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WNIB (defunct)

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Coordinates: 41°53′07″N 87°37′17″W / 41.88528°N 87.62139°W / 41.88528; -87.62139
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WNIB
Broadcast areaChicago metropolitan area
Frequency97.1 MHz
BrandingClassical 97[1]
Programming
FormatClassical music
History
First air date
July 9, 1955[2]
Call sign meaning
Northern Illinois Broadcasting[3]
Technical information
Facility ID49552

WNIB, 97.1 FM (also known as Classical 97), was a classical music radio station that was begun in Chicago, Illinois, on July 9, 1955.[2] The frequency was assigned to William C. Florian who began operations and retained ownership until its sale in 2001. The call letters stood for Northern Illinois Broadcasting.[2][3] Despite many overtures throughout the years to purchase the license, Florian held onto it until February 11, 2001, when it was sold to Bonneville Broadcasting.[4][5] See WDRV for details of broadcasting on the frequency after that date.

Early years

In the early years, Florian built the station, did all the engineering and also sold advertising. He was the Chief Engineer during the entire time of his ownership. WNIB began broadcasting on July 9, 1955, and had the slogan "Chicago's FM Voice of Variety."[2] It primarily broadcast jazz, show tunes, and easy listening music.[2] Bill Gershon was among the first announcers.[2] Gershon had the idea of playing classical music Sunday evenings and stated, "Classical music wasn't part of our programming at first, since most other FM stations aired lots of classical music, especially WFMT and WEFM. But I told Bill we should make use of the 12 records we had in the library. He said, 'All right. Just don't have any of that ivory-tower stuff here.'"[2] By early 1957 Gershon had left the station, but classical music's presence at the station was expanded, though Florian said that it was a tough sell.[2]

WNIB's studios and transmitter were originally located at the Midwest Hotel, at Hamlin and Madison in West Garfield Park.[2][6] Subsequent studio locations for WNIB included 108 N. State St., Riverside Plaza, 25 E. Chestnut St., 12 East Delaware Place, and finally 1140 W. Erie.[6][7]

In 1958, Sonia Atzeff, a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago, was hired and steered the programming toward a classical music format.[2] She and Florian were married in 1967, and she was the General Manager of the station until its sale in 2001.[3][8]

Among the other announcers in the early years were Bill Plante,[3] who went on to become a fixture at CBS News, Marty Robinson and Don Tait,[9][3] both of whom later worked for WFMT, and Ken Alexander, who later worked for WAIT 820, but later returned to WNIB.[10]

In 1968, the station's transmitter was moved to the Civic Opera Building.[6]

Ron Ray began as a part-time announcer on WNIB in 1968.[11] Working concurrently at 105.9 WXFM, Ray pre-recorded his announcements.[11] In 1977, Ray began working full-time at WNIB as program director.[11] Live classical hosts on WNIB over the years included Fred Heft, Jay Andres, Bruce Duffie, Carl Grapentine, and Obie Yadgar.[12][7][13] Miller Peters was the station's music director in its final years, and also served as a weekend host.[12][7][13]

While classical music was the station's primary focus, for a period, brokered ethnic and religious programming aired in some late night hours.[2] Florian, a jazz aficionado, also hired Dick Buckley as a DJ for the station's jazz programming.[2][14] Neil Tesser also hosted a jazz program on WNIB from 1974 to 1976.[15][16] Blues hosts included Mr. A. and Big Bill Collins.[17]

Those Were the Days, a four-hour old-time radio program hosed by Chuck Schaden, aired on WNIB Saturdays from September 6, 1975 until February 10, 2001.[9] Dick Lawrence hosted The Dick Lawrence Review, a weekly program on WNIB that featured nostalgic commentary and readings, along with vintage music.[18][19]

In 1976, WNIB's antenna and transmitter were relocated to the top of the Standard Oil Building.[6]

When 99.5 WEFM was sold and abandoned its longtime classical music format in 1978, a portion of its classical music library was donated WNIB as part of the settlement to permit the station's sale.[20]

Stability and success

From about 1980 until the end of classical operations in 2001, a stable group of announcers brought the station to pre-eminence in Chicago.

