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Broadcast area | Chicago metropolitan area |
Frequency | 780 kHz |
Branding | Newsradio 780 WBBM |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | All-news radio |
Affiliations | |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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WBBM-FM, WBMX, WCFS-FM, WSCR, WUSN, WXRT[1] | |
History | |
First air date | February 6, 1924[2] |
Call sign meaning | None (sequentially assigned), but founder Frank Atlass announced that they stood for "We Broadcast Better Music"[2] |
Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 9631 |
Class | A |
Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | |
Repeater(s) | 105.9 WCFS-FM (Elmwood Park) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
Website | www |
WBBM (780 kHz) – branded Newsradio 780 WBBM – is a commercial all-news AM radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios are located at Two Prudential Plaza in the Chicago Loop, while the station transmitter—diplexed with sister station WSCR—resides in the nearby suburb of Bloomingdale.
WBBM is a Class A station that broadcasts on a clear-channel AM frequency, powered with 35,000 watts by day and 42,000 watts at night, using a non-directional antenna. Its daytime signal provides at least grade B coverage to most of the northern two-thirds of Illinois (as far south as Springfield) as well as large portions of Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana. Its city-grade coverage reaches as far north as Milwaukee. At night, WBBM can be heard across much of North America under favorable conditions, but is strongest in the Midwest.
In addition to a standard analog transmission, WBBM broadcasts over HD Radio using the in-band on-channel standard,[4] is simulcast over WCFS-FM (105.9),[5] and is available online via Audacy.