Having spent the first 23 years of my life being served by legitimately second-rate public radio enterprises, I'm sometimes surprised at how WBEZ is taken for granted by the locals. more ›

In college I would listen to WBEZ and think, "someday I'll make enough to be a member." Now that I can afford to do so, that feeling is gone. more ›

Is Vocalo bleeding WBEZ dry? That's how it looks from this week's Hot Type. more ›

After we saw an anonymous tip on our sidebar saying that WLUW (88.7 FM) would no longer exist in its current form, we were filled with a sense of dread. How? Why? More importantly, was this really true? We called Shawn Campbell, Program Director, to see what was up. She confirmed that the gist of the tip was true, but told us that the information had been leaked to Feder before WLUW and WBEZ had... more ›

This morning, Chicagoist hopped on the bus to Navy Pier to listen to a presentation by Chicago Public Radio (CPR) explaining the rationale for their new 2007 schedule. Torey Malatia, the president and general manager of the station, explained the purpose of restructuring the schedule and doing away with the music formats. Malatia described how CPR was simultaneously a local, regional, national, and global broadcaster. In order to remain relevant with local and regional... more ›

Though Chicago venues for genuinely soulful jazz and blues are dwindling, city denizens could always count on Chicago Public Radio’s WBEZ for their fix of these American art forms. But come 2007, none of the three CPR stations will carry blues, jazz, or any other music programming thanks to a switch to an all-talk format. more ›

">CPR will split its public affairs and music programming into two separate stations. WBEW-FM (89.5) and WBEQ-FM (90.7) will run 24 hours of music (jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk and others) and WBEZ-FM (91.5) will run public affairs programming around the clock. WBEZ currently runs approximately 16 hours of news, talk, arts and culture and 8 hours of music (mostly jazz). The FCC has approved increasing WBEW's power by 50,000 watts to expand its coverage of the Chicago area. According to President and General Manager of Chicago Public Radio Torey Malatia, the cost of the expansion is won't be difficult because of existing infrastructure and staff and the plan will be implemented within 18 months. Both stations will be available over the Internet. more ›