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WCPT
City of license	Willow Springs, Illinois
Broadcast area	Chicagoland
Branding	AM 820 WCPT Chicago's Progressive Talk
Slogan	Our Kind of Talk for Our Kind of Town
Frequency	820 kHz
First air date	(May 5, 2005 As WCPT)
Format	Liberal/Progressive Talk
ERP	5,000 watts (Daytime)
Class	D
Callsign meaning	We're Chicago's Progressive Talk
Affiliations	Air America Radio
Owner	Newsweb Corporation (WYPA, Inc.)
Sister stations	WAIT
Website	wcpt820.com

WCPT (820 AM) is a daytime-only AM progressive talk radio station licensed to Willow Springs, Illinois, and serving the Chicago area. The station carries programming from Air America Radio and Jones Radio Networks. WCPT is owned by Newsweb Corporation.

Because WCPT shares the same frequency as "clear channel" station WBAP in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; it broadcasts only during the daytime hours.

Contents 1 History 2 Criticism 3 Events 4 Logo gallery 5 External links 5.1 References

For many years this station played Adult Standards as WAIT. In the late 1990s, this station, on 820 AM, was WCSN, an all-sports station and affiliate of Sporting News Radio.

In February of 2005, a column by Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun-Times sparked speculation that a progressive talk format could end up on a station in Chicago. The article said that the station was rumored to change formats by March 31, the one year anniversary of Air America's original launch in Chicago on their original affiliate, WNTD. Air America's affiliation with WNTD was interrupted after only a few weeks, due to conflicts with the station's owner.

Many thought that WRLL 1690-AM would switch to the format, as its owner, Clear Channel Communications, had rolled progressive talk on quite a few of their struggling radio stations across the country. However, WRLL decided to continue with their oldies format, and on May 5, 2005, AM 850 launched progressive talk with the new call letters WCPT. The WAIT call letters were moved to 820 AM.

In November of 2005, the FCC denied an application by Newsweb to move the station to Addison, Illinois.

On November 26, 2007, WCPT moved its format from 850 AM to 820 AM, doubling its power and providing coverage to all of Chicago.^[1] The WCPT call letters moved along with the format to 820 AM, and the WAIT call letters returned to 850 AM.

Newsweb's owner, Fred Eychaner, is a significant donor to Democratic Party causes^[2], and many see WCPT's format as a natural fit for one of his stations.

In its first year of existence, WCPT was a relative ratings success, even with its signal limitations^{[citation needed]}. As of October 17, 2007, WCPT did not appear among Arbitron's top 30 Chicago stations and was beaten out by other competing high-profile Chicago talk radio stations, WGN, WLS, WIND, and WCKG. ^[3]. It is too soon to report the ratings change that may be expected as a result of WCPT's signal-power doubling which occurred on November 26, 2007.

The most common complaints about WCPT relate to the station's status as a daytimer. As the station claims on its website, it is a situation that is out of their control, due to FCC mandates. WCPT doubled its signal power when it moved from 850 AM to 820 AM. While on 850 AM, WCPT signed off from sunset to sunrise to protect the signal of KOA in Denver. With the move to 820 AM, they sign off at sunset to protect WBAP in Dallas.

• The station hosted its first event on December 9th, 2005 when Al Franken did a live broadcast of The Al Franken Show from the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Al's guests were Senator Barack Obama, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, Amnesty International Midwest director Dori Dinsmore, writer Studs Terkel, and a 13-year-old "Wait, Wait, Don't Lie To Me" contestant named Mike.

• The station's second event was when Jerry Springer did a live broadcast of Springer on the Radio in front of a live audience from the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts on March 27, 2006. Topics included immigration, the Iraq war, abortion, and topics from the audience.

• Al Franken returned for another live broadcast from the Steppenwolf Theatre on Monday, May 8, 2006. His guests were Senator Dick Durbin, executive director of the Death Penalty Education Project Edwin Colfax, Congressional candidates John Laesch (IL-14) and Dan Seals (IL-10), universal healthcare advocates Dr. Quentin Young and Ajitha Reddy, and Cass Sunstein.

• Ed Schultz was featured at a "meet and greet" at the Green Dolphin Restaurant on August 8, 2006. He returned for another "meet and greet" at Joey's Brickhouse on May 3, 2007 and is scheduled to return for another on December 6, 2007.

WCPT 850 logo, May 2005-November 2007

WCPT 820 logo, November 2007-present

• wcpt820.com
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WCPT
• Radio Locator Information on WCPT
• Why AM Radio Stations Must Reduce Power, Change Operations, or Cease Operations at Night
• Approximate Sunrise/Sunset times for WCPT's transmitter location

1. ^ WCPT doubles the power
2. ^ "Fred Eychaner," Mother Jones, March 5, 2001.
3. ^ Chicago Sun-Times report of Arbitron ratings, October 17, 2007

v • d • e Radio stations in the Chicago, Illinois market (Arbitron #3)
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Illinois Radio Markets: Bloomington • Champaign • Chicago • Decatur • LaSalle-Peru • Marion-Carbondale • Peoria • Quad Cities (Rock Island-Moline) • Rockford Other Illinois Radio Regions: Quincy/Hannibal • Springfield See also: List of radio stations in Illinois

v • d • e Air America Radio (List of affiliates)
Hosts (past & present):	David Bender • Angie Coiro • Chuck D • Steve Earle • Sue Ellicott • Jon Elliott • Laura Flanders • Al Franken • Gia'na Garel • Janeane Garofalo • Mark Green • Thom Hartmann • Arianna Huffington • Kyle Jason • Marty Kaplan • Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. • Bob Kerrey • Katherine Lanpher • Bob Linden • Lionel • Rachel Maddow • Ben Mankiewicz • Marc Maron • Mike Malloy • Mike Papantonio • Jill Pike • Randi Rhodes • Betsy Rosenberg • Mark Riley • Sam Seder • Jerry Springer • Cenk Uygur • Peter Werbe
Programs (past & present):	The Air Americans • Air America Mornings • The Al Franken Show • Clout • EcoTalk • Go Vegan • The Marc Maron Show • The Majority Report • Marc Sussman’s Money Message • The Mike Malloy Show •Morning Sedition • On The Real • The Rachel Maddow Show • Radio Nation • The Randi Rhodes Show • The Revolution Starts Now • The Mark Riley Show • Ring of Fire • 7 Days in America • Springer on the Radio • State of Belief  • The Young Turks • The Time Is Now  • Unfiltered
Related articles:	Sheldon Drobny • Talk radio • Progressive talk • Evan Montvel Cohen • Danny Goldberg • Air America-Gloria Wise loan controversy