WEUR
Radio station in Oak Park, Illinois, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WEUR (1490 AM) is a time-brokered radio station licensed to Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The station serves the Chicago metropolitan area, and is owned by Daniela Wojcik, through licensee CSWWII, LLC.[5]
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| Broadcast area | Chicago metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1490 kHz |
| Branding | 1490 AM Radio Chicago |
| Programming | |
| Format | Polish-language talk and other ethnic programming |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | October 7, 1950[1] |
Former call signs | |
Call sign meaning | Europe |
| Technical information[4] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 1093 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000 watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°52′52.11″N 87°47′38.21″W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | radiochicago1490am |
Programming
The majority of the station's programming is Polish language news, talk, and sports.[6] They feature polka music on the weekends with the long running Eddie Blazonczyk Polka Show hosted by Tish Blazonczyk,[7]
WEUR is the home of the Hagerty Family Irish Program, the longest running Irish program in the United States.[6] This program has been on the station every Saturday morning since 1951.[8]
History
The station began broadcasting October 7, 1950.[1] The station's call sign was originally WEBS, but before going on the air the call sign was changed to WOPA to reflect the location of its studios.[2] The studios and antenna were in the former Oak Park Arms Hotel, now a retirement community.[2]
Pervis Spann began his radio career on WOPA in 1959.[9][10]
In 1984, the station's call sign was changed to WBMX.[3]
In January 1987, the station was sold to the Polish National Alliance for $2 million, and its call sign was changed to WPNA on May 1, 1987.[11][3] WPNA was the home of the long-running Chet Gulinski Show, which featured polka music and was quite popular in Chicago's Eastern European communities.[12][13]
On May 25, 2022, the Polish National Alliance announced the sale of WPNA to Daniela Wojcik's CSWWII, LLC for $725,000.[14] The sale was consummated on August 1, 2022. Alliance Communications, which still owns 103.1 WPNA-FM, retained the rights to the WPNA call sign and intellectual property.[15] The station changed its call sign to WEUR on August 31, 2022.