WLS
WLS is a pioneer Chicago radio station. The call letters stand for World's Largest Store after its original owner, Sears, Roebuck. The station operates on an AM frequency of 890. It is now owned and operated by the radio division of the American Broadcasting Company.
Sears opened the station in 1924 as a service to farmers and subsequently sold it to the Prairie Farmer Magazine, which continued that orientation through 1960. It was the scene of the American Barn Dance, which featured Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, and George Gobel, and which was second only to the Grand Ole Opry in presenting country music and humor.
The station also experimented successfully in many forms of news broadcasting, including weather and crop reports. Its most famous news broadcast was the report of the Hindenburg disaster by Herbert Morrison.
In 1960, the station became a Top 40 music radio station, notable for such disc jockies as Dick Biondi and Larry Lujack. WLS became a talk station in 1989.
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Referenced By
Charlie Nehlsen | Gene Autry | George Gobel | Herbert Morrison (announcer) | Herbet Morrison (announcer) | Larry Lujack | List of radio stations in Illinois | List of television stations in Illinois | Music radio | TLAs from UAA to XZZ | Talk radio | Top-40 | Top 40 | Top Forty
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