- WMVP
Infobox Radio Station
name = WMVP-AM
city =Chicago, Illinois
area = Chicagoland
branding = "ESPN Radio 1000"
slogan = "Chicagoland's Leader In Sports"
airdate =June 19 ,1926
frequency = 1000 kHz HD Radio
format = Sports Talk
power = 50,000Watt s
class = A (clear channel )
owner = Disney/ABC Radio
licensee = Sports Radio Chicago, LLC
webcast = [http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?station=chicago Listen Live]
website = [http://www.espnradio1000.com/ espnradio1000.com]
affiliations =ESPN Radio Chicago Bulls (NBA)
callsign_meaning = W Most Valuable Player
sister_stations = WRDZ-AM
"Also part of the Disney/ABC Cluster: TV Station WLS"WMVP (1000 AM) is the
callsign of a commercial radio station inChicago, Illinois ,USA . It is owned by ABC. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove. Its former call sign was WCFL, for theChicago Federation of Labor .The station broadcasts live sports talk, both locally and nationally. Daily programming consists of
talk shows that are both national and local.Mike and Mike in the Morning and the Mike Tirico show are done by ESPN, while Waddle & Silvy,Mac, Jurko, and Harry , and The Show are more focused on Chicago sports. It is also currently the flagship station of theChicago Bulls .ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is a national sportsradio network in theUnited States launched onJanuary 1 ,1992 . It was originally called Sports Radio ESPN. ESPN Radio is located atESPN headquarters inBristol, Connecticut . The network airs a regular schedule of daily and weekly programming as well as live coverage ofMajor League Baseball ,National Basketball Association ,Bowl Championship Series , andNational Invitation Tournament games. As of 2006, like ESPN, ESPN Radio now has what is called "ESPN Radio Insider". ESPN Radio is broadcast to subscribers of bothSirius Satellite Radio andXM Satellite Radio .ESPN Radio currently has five company-owned stations in
New York City , Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Pittsburgh. Most other markets have ESPN Radio affiliates, whether they be part-time or have their entire format dedicated to ESPN Radio. ESPN Radio is currently an official part of theABC Radio network, though theWalt Disney Company did not include the ESPN Radio network or theRadio Disney network [http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=179170 in the sale of ABC Radio] toCitadel Broadcasting .Early years
AM 1000 began operation as WCFL in test broadcasts on
June 19 ,1926 . In 1927, WCFL broadcast theGene Tunney -Jack Dempsey championship boxing match atSoldier Field , challenging theNational Broadcasting Company 's exclusive claim to the event. This led to an arrangement whereby WCFL became one of three affiliates in Chicago of the Blue Network of NBC; WCFL broadcast non-sponsored, or sustaining, NBC programs not carried by WENR or WLS, as well as selected major sporting events and any broadcast speeches by union leaders aired by the network. When theFederal Communications Commission forced NBC to sell the Blue Network, WCFL's affiliation continued with the network through its new identity as theAmerican Broadcasting Company , ending with the merger of WENR and WLS in 1959. WCFL was also to become an affiliate of the Amalgamated Broadcasting System in 1933, but that network folded after only a month of operations, prior to its planned westward expansion from New York.Evolution to Top 40
WCFL was also involved in early experimental television broadcasts, and operated a shortwave repeater station, W9XAA, in the 1930s. The station carried general entertainment over the decades but by the late 1950s WCFL evolved into a
popular music station. In 1965 WCFL became aTop 40 music station, competing with WLS.In their Top 40 days, some famous
disc jockeys on WCFL included Jim Runyon,Larry Lujack , Art Roberts, Ron Britain, Clark Weber, Ron Riley, Barney Pip, Fred Winston,Jim Bohannon , Howard Miller,Wolfman Jack , andDick Biondi .The comedy feature "Chickenman," a satire on the "Batman" TV series, originated on Runyon's morning drive-time show in 1966. It was created by WCFL staffer Dick Orkin. All the voices were done by Orkin, Runyon, and Jane Roberts, who also did WCFL's morning traffic reports as "Trooper 36-24-36". The "Chickenman" program was subsequently syndicated to radio stations worldwide.
