WNUA

WNUA

City of license	Chicago, Illinois
Broadcast area	Chicago market
Branding	Mega 95.5
Slogan	Todos Los Exitos ("all the hits")
Frequency	95.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) 95.5 HD-2 for Smooth Jazz
First air date	1959
Format	Spanish Pop
ERP	8,300 watts
HAAT	358 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	53971
Callsign meaning	W NU Age Music (former format)
Former callsigns	WDHF (1959-December 1, 1976) WMET (December 1, 1976-1985) WRXR (1985-August 3, 1987)
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	WGCI-FM, WGRB, WKSC-FM, WLIT, WVAZ, WVON
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	http://www.mega955.com

WNUA (95.5 MHz) is a Spanish Pop radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications and branded as Mega 95.5.

History

The station began operation in 1959 as WDHF, owned by hi fi systems and record store owner James Dehaan. The station operated out of Dehaan's store in the Evergreen Plaza in Evergreen Park, Illinois. Its transmitter and tower was in Oak Lawn at 97th and Central. WDHF and Dehaan's record store moved to 102nd and Western Avenue, Chicago, in 1961. In the mid 1960s comedian Bob Newhart purchased the station and moved its studios downtown to 108 N. State St. In the late 1960s, WDHF was sold again to the National Science Network. In the early 1970s, the station's transmitter was moved to the John Hancock Building on the near north side of Chicago. Under Dehaan's, Newhart's and the National Science Network's ownership, WDHF aired a big band music format. Metromedia would buy the station by the early 1970s and flipped the format to a full service station playing middle-of-the-road popular music. Within a few years, WDHF adopted a top 40 format. On December 1, 1976^[1], WDHF's call letters were changed to WMET, while keeping a top 40 format. Several months after the format flip of WEFM from Classical to Top 40 "WE"-FM in 1978, Metromedia flipped WMET to an AOR format. Ratings were good into the early '80s.

Metromedia would buy Field Communications's TV station WFLD 32 in 1983. In March 1986, though, Metromedia sold all their TV stations, including WFLD-TV, which was later owned by Fox, and restructured and became Metropolitan Broadcasting. They at that time sold WMET to Doubleday Broadcasting, which altered the format to "Rockradio," the new WMET. In January 1985, WMET was flipped to a highly unsuccessful mid-tempo AC for a short while. Then the calls were briefly changed to WRXR, which was a classic rock/hits hybrid.

In the fall of 1986 a New Age music show was added in evenings from 7 p.m. - midnight. Shortly after WRXR was sold to Pyramid Broadcasting. The New Age music was added in overnights by the spring of 1987.

On August 3, 1987, the station's call letters were changed to WNUA as a full-time New Age broadcast began (which is believed to be the source of the call letters). Indeed, for a time the station's slogan was "Music For a New Age". Initially the station only played New Age music but by the Winter of 1988 it added smooth jazz music before 7 p.m. during the day. The station at that point was still all instrumental.

By the Summer of 1988 the station added four vocals per hour during the day. The vocalists were R&B artists, soft hits by rock artists, and a few AC cuts. By 1989 the station was about half vocals and half instrumentals during the day and still all New Age instrumentals at night.

By 1990, the station began to grow and attract many listeners. Smooth Jazz and a couple vocalists per hour at nights were also added. During the day vocals were pulled back to about 1/3. New Age music was being played less than before. As a Smooth Jazz station, WNUA had become a major pioneer in the format, spawning imitators in other cities, such as KMYT in Temecula, California. KMYT uses the same on-air jingles as WNUA, which mentions the call letters first and the frequency second (sung as "WNUA 95.5," and "KMYT 94.5,"). Some former smooth jazz stations, such as KKSF in San Francisco, California, WSMJ (104.3 FM) in Baltimore, Maryland, WSJT in Tampa, Florida, WZJZ in Fort Myers, Florida and WJJZ (106.1 FM) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also used these jingles, and the new WJJZ (97.5 FM), also in Philadelphia, would use exactly the same jingles as a tribute to the old station's heyday, after originally using different-sounding ones that could easily be told from those of its predecessor. (It should be noted, though, that the new WJJZ's jingles used a slightly different arrangement, as they were last sung as "WJJZ 97-5," omitting the "point" that was included in the 106.1 version.) KYOT-FM (95.5 FM) in Phoenix, Arizona, sometimes uses the jingles as well, but its identity is never sung. Prior to a format change in January 2009, WJZZ (107.5 FM) in Atlanta, Georgia (now WAMJ), used similar jingles that mentioned the frequency before the callsign, thus sung as "107.5 WJZZ". As of 2009 the Jingles are still used for the Smooth Jazz Network.

