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WDRV
WDRV (97.1 FM, "The Drive") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a classic rock format. Its studios were originally located in the John Hancock Center. On May 11, 2018, WDRV moved into all new, state-of-the-art, digital studios in Chicago's Prudential Plaza. WDRV's antenna is located atop the Aon Center. The station's programming is simulcast on sister station 96.9 WWDV in Zion, Illinois.
WDRV uses HD Radio and broadcasts a classic rock format branded as "Deep Tracks" on its HD2 subchannel.
WNIB was founded and built by Bill Florian. The call letters stood for Northern Illinois Broadcasting. The station began broadcasting on July 9, 1955, and had the slogan "Chicago's FM Voice of Variety." It primarily broadcast jazz, show tunes, and easy listening music.
Bill Gershon was among the first announcers. Among the other announcers in the early years were Bill Plante, who went on to become a fixture at CBS News, Marty Robinson and Don Tait, both of whom later worked for WFMT, and Ken Alexander, who later worked for WAIT 820, but later returned to WNIB.
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.'" 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.
Sonia Atzeff, a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago, was hired as program director in 1958, and she steered WNIB's programming toward a classical music format. As a classical station, WNIB would later be branded "Classical 97". Sonia Atzeff and Bill Florian were married in 1967, and Sonia later became general manager of the station, a position she held until its sale in 2001.
Ron Ray began as a part-time announcer on WNIB in 1968. Working concurrently at 105.9 WXFM, Ray pre-recorded his announcements. In 1977, Ray began working full-time at WNIB as program director. Live classical hosts on WNIB over the years included Fred Heft, Jay Andres, Bruce Duffie, Carl Grapentine, Scott Thomas, and Obie Yadgar. Miller Peters was the station's music director in its final years, and also served as a weekend host. Syndicated programs included Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas, which aired Mon–Fri at 7 p.m.
While classical music was the station's primary focus, for a period, brokered ethnic and religious programming aired in some late night hours. The brokered ethnic and religious programming were dropped in the 1980s.
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WDRV
WDRV (97.1 FM, "The Drive") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a classic rock format. Its studios were originally located in the John Hancock Center. On May 11, 2018, WDRV moved into all new, state-of-the-art, digital studios in Chicago's Prudential Plaza. WDRV's antenna is located atop the Aon Center. The station's programming is simulcast on sister station 96.9 WWDV in Zion, Illinois.
WDRV uses HD Radio and broadcasts a classic rock format branded as "Deep Tracks" on its HD2 subchannel.
WNIB was founded and built by Bill Florian. The call letters stood for Northern Illinois Broadcasting. The station began broadcasting on July 9, 1955, and had the slogan "Chicago's FM Voice of Variety." It primarily broadcast jazz, show tunes, and easy listening music.
Bill Gershon was among the first announcers. Among the other announcers in the early years were Bill Plante, who went on to become a fixture at CBS News, Marty Robinson and Don Tait, both of whom later worked for WFMT, and Ken Alexander, who later worked for WAIT 820, but later returned to WNIB.
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.'" 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.
Sonia Atzeff, a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago, was hired as program director in 1958, and she steered WNIB's programming toward a classical music format. As a classical station, WNIB would later be branded "Classical 97". Sonia Atzeff and Bill Florian were married in 1967, and Sonia later became general manager of the station, a position she held until its sale in 2001.
Ron Ray began as a part-time announcer on WNIB in 1968. Working concurrently at 105.9 WXFM, Ray pre-recorded his announcements. In 1977, Ray began working full-time at WNIB as program director. Live classical hosts on WNIB over the years included Fred Heft, Jay Andres, Bruce Duffie, Carl Grapentine, Scott Thomas, and Obie Yadgar. Miller Peters was the station's music director in its final years, and also served as a weekend host. Syndicated programs included Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas, which aired Mon–Fri at 7 p.m.
While classical music was the station's primary focus, for a period, brokered ethnic and religious programming aired in some late night hours. The brokered ethnic and religious programming were dropped in the 1980s.