The end of "Super CFL" and the sale to Mutual
On
March 15 ,1976 , after two years of falling ratings, WCFL abruptly dropped its Top 40 format in favor of "The World's MostBeautiful Music ," leaving WLS as Chicago's only AM Top 40 station. Larry Lujack, still under contract with the station, stayed on at WCFL playing easy listening music until moving back to WLS in September 1976. This format won few listeners from FM beautiful music stations such as WLOO, and by 1978 had been replaced by a gold-basedadult contemporary format.After deciding its profit margin was too small for the Chicago Federation of Labor to maintain, WCFL was sold in 1979 to the
Mutual Broadcasting System , at the time a subsidiary of the Amway Corporation. The station began to identify itself as "Mutual/CFL." A magazine-type news/talk format was adopted, with sports talk in the evening hours andLarry King overnight, but ratings remained low. In 1982 WCFL flipped to an MOR format playing standards and non rock hits of the '50s and '60s mixed in with some softer rock and roll oldies and soft '70s and '80s AC cuts and even a few currents. Ratings were still low so WCFL evolved by the end of 1983 to an Adult Contemporary format.Religious years
In 1984 WCFL was sold by Mutual to Statewide Broadcasting. Statewide switched WCFL to adult
contemporary Christian music about 10 hours a day and teaching programs the rest of the time. WCFL basically sold blocks of time to variousChristian organizations. The format was profitable but received very low ratings. At that time, they advertised the call letters as standing for "Winning Chicago For the Lord". Statewide specialized in religious formats but opted merge with a secular company calledHeftel .1000 WLUP
Initially they opted to remain religious while keeping their longtime rock station 97.9 FM
WLUP an AOR format. Heftel opted to end the religious format in April 1987. The call letters of the station was changed to WLUP, and its FM sister became WLUP-FM. WLUP FM remained an AOR station while 1000 WLUP switched to a full service rock format focusing on personality, comedy, talk and a few rock cuts an hour. After 7 p.m. WLUP and WLUP-FM simulcast the AOR format. Heftel had bought a few Spanish stations in the late 1980s and bought a Spanish station in Chicago in 1992. They then sold their English stations including WLUP and WLUP-FM. Evergreen Media would buy WLUP-AM and FM late in 1992.Becoming sports radio
Initially the stations stayed the same. In 1993 though it was decided to move the full service talk/comedy/rock format to WLUP FM while switching WLUP 1000 to sports. 97.9 then became WLUP and AM 1000 changed calls to WMVP, or "Most Valuable Player," to reflect the station's new emphasis on sports programming.Many believe that Co-Owner Jim DeCastro was trying to recover the Chicago Bulls Broadcasts that WLUP had lost to WMAQ in 1991.He did by badly overpaying for the Bulls and Chicago White Sox in a move that doomed WMVP's chance of succeeding. They never made a serious attempt to challange WSCR which ran only local shows that easily beat WMVP's National Shows like the Fabulous Sports Babe and Farrell On The Bench which had very low ratings and were laughing stocks among listeners and media critics.In addition,WSCR did a much better job of promoting their talent than WMVP did. Talent included Steve Dahl who said many times on the air that he did not want to be part of an all sports station,Chet Coppock,Jay Mariotti,Jim Kozimore,David Kaplan,Brian Davis,Steve Lyons,Norm Van Lier,Les Grobstein,Lance McCallister,and reporters Bruce Levine and Cheryl Raye.The station continued with syndicated sports programming as well as play by play local sports games and got clobbered in the ratings by WSCR and even by WMAQ's Sports Huddle at night. WVMP dropped it's sinking all sports format in June 1996,the night before the Chicago Bulls opened the NBA Finals against Seattle. Evergreen would merge with Chancellor and at that point Evergreen sold WLUP 97.9 to
Bonneville International and sold WMVP to ABC in 1998.ABC continues to operate it today from studios at the intersection of State Street and Lake Street in the heart of Chicago.
Perhaps the most popular place to comment upon WMVP programming is the Chicago Sports Fan Message Board, where both listeners and on-air personalities discuss the network. WMVP host Dan McNeil is also a contributor there (McNeil announced his June, 2006 suspension on the CSFMB.)
Current ESPN 1000 Talent:
* Dan McNeil- Afternoon Co-Host 2pm-7pm
* John Jurkovic- Afternoon Co-Host 2pm-7pm
* Harry Teinowitz- Afternoon Co-Host 2pm-7pm
* Marc Silverman- Midday Co-Host 9am-Noon
* Tom Waddle- Midday Co-Host 9am-NoonLogo Gallery
External links
* [http://espnradio1000.com WMVP Website]
* [http://www.score670.com Chicago Sports Radio Fan Website]
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