WRDZ (AM)

WRDZ (1300 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to La Grange, Illinois, and serving the Chicago metropolitan area. The station, which began broadcasting in 1950, is owned and operated by Walter Kotaba's Polnet Communications.[2] It simulcasts a Polish language radio format with co-owned WNVR 1030 AM in Vernon Hills, Illinois.

WRDZ
Broadcast areaChicago metropolitan area
Frequency1300 kHz
BrandingPolskie Radio
Programming
FormatPolish
Ownership
Owner
  • Walter Kotaba
  • (Polnet Communications, Ltd.)
WNVR, WKTA, WEEF
History
First air date
October 11, 1950 (1950-10-11)
Former call signs
WTAQ (1950–1998)
Call sign meaning
W Radio DiZney
(Former owner and affiliation)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID28309
ClassB
Power4,500 watts days
4,000 watts nights
Transmitter coordinates
41°40′29″N 87°45′45″W
Translator(s)W276BM (103.1 MHz, Tinley Park)
W284DA (104.7 MHz, Chicago)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitepolskieradio.com

By day, WRDZ is powered at 4,500 watts. At night, it reduces power to 4,000 watts.[3] Programming is also heard on two FM translators, W276BM at 103.1 MHz in Tinley Park and W284DA at 104.7 MHz in Chicago.

History

Early years

The station's original call sign was WTAQ, with the letters meaning "Western Towns Along the Q."[4] The "Q" referred to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which ran through the center of the station's coverage area.[4] WTAQ first went on the air on October 11, 1950.[5] The station was originally owned by La Grange Broadcasting Co.[5][6] The station initially ran 500 watts and operated during daytime hours only.[5][6]

WTAQ was a brokered time station and was branded "Chicago's Personality Station".[7][8] The heart of this format was weekend ethnic polka programs, serving the large Eastern European population around Chicago. "Lil Wally" Jagiello, Uncle Henry Cukierka, Chet Schafer, Chet Gulinski, Eddie Blazonczyk, Johnny Hyzny, Eddie Korosa, Eddie Arenz, Art Schlaman, Jim Marwood, John Psczola, and many other polka shows made their home there.[8][9][10][11]

In June 1984, William Wardle and Ralph Faucher purchased the station for $1,640,000.[7]

Radio Fiesta and La Mexicana

In 1985, Lotus Communications Corporation purchased the station for $3,000,000, and it became a full-time Spanish language station.[7] The station adopted a Spanish language adult contemporary format as "Radio Fiesta".[12][13][14]

In the late 1980s, the station's branding was changed to "La Mexicana", and the station broadcast a música norteña format.[15] The station's "La Mexicana" format was simulcast with several other stations Lotus Communications owned.[16] During the station's period as a Spanish language station, it carried the Spanish-language broadcasts of the Chicago White Sox.[17]

Radio Disney
Logo used from 2009 to 2013.

In July 1998, ABC Radio bought WTAQ 1300 and sister station WTAU 1500 in Zion, Illinois, and their Radio Disney network began to air on the stations.[18]

WTAQ and WTAU's call signs were later changed to WRDZ and WDDZ (this allowed the original callholders in Green Bay, Wisconsin to resume using the WTAQ calls).

In January 2000, WDDZ went off the air and remained silent until early 2001. In the spring of 2002, the station returned to the air, once again simulcasting WRDZ with Radio Disney. The simulcast ended after the station was sold to Multicultural Broadcasting of Chicago in the summer of 2002.

On August 13, 2014, Disney put WRDZ and twenty-two other Radio Disney stations up for sale, with the exception of KDIS (now KWVE) in Los Angeles, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[19][20] Disney originally planned to temporarily shut down the station on September 26, 2014.[21] However, the station remained on the air and continued carrying Radio Disney until it was sold.[22]

Polish programming

On July 30, 2015, Radio Disney Chicago filed an application to sell WRDZ to Polnet Communications.[23] The agreed purchase price for the station is $3,450,000.[24] Polnet is the owner of WEEF, WKTA, WNVR and WPJX (former Radio Disney O&O and former satellite of WRDZ).[25] The station went silent on October 30, 2015.[26]

The sale was completed on December 2, 2015.[27] The station returned to the air with a Polish language format branded "Polskie Radio", simulcasting WNVR 1030 AM.

