WCRW

WCRW was a "shared time" AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. This means it shared its frequency with two other stations (WEDC and WSBC) each broadcasting a part of the day. Ed Jacker was 50% owner, manager and chief engineer of this 5-hour-per-day station. For it's entire existence, WCRW was in the penthouse of the Embassy Hotel at 2756 N. Pine Grove at the corner of Diversey, on Chicago's gold Coast.

The three stations sharing the 1240 frequency in Chicago operated from three different locations with three separate transmitter sites, with a power of 1 kW days, 250 W nights.

WCRW, and its sister shared-time stations, WEDC and WSBC, are an important part of United States radio history. Not only operating as "shared time stations" for their entire existence (WEDC and WCRW), an unusual type of station, but also as "foreign language" broadcasters, catering to "niche markets". The FCC allowed the shared time status. Competition in the market dictated the foreign language status. Neither WEDC and WCRW exist today, so preservation of this history is important for the future.

According to Ed Jacker, who owned WCRW, and helped operate WEDC, foreign language broadcasters were always under suspicion by the FCC, especially during war years, for the threat of broadcasting "un-American" or traitorous or "coded" information.

From the 1920s through the 1960s the three station managers met annually to decide their broadcasting hours. In the mid-1960s, they met and things were finalized through the rest of their shared-time years.

WCRW only broadcast 5 hours a day and according to its owner/manager, grossed about $3,000 weekly in the 1970's, broadcasting Spanish Mon-Sat, 3 hours on Sat and 1 hour on Sun. The other Sunday hours were German and Greek. According to Ed Jacker, its owner/manager, WCRW and the other stations that shared the 1240 frequency in Chicago began to broadcast various foreign language programs in the 40's because they could no longer compete with the larger stations in English.

Photo albums and newspaper clippings at the station showed that WCRW played live bands, religious, Polish and a lot of other foreign language programs. The WCRW studio was spotlessly clean, located in the hotel penthouse, in a neighborhood much resembling Manhattan in New York.

The original owner, Clinton R White died in the 50's while attending a meeting about the WCRW roof antenna (with a large top hat). Jacker died in the 80's at an engineering conference in Wisconsin. Clinton White's wife, Josephine, maintained 50% ownershsip in the station until her death.

Radio historians will note that Josephine White was a pioneer female program host, singer and announcer. She may be the VERY FIRST female dj, dating back to the mid-1920's.

It was in May 1996, that WSBC bought out WCRW, for $762,500, as reported by the M Street Journal (July 17, 1996). In July of that year, WSBC took over WCRW's hours. WSBC was once the owner of WXRT(FM) and WSCR(AM) in Chicago. Those stations were later sold to Westinghouse Broadcasting, and are now a part of CBS.

On June 13, 1997 at midnight, WSBC took over WEDC's hours putting an end to the last of the original time-sharing arrangements in the United States.

Note that WSBC and WEDC used separate transmitter sites, located within a mile of each other on the northwest side of Chicago.

In 1988 WCRW, was purchased by WEDC (who sold them both to WSBC).