WBBM (AM) - History

History

The station traces its history to 1911, when Leslie and Ralph Atlass, owners of the Mallory Battery Company of Lincoln, Illinois began an amateur spark station. In 1924, it received a commercial license and was assigned the frequency of 1330 kHz. It also received its current call letters, which stand for World's Best Battery Maker. In later years, an alternate meaning, "We Broadcast Better Music," was created.

The Atlasses sold their battery company in 1924 to devote their full attention to WBBM, and moved to Chicago that same year. It became a charter CBS affiliate in 1928. The new network liked what it saw in the station, and bought a controlling interest in 1929. Leslie Atlass remained station manager with a 33 percent interest. CBS bought the remaining stock in 1933. As part of the deal, Atlass became vice president of CBS' Central Division while remaining station manager of WBBM—positions he continued to hold until his retirement in 1959. A series of power increases over the years culminated in its current power of 50,000 watts in 1935, allowing the station to cover much of North America after dark. It had studios at various locations in Chicago until 1956. In 1956-2006, it operated from a converted arena on North McClurg Court, and in 2006 it moved to Two Prudential Plaza.

The station has been all-news since 1968. From 1964 until 1968 the format was news/talk, and prior to that, the station had a MOR/Personality-based format. The station has been the flagship station of the Chicago Bears since 2000, and in its history has also aired Chicago White Sox and Chicago Blackhawks games.

Over the years, WBBM fended off all-news competition from McLendon-owned WNUS-AM-FM, NBC's WNIS-FM (a predecessor to current rival WIQI), and from Group W's WMAQ, which came under the CBS umbrella when Westinghouse Electric Corporation purchased CBS in 1995; sports-talk WSCR took over the WMAQ frequency in 2000. For many years, WBBM has been in a spirited battle with rival news/talk/sports station WGN for the number one AM or FM radio station in the Chicago media market. In the June 2009 Arbitron ratings period, WGN held a slight edge over WBBM in PPM metered listenership ratings. However, since the Fall of 2009, WBBM has regained the lead while WGN began to slip.

WBBM is also known for a few trademarks. Typically before a commercial break the current on-air personality will say, “WBBM news time…(current time of day)" (as is standard procedure with every other all-news station owned and operated by CBS). The station provides updates on traffic and weather "on the eights", and a check of several area gas prices at :36 past the hour. It is also the official radio home of the Illinois Lottery, though the drawings from WGN-TV have not been simulcast in the last few years to reduce format interruption in drawing hours. Also after any sort of sports update the on-air personality will also proudly claim, “you're listening to the home of the Bears.” The station has also been the longtime flagship of the Chicago Air & Water Show in mid-August every year as the station's anchor and reporting staff describe the sights of jets and airplanes doing stunts above the water off Chicago's lakefront to listeners.

According to the radio industry website, RadioStats (RadioStats.Net), WBBM's website as a standalone entitiy was in the past the most visited radio station website in America, though since all of CBS's local sports and news properties were merged into the united CBSChicago.com, figures have not been updated.

WBBM's skywave signal was received as far west as Salt Lake City, Utah. Additionally, hobbyists as far east as Scotland and Germany have claimed to have been able to pick up the station's broadcast.