WFMT

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WFMT is a fine arts and classical music FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is managed by Window To The World Communications, Inc., the same parent company which runs WTTW, one of Chicago's two PBS affiliated stations. WFMT is also the flagship station of the WFMT Radio Network, and the Beethoven and Jazz Satellite Networks.

WFMT is unique in only having one period in its history of over fifty years of ever broadcasting any commercial advertising that was pre-recorded (by non-hosts). The policy to broadcast pre-recorded commercials was unpopular, and was soon reverted back to the old policy: Only WFMT Program Hosts (announcers) read any commercial advertising on the air.

WFMT's programs can be heard through their satellite services, or syndication, internationally. The station's programming is available online as well: For a period of time it was a free audio stream, and was then unavailable for a time, pending a Library of Congress / Copyright Office ruling on Internet music and compensation to musicians. As of 2004, the station's programming became available again on the Internet, for a fee.

Contents 1 Timeline 2 Reference 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Timeline

• 1951
  • WFMT was founded in its classical music/fine arts format on December 13th, 1951 by Bernard and Rita Jacobs. They began with eight hour a day broadcasts (3-11 PM), with Bernard serving as the station's engineer, and Rita as the station's announcer. The station's original position was 105.9 MHz, and had the call letters WOAK until January, 1951.

• 1952-53
  • Norman Pellegrini returns (having worked for the station at various times in 1950 and 1951), becoming Program Director in 1953, and holding the position until being fired in 1996. Mike Nichols, who was a student at the University of Chicago at the time, joined the station in 1952. Mike started the station's famous weekly program, "The Midnight Special," in 1953.

• 1953
  • Programming is expanded to 18 hours per day.
  • Studs Terkel begins a weekly program on the