, in an attempt to go head to head with the longtime urban radio leader in Chicago, WGCI-FM.[6] The station's call sign was briefly changed to WVJM in April 2001, before being changed to WPWX on May 1, 2001.[2] WPWX currently is the Chicago home to The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, and at one time carried both the Doug Banks Morning Show and The Tom Joyner Morning Show.[7][8][9]

HD Programming

All Crawford Broadcasting Company radio stations broadcast in digital HD Radio, and all Crawford FM's also broadcast both HD1 & HD2 (digital) audio. Urban Gospel sister station WYCA, known as Rejoice 102.3, is simulcast on WPWX HD2.[10]

References
  1. History Cards for WPWX, fcc.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  2. "Call Sign History (WPWX)". Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  3. 1958 Broadcasting Yearbook, Broadcasting. 1958. p. A-280. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  4. "Changing hands", Broadcasting. July 6, 1959. p. 52. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  5. Ghrist, John R. (1996). Valley Voices: A Radio History. Crossroads Communications. p. 241-247.
  6. Feder, Robert (February 23, 2001). "WYCA leaving religion for urban contemporary". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  7. "Rickey Smiley Morning Show", WPWX. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  8. Cholo, Ana Beatriz. "Bowled over about black history", Chicago Tribune. February 12, 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  9. Rosenthal, Phil. "Tom Joyner expands reach, adds Soul 106 to Power 92", Chicago Tribune. June 01, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  10. "HD Radio station guide for San Francisco, California". hdradio.com.
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