In 1994 Pyramid sold WNUA to Shamrock Broadcasting which would merge with Chancellor in 1995 and merge with Evergreen in 1997. WNUA was then owned by Chancellor which restructured as AMFM inc in 1999. In 2000 AMFM inc merged with Clear Channel Communications making WNUA a Clear Channel station.

WNUA was the home of the now-defunct Ramsey Lewis morning show, and it was also where he recorded his syndicated show, Legends of Jazz (which showcased the music of instrumentalists Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson and Miles Davis, as well as vocalists Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald) for distribution to other smooth jazz stations across the nation. The show lives on in Chicago on 87.7 Chicago's Smooth Jazz, and on smooth jazz stations across the country.

In late 2006 three Smooth Jazz personalities, WNUA's Ramsey Lewis, Annie Ashe, and Dave Koz were tapped by Broadcast Architecture to syndicate their respective shows on its Smooth Jazz Network. Lewis's morning show aired in other parts of the country for the first time. Ashe hosted the night time show, known locally as the now-defunct "Lights Out Chicago," for approximately two months; however, in December 2006 the show reverted to its local format as Danae Alexander was moved back to the 7 p.m.-12 a.m. slot after being in the afternoon slot for the past year. As of the first of the year, the afternoon slot was hosted via syndication by Dave Koz, the well-known saxophonist regularly featured on smooth jazz radio stations.

WNUA won R&R Smooth Jazz Station of the Year, 1998–2005, and was a recipient of the Marconi Award for Smooth Jazz Station of the Year, 2004.

Full-time on-air staff included Ramsey Lewis, Karen Williams, Rick O'Dell, Danae Alexander, Dave Koz, Bill Cochran, and Scott Adams. Domingo Castillo was the only part-time on-air host.

Rick O'Dell was the program director until mid-January 2009.^[2] Glenn Cosby was his replacement.

Switch to Spanish

On May 22, 2009, at 9:55am, WNUA flipped formats to Spanish contemporary as Mega 95.5 to cater to Chicago's Hispanic community. It competes with WPPN for the younger Spanish speaking Hispanic audience in addition to its English sister station WKSC which is heavily targeted towards the Hispanic population.

The Smooth Jazz format was picked up a few hours later by television station WLFM-LP (Channel 6), which has their audio available through a technical quirk within Chicago proper on 87.7 FM, but in October 2010 the format was tweaked to a Smooth AC hybrid. "Smooth 87.7" features several former WNUA smooth jazz hosts during the day on weekdays, and airs Broadcast Architecture's Smooth AC Network the remainder of the time.

Mega 95.5 Staff

Diane Fong is the morning host for Mega.^[3]

Omar Romero is the program director for Mega.^[4]

Matthew Tune is the Local Sales Manager of Mega.^[5]

Other on-air staff include Ysaac Alvarez, Gonzo, Chi Chi, and Marce. Specialty programming includes "Mi Communidad" ("My Community"), a public affairs program, and "Classicas de Mega" ("Mega Classics"), a feature featuring classic Spanish pop hits weekdays from Noon-1 PM, and Sunday mornings from 8-Noon.

References

1. ^ Deeb, Gary (November 11, 1976). Chicago Tribune: p. A12. 
2. ^ WNUA-FM's Rick O'Dell Ousted as Clear Channel Starts Cutting; CEO Confirms Elimination of Around 1,850 Jobs, Chicago Tribune, January 20, 2009
3. ^ Mega 95.5 Hires David Miranda and Diane Fong as Hosts, Chicago Tribune, June 16, 2009
4. ^ Omar Romero Joins Mega 95.5 As Program Director, Host, Chicago Tribune, June 9, 2009
5. ^ Mega 95.5/Chicago Names Matthew Tune as LSM, Radio Online, July 9, 2009

External links

• Official website
• Smooth Chicago - info on smooth jazz happenings in the Chicago area
• Smooth Jazz Network - station for fans of WNUA and the old smooth jazz format
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WNUA
• Radio-Locator information on WNUA
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WNUA
• Thank You for Listening to Smooth Jazz WNUA 95.5
• Memories of Smooth Jazz WNUA 95.5