[BC] The separation of WGN and WFMT

[Gordon Carter]

Yes, WGN did give WFMT away, but not for the reasons most did.

WFMT was founded by Bernie and Rita Jacobs, who sold the station to WGN
when Bernie was in ill health.  A listeners' group challenged WGN's
ability to operate WFMT, fearing that it would be changed from its
classical format to something else.

A court case ensued, and finally WGN capitulated, fearing losses greater
than the value of the station.

This all happened in the early '70's, when FM was really taking off in
Chicago.  Most of the "giveaway" FM's were in the '60's.

Gordon S. Carter, CPBE, CBNT
Chief Engineer
WFMT and The Radio Network
5400 North St. Louis Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
773 279-2071
-----Original Message-----
[mailto:broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Rich Wood

------ At 09:35 AM 2/19/2007, cld at admin.umass.edu wrote: -------

 >I was a little young at the time so I don't know this first hand, but a
past
 >employer of mine once related to me about how the FM side of the
station
 >operated for years in the early 60's; if it went off the air someone
would
 >eventually go out and fix it. Eventually. Coud be a few days.
 >What goes around comes around.

The AMs were the cash cows and FM was a threat. Read the story of
Armstrong and Sarnoff. Many companies gave their FMs away or turned
in licenses, something they regret today. When an FM came with a
purchase it was often spun off to a noncomm. Chicago is a good
example. As I recall, WGN gave WFMT to WTTW-TV. We're in the same
market. Can you justify the Enfield, CT, HD-2 being audio free going
on five days now? HD-1 is working fine. Wouldn't it be a better idea
to take HD-2 off the air, if it's a technical issue, rather than
keeping those titles and artists coming and making the 8 people with
receivers believe they got a bad unit? The fact is, they may actually
have a bad unit, but that would affect all stations. WPKX-HD-1 is
still operating fine. It's tough to receive since it's a class A with
2200 watts at 529 ft HAAT about 15 miles from me. Isn't that 22 watts
digital? I could receive digital fine with my attic antenna before
this vow of silence was taken. I can't help but wonder how long it
would take if Randy Michaels were still in charge and how many heads
would roll even after a few hours of silence.

 >This is not to say that if I *knew* our HD2 was off that I would take