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WIND (AM)
WIND (560 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. It is owned by the Salem Media Group with studios on NW Point Boulevard in Elk Grove Village.
WIND transmits with 5,000 watts, using a directional antenna with a four-tower array, in Griffith, Indiana, near the Little Calumet River. Due to its location near the bottom of the AM dial, transmitter power, and the surrounding region's flat land, WIND's daytime signal covers much of Northeast Illinois, Northwest Indiana and Southeastern Wisconsin. Its nighttime pattern concentrates its signal in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.
WIND carries the Salem Radio Network line up of hosts, including Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher, Sebastian Gorka, Jay Sekulow and Charlie Kirk. From Premiere Networks, WIND also carries The Sean Hannity Show. WIND airs two local shows on weekdays, Chicago's Morning Answer with Amy Jacobson and Dan Proft, and Shaun Thompson in afternoons. Most hours begin with an update from Townhall News.
Much of the weekend is devoted to specialty talk shows on money, health and real estate, some of which is paid brokered programming. WIND is the flagship station for Carl Amari and Lisa Wolf's nationally syndicated nostalgia & showbiz program "Hollywood 360" which airs Saturday evenings. "Beyond The Beltway" with Bruce DuMont was also heard on Sunday evenings until January 19, 2025. Northern Illinois Huskies football games air in the fall.
The station began broadcasting on August 16, 1927, holding the call sign WJKS, and was originally licensed to Gary, Indiana. It initially operated at 1290 kHz, and shared time with WSBC. Its studio and transmitter were located in the Gay Mill Ballroom, in Gary's Miller Beach neighborhood. The station was owned by the ballroom's owners, Thomas Johnson and Frances Kennedy. In 1928, its frequency was changed to 1360 kHz, where it shared time with WGES. Ralph Atlass purchased a 50% stake in the station in 1931. In 1932, WJKS's studios were moved to the Gary State Bank Building.
The station moved to its present 560 kHz frequency in 1933, after Chicago stations WIBO and WPCC, which had been operating at 560 kHz, were shut down. The station began full-time operations, and ran 1,000 watts. Its call sign was changed to WIND the same year. In 1934, the station's daytime power was increased to 2,500 watts and in 1935 its daytime power was increased to 5,000 watts. Its nighttime power was increased to 5,000 watts in 1941.
From the 1930s until 1985, WIND played "The Whiffenpoof Song" every night at 2 a.m.
In the fall of 1937, the station was one of several Chicago radio stations to donate airtime to Chicago Public Schools for a pioneering program in which the school district provided elementary school students with distance education amid a polio outbreak-related school closure.
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WIND (AM)
WIND (560 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. It is owned by the Salem Media Group with studios on NW Point Boulevard in Elk Grove Village.
WIND transmits with 5,000 watts, using a directional antenna with a four-tower array, in Griffith, Indiana, near the Little Calumet River. Due to its location near the bottom of the AM dial, transmitter power, and the surrounding region's flat land, WIND's daytime signal covers much of Northeast Illinois, Northwest Indiana and Southeastern Wisconsin. Its nighttime pattern concentrates its signal in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.
WIND carries the Salem Radio Network line up of hosts, including Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher, Sebastian Gorka, Jay Sekulow and Charlie Kirk. From Premiere Networks, WIND also carries The Sean Hannity Show. WIND airs two local shows on weekdays, Chicago's Morning Answer with Amy Jacobson and Dan Proft, and Shaun Thompson in afternoons. Most hours begin with an update from Townhall News.
Much of the weekend is devoted to specialty talk shows on money, health and real estate, some of which is paid brokered programming. WIND is the flagship station for Carl Amari and Lisa Wolf's nationally syndicated nostalgia & showbiz program "Hollywood 360" which airs Saturday evenings. "Beyond The Beltway" with Bruce DuMont was also heard on Sunday evenings until January 19, 2025. Northern Illinois Huskies football games air in the fall.
The station began broadcasting on August 16, 1927, holding the call sign WJKS, and was originally licensed to Gary, Indiana. It initially operated at 1290 kHz, and shared time with WSBC. Its studio and transmitter were located in the Gay Mill Ballroom, in Gary's Miller Beach neighborhood. The station was owned by the ballroom's owners, Thomas Johnson and Frances Kennedy. In 1928, its frequency was changed to 1360 kHz, where it shared time with WGES. Ralph Atlass purchased a 50% stake in the station in 1931. In 1932, WJKS's studios were moved to the Gary State Bank Building.
The station moved to its present 560 kHz frequency in 1933, after Chicago stations WIBO and WPCC, which had been operating at 560 kHz, were shut down. The station began full-time operations, and ran 1,000 watts. Its call sign was changed to WIND the same year. In 1934, the station's daytime power was increased to 2,500 watts and in 1935 its daytime power was increased to 5,000 watts. Its nighttime power was increased to 5,000 watts in 1941.
From the 1930s until 1985, WIND played "The Whiffenpoof Song" every night at 2 a.m.
In the fall of 1937, the station was one of several Chicago radio stations to donate airtime to Chicago Public Schools for a pioneering program in which the school district provided elementary school students with distance education amid a polio outbreak-related school closure.