Feder: WGN Radio jumping the gun on turning 100

Posted March 08, 2022 12:00 am

Robert Feder

Call me a spoilsport, but Nexstar Media might want to rethink plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of WGN 720-AM this spring.

Details are still under wraps, but insiders at the news/talk station say they're expecting on-air promos, a party for advertisers and maybe a primetime special on WGN-Channel 9 in May - 100 years after Mid West Radio Central launched WDAP from the Wrigley Building.

Just one problem: WGN has always considered its official birthday June 1, 1924.

That's when the Chicago Tribune purchased WDAP and renamed it WGN for "World's Greatest Newspaper" (the paper's slogan from 1911 to 1976).

By 1927, WGN was assigned its present, clear-channel frequency at 720 kilocycles.

• Get the full report, and more Chicago media news, at robertfeder.com.

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