In 1969, WNIB began publishing a monthly program guide which listed all the music being played each day on the station.[21][22] The inclusion of the label and record number enabled listeners to purchase things they enjoyed hearing, and the subscription price helped keep the station going during the leaner times. The covers at first had details of well-known artworks, and later had original sketches and caricatures by Richard Kimmel and Robert Kameczura.[22]

Special programs made exclusively for WNIB included “Collector’s Showcase” which presented 78 rpm discs and featured a topic or performer and was created by Bill Holmes with Bob Wolf and Fred Heft also hosting segments; and “The French Lyrical Tradition” created and hosted by Dr. Morris Springer. “Baroque and Before” was also a long-running hour-length program, and “Zephyr” was the evening-drive show (from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) featuring shorter and lighter fare. It was the station policy, however, to only play complete works, not just movements of larger works. When the time called for 5 or 6 minutes, an overture or other short work was used. It was not until the 1980s that brief newscasts, weather forecasts and traffic reports were added to the mix.

Complete operas were featured regularly on the station at various times. There were recordings on a weekday afternoon, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon or evening during this period. For many years, a weekly opera from RAI, the Italian Radio was featured. WNIB spent one entire Saturday playing Wagner’s “Ring” cycle, starting at about 9 a.m. and running until after midnight.

Syndicated programs included Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas, which aired Mon–Fri at 7 p.m.,[13] and various live-on-tape concerts and operas from Europe which were also featured sporadically. Orchestral concerts by the Utah Symphony, the Detroit Symphony and other orchestras had weekly series over the years. “The Vocal Scene” with George Jellinek and “First Hearing” with Lloyd Moss ran each week for many years, and “Pipe Dreams,” an organ showcase, also aired on the station for a short while. During the final few years, WNIB played “Performance Today” from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Mostly, however, the station played recordings of commercial LPs and CDs, and did no direct recording of live concerts.

Beginning in 1979, Bruce Duffie[23] gathered interviews which were broadcast either to promote upcoming concerts or to celebrate the birthdays of composers and performers. “Who’s in Town” and “Chicago Music Dateline,” which he created and produced, also acted as a calendar of upcoming events. His interviews also were featured on “The Sunday Evening Opera,” and in various composer-programs in the late-night/early-morning hours on the weekends. For these series, Duffie and WNIB won the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award in 1991.[24] Some of these interviews were transcribed and published in various magazines and journals, and now some are being posted on his website.[25][26]

Especially in the final 10–15 years, WNIB was quite successful as a Classical Music station. It beat WFMT in the local ratings, and turned a good monetary profit because the owners kept the staff small. Besides the announcers, who covered the day-parts in 6- to 8-hour shifts, there were only a couple of sales people, a couple of office-staff, and a woman who cleaned the physical layout twice a week.

Following the closing of WEFM, WNIB bought WKZN, a station in Zion, Illinois, which occupied the first-adjacent position on the dial at 96.9-FM. Florian had made adjustments to the signal pattern of WNIB over the years so as not to interfere with WKZN, but eventually he simply bought the station to use as a repeater. The call letters were changed to WNIZ, and the signal quality was improved for the classical station along the North Shore region of Chicago and suburbs.

WNIB was also famous for having dogs and cats in residence.[12][2][3] They were audible at times during announcements, and were featured in local media, and listeners seemed to enjoy knowing that they were there.[12][2][3] During newscasts and live commercials, the barking of the dogs could be plainly heard and response was enthusiastic. Indeed, at the end, many people called wanting to adopt them since they thought they were losing their home. As a matter of fact, it was the Florians who picked up these stray animals and gave them a good place to live, and were simply going to keep them the way they were. In 2001, the new owners got the license to use the dial-position, but not the physical plant or anything else, so the animals were never bothered by any of the after-classical change. The Florians also gave a bit of money and some free advertising to a couple of animal shelters in the area.