Translators

WRDZ is also heard on FM translators at 104.7 MHz in Chicago, and 103.1 in Park Forest. In a complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission in 2017, 104.7 WCFL claims that its signal has been subjected to co-channel interference from translator W284DA, which relays WRDZ.[28]

Broadcast translators for WRDZ
Call signFrequencyCity of licenseFIDERP (W)HAATClassFCC info
W284DA 104.7 FMChicago, Illinois15517450363 m (1,191 ft)DLMS
W276BM 103.1 FMTinley Park, Illinois140663100128 m (420 ft)DLMS

See also

References
  1. "Facility Technical Data for WRDZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. "WRDZ Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. Radio-Locator.com/WRDZ
  4. "Chicago Radio: Some facts, figures, and things you might not know", Chicago Tribune Magazine, March 4, 1979. p. 16. Accessed August 12, 2015
  5. "WTAQ Takes Air", Broadcasting – Telecasting, October 16, 1950. p. 27. Accessed August 11, 2015
  6. "Open La Grange Station WTAQ After June 1", Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1985. Accessed August 10, 2015
  7. Eric Zorn, "Los Angeles Firm Gets A Toe Into Spanish-language Market", Chicago Tribune, May 09, 1985. Accessed August 10, 2015
  8. The 1964 International Polka Convention 1964. Accessed August 10, 2015
  9. "Unity Savings plans 'UniFest' celebrations", The Bugle, January 4, 1979. p. 24. Accessed August 10, 2015
  10. "Radio and TV Directory of Polka Programs for Chicago and Vicinity", Polka Guide, Vol. 7 – No. 4, July 1965. Accessed August 10, 2015
  11. "Eddie Korosa, `Prince Of Polka'", Chicago Tribune, July 10, 1998. Accessed August 10, 2015
  12. Don Terry and Cheryl Devall, "La Grange Radio Station Provides Link To Mexico", Chicago Tribune, September 22, 1985. Accessed August 10, 2015
  13. Ana Veciana-Suárez, "Hispanic media, USA: a narrative guide to the print and electronic Hispanic news media in the United States", Media Institute, (1987) p. 106
  14. Janice Perrone, "Chi Lives: a radio shrink for Spanish speakers", Chicago Reader, September 01, 1988. Accessed August 10, 2015
  15. Costanza Montaña, "Staying in tune with Hispanics", Chicago Tribune, July 17, 1989. p. 4-1&4. Accessed August 10, 2015
  16. Nicolás Kanellos, "The Hispanic Almanac: From Columbus to Corporate America", (1994) p. 280
  17. Joseph Tybor, "Sweetness At Short: Chico, Little Looie And Ozzie Carrasquel Helped Fuel Sox`s 3-part Venezuelan Pipeline", Chicago Tribune, July 08, 1990. Accessed August 11, 2015
  18. "Getting Kids To Listen", Chicago Tribune, August 21, 1998. Accessed August 10, 2015
  19. Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  20. "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  21. Venta, Lance (August 13, 2014). "Radio Disney To Sell All But One Station". Radio Insight. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  22. "NERW Extra: No Signoffs for Disney AMs". Northeast Radio Watch. Retrieved October 5, 2014. (subscription required)
  23. "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. July 30, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  24. "Asset Purchase and Sales Agreement", fcc.gov, July 13, 2015. Accessed August 10, 2015
  25. Multiple Ownership – Federal Communications Commission
  26. "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA", fcc.gov. November 6, 2015. Accessed November 17, 2015
  27. "Consummation Notice", fcc.gov, December 4, 2015.
  28. Vernon, Tom (June 8, 2017). "WCFL Asks FCC to Shut Down Chicago Translator". Radio World. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
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