WDYS (AM)

WDYS (1480 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a soft oldies and adult standards format. Licensed to Somonauk, Illinois, it serves DeKalb County and the Fox Valley, suburbs west of Chicago. It is owned by Nelson Multimedia Inc., with programming coming from Westwood One's "America's Best Music" service.

WDYS
Broadcast areaDeKalb County–Fox Valley
Frequency1480 kHz
BrandingAmerica's Best Music
Programming
FormatSoft Oldies - Adult standards
AffiliationsWestwood One
Ownership
OwnerNelson Multimedia Inc.
WSPY-FM, WSQR
History
First air date
November 11, 1961 (1961-11-11)
Former call signs
  • WGSB (1961-1980)
  • WFXW (1980-2002)
  • WSPY (2002-2021)
[1]
Call sign meaning
Communities served and city of license; DeKalb County, Yorkville and Sandwich or Somonauk
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID69700
ClassB
Power
  • 250 watts days
  • 10 watts nights
Translator(s)101.5 MHz W268DB (Yorkville)
Links
Public license information

WDYS is powered at 250 watts by day, and only 10 watts at night. Programming is also heard on 250-watt FM translator W268DB at 101.5 MHz, licensed to Yorkville.[3] The studios and transmitter are on Frazier Road in Plano.[4]

History

WGSB

The station signed on the air on November 11, 1961 (1961-11-11).[5] The original call sign was WGSB.[5][6] The call letters stood for Geneva, St. Charles, Batavia, or "Where Good Sounds Begin".[6] The station was originally owned by the Fox Valley Broadcasting Corporation.[6] Nelda Brickhouse, wife of WGN-TV sportscaster Jack Brickhouse, bought into the station 1966, purchasing controlling interest in 1970.[6][7] For many years, the station was known as the "Voice of the Fox River Valley".[6][8][9]

The station primarily aired easy listening music, but in 1964 the station began carrying Dick Biondi's syndicated program from the Mutual Broadcasting System.[6][10] The station also carried the Jim Ameche Show,[8] along with community programming including high school sports and local call in program "Party Line".[6] Bill Blough hosted an overnight country music program on the station from 1967 to 1970,[11][12] and again in the late 1970s.[13] The station otherwise aired a MOR format throughout the 1970s.[5][14][15]

WFXW

In 1980, the station was purchased by Howard Miller, a former disc jockey and talk show host on 560 WIND.[6][16] In December 1980, Miller changed the station's call sign to WFXW, after being unable to obtain the call letters WFOX.[1][6][16] In 1983, the station was sold to Gamel Broadcasting for $580,000.[17] In 1988, Louis Pignatelli purchased a controlling interest in the station.[6][18]

WFXW aired a full service format, with local talk programs and a strong emphasis on local affairs, along with adult contemporary music.[6][19][20][21][22] The station also aired big band and oldies programs, as well as farm reports, Paul Harvey, and Pacific Garden Mission's radio drama Unshackled!.[20][23][24] By 1998, the station had adopted a classic hits format.[25] In 2001, the station was taken off the air, and its transmitter site was sold for residential development.[26] The station was sold to Nelson Multimedia later that year.[27]

WSPY

The station's call sign was changed to WSPY in 2002, and the station returned to the air under special temporary authority (STA), running 125 watts, using a long wire antenna in Batavia, Illinois.[28][1] The station aired an adult standards format, and was branded "Timeless Favorites", carrying Timeless network programming from Citadel Broadcasting until the network's shutdown in February 2010.[29][30][31] The station then adopted a classic hits format,[32] with programming from Cumulus Broadcasting's (formerly Citadel Media) Classic Hits network.

In late summer of 2011, the station switched back to an adult standards format, with programming from Dial Global's America's Best Music.[33] Until 2020, the station continued to operate under the aforementioned STA.[34] In May 2020, WSPY got a construction permit to move its city of license to Somonauk. The studios moved in late 2020. Its call sign was changed to WDYS on May 1, 2021.[1]

References
  1. Call Sign History, fcc.gov. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  2. "Facility Technical Data for WDYS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. Radio-Locator.com/W268DB
  4. Radio-Locator.com/WDYS
  5. 1971 Broadcasting Yearbook, Broadcasting. 1971. p. B-64. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  6. Ghrist, John R. (1996). Valley Voices: A Radio History. Crossroads Communications. p. 107-115.
  7. "Ownership Changes", Broadcasting. November 30, 1970. p. 64. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  8. "WGSB: Voice of the Fox River Valley". WGSB. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  9. Chicagoland Radio Waves, MediaTies. Summer 1988. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  10. "Tower Ticker", Chicago Tribune. February 19, 1964. Section 1. p. 19.
  11. Hall, Claude. "Vox Jox", Billboard. July 1, 1967. p. 27. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  12. "Vox Jox", Billboard. September 26, 1970. p. 53. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  13. "Country Music Visits DeKalb", Daily Chronicle. February 16, 1979. p. 2.
  14. Broadcasting Yearbook 1978, Broadcasting. 1978. p. C-65. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  15. Broadcasting Yearbook 1979, Broadcasting. 1979. p. C-66. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  16. Presecky, William. "Static In Store For Fox Valley Local Radio", Chicago Tribune. July 25, 2000. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  17. "Changing Hands", Broadcasting. September 26, 1983. p. 71. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  18. "Transactions", Radio & Records. July 22, 1988. p. 8. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  19. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985, Broadcasting/Cablecasting. 1985. p. B-82. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  20. Chicago Radio Guide. Vol. 1, No. 1. May 1985. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  21. Unmacht, Robert; McCrummen, Pat (1996). The M Street Radio Directory. p. 208. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  22. "Station Formats", Chicago Airwaves. August 1993. p. 13. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  23. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1993, Broadcasting & Cable. 1993. p. B-110. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  24. Kening, Dan. "It`s A Wasteland", Chicago Tribune. September 01, 1992. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  25. Unmacht, Robert; McCrummen, Pat (1998). The M-Street Radio Directory. 8th Edition. p. 211. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  26. "Format Changes & Updates", The M Street Journal. Vol. 18 No. 15. April 11, 2001. p. 2. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  27. "Granted Station Transfers", The M Street Journal. Vol. 18 No. 21. June 27, 2001. p. 14. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  28. STA Circumstances Correspondence, fcc.gov. December 28, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  29. The M-Street Radio Directory. 2003-2004. p. 196. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  30. The Radio Book. 2009-2010. p. 205. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  31. "1480 WSPY: Timeless Favorites". WSPY. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  32. The Radio Book. 2010-2011. p. 207. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  33. "Nelson Multimedia". Nelson Multimedia. Archived from the original on November 2, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  34. Application Search Details, fcc.gov. Retrieved August 22, 2018.

41°34′59″N 88°36′05″W

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