WCFL (AM)

WCFL (1000 AM) was the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, hence its call letters. The station is now known as WMVP. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove and is still in use by WMVP. The station billed itself as "The Voice of Labor" from its inception until its sale to Mutual in 1978.

Early years

In 1922, the American Federation of Labor began discussions regarding owning and operating its own radio station. By 1925, the AFL decided not to enter the broadcasting business but to purchase time for organized labor's message on commercially operated radio. The dream stayed alive with the Chicago Federation of Labor, who believed having an owned and operated radio station would be an effective way to spread its message. In 1924, the Federation gave its approval to work toward establishing a radio station. The original plan for WCFL called for it to be a non-commercial station, operating on the support of its listeners; in a sense it was one of the first large-scale efforts at public radio. Spearheading the drive to make WCFL a reality was the Federation's Secretary, Edward Nockels (1869–1937); without his efforts, there would have been no radio station at all.

WCFL

WCFL may refer to:

Current Uses

Past Uses

WCFL (FM)

WCFL 104.7 FM is a Christian radio station licensed to Morris, Illinois and owned by the Illinois Bible Institute, the educational branch of the Illinois District Council of the Assemblies of God. WCFL airs a Contemporary Christian music format, relaying the programming of 91.7 WBGL in Champaign, Illinois.

History

WCFL 104.7 originally held the call letters WRMI before becoming WCSJ-FM in 1978. In 1988 the station changed its call letters to WUEZ and aired an easy listening music format. In 1990 the station changed is callsign to WCFL and adopted an Oldies format with the branding "Super CFL" using slogans and jingles which harkened back to WCFL (AM) 1000. The original WCFL-FM air staff included Gary Rivers, Bob Zak, Tom Kapsalis, Don Beno, and Len O'Kelly. The station played rock and roll oldies until 1993 when the station was sold to the Illinois District Council of the Assemblies of God. WCFL adopted its present Contemporary Christian music format in May 1994, and began relaying the programming of WBGL full-time in 2002.