The sale price of WNIB and WNIZ in 2001 was $165,000,000.[27] After the completion of a final program on February 11, the station was turned off.[28] The following day, new owners took the air with a different format.[28]

Much of the purchase price of the station went to establish the NIB Foundation, which gives grants to various local performing arts organizations. The offices were in the Erie Street location (where the front door still contained a placque with the WNIB callsign). The day-to-day operations are being handled by Richard Covello and Wendy Rozenberg.

Bill Florian died on December 7, 2016, of lung cancer at the age of 84.[29][3] The following October, the building was sold.

References

  1. ^ Chicagoland Radio Waves, MediaTies. Summer 1988/Spring-Summer 1989. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Shen, Ted. "Battle Stations", Chicago Reader. March 11, 1999. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Goldsborough, Bob. "Bill Florian, founder of classical radio station WNIB, dies at 84", Chicago Tribune. December 18, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  4. ^ Article in Crain’s Chicago Business
  5. ^ Various articles about the sale of WNIB
  6. ^ a b c d History Cards for WDRV, fcc.gov. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Jacobs, Jodie. "He's a Broadcasting Classic", Chicago Tribune. January 3, 1999. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  8. ^ "Soothing sounds go silent", The Times of Northwest Indiana. February 11, 2001. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  9. ^ a b TWTD Archive — July 8, 1995, Speaking of Radio. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  10. ^ "Ken Alexander's Radio Recollections", Nostalgia Digest. bruceduffie.com. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  11. ^ a b c Grier, Lita. "Remembering Ron Ray", WNIB Program Guide. bruceduffie.com. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d Mahany, Barbara. "This Is About a Wild and Crazy Man + His Wife + Their 'Mom and Pop' Radio Station Which Became 1 in Classical Music in the Chicago Area", Chicago Tribune. June 23, 1997. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  13. ^ a b c "WNIB FM 97.1", Radio Chicago. p. 58. Winter 1991. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  14. ^ Biro, Nick. "Dealers Swing With Jazz", Billboard. April 28, 1962. p. 12. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  15. ^ "Neil Tesser, WFMT Radio Network. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  16. ^ Duston, Anne. "Awards to Three For Contributing to Chicago Jazz", Billboard. December 26, 1974. p. 3. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  17. ^ Seigenthaler, Katherine. "Classic Sounds in the Wee Hours", Chicago Tribune. July 25, 1989. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  18. ^ Chicago Radio Guide. Vol. 1, No. 1. May 1985. p. 54. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  19. ^ Heise, Kenan. "Dick Lawrence, 66; Was Host of WNIB Weekly Radio Show", Chicago Tribune. March 31, 1992. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  20. ^ Brenner, Daniel L. "Government Regulation of Radio Program Format Changes", University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Volume 127. 1978. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  21. ^ Marsh, Robert C. "FM Scene Information Guide", Chicago Sun-Times. March 30, 1969. Section 3, Page 5. bruceduffie.com. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  22. ^ a b WNIB Program Guide, bruceduffie.com. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  23. ^ Bruce Duffie at WNIB
  24. ^ The ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award
  25. ^ Interviews which have been posted
  26. ^ Full list of interview guests and usage
  27. ^ Von Rhein, John. "R.I.P. WNIB", Chicago Tribune. December 10, 2000. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  28. ^ a b Delacoma, Wynne. "Classical station bows out with class", Chicago Sun-Times. February 13, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  29. ^ Feder, Robert, "Robservations: Bill Kurtis lends voice to WGN Radio", www.robertfeder.com, 12 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

41°53′07″N 87°37′17″W / 41.88528°N 87.62139°W / 41.88528; -87.62139

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