WLS (AM)

WLS (AM)

WLS (890 kHz) is a AM radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Owned by Cumulus Media along with WLS-FM (94.7 MHz), the station broadcasts on a clear-channel frequency with 50 kilowatts (or 50,000 watts) of power. WLS maintains its studios in The Loop section of Chicago, and its transmitting towers are located on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois.

WLS is currently a talk radio station, with its programming consisting of about half local talk shows such as Don Wade and Roma and Roe and Roeper, and the rest syndicated programming such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Adam Bold, Red Eye Radio, Wall Street Journal This Morning, Kim Komando and others. WLS has carried Notre Dame Fighting Irish football and basketball games since the 2006 season.

WLS had been wholly owned and operated by the radio division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) since the purchase of its parent company in 1959. Five years earlier WLS was merged with WENR, a station with which WLS had shared its frequency since the 1920s. ABC-owned radio stations not affiliated with ESPN Radio or Radio Disney, including WLS, were sold to Citadel Broadcasting on June 12, 2007 with Citadel licensing the name ABC Radio for 2 years after the sale. Citadel was bought by Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.

Despite different owners, WLS and ABC-owned WLS-TV (channel 7) maintain a strong partnership. An example of this strong partnership was when new management at WLS radio decided to return WLS-TV anchor Ron Magers as a daily commentator during the 3 pm half hour of The Roe Conn Show. This was on the advice of WLS-TV general manager Emily Barr. WLS' website continues to be one of the most visited websites in the United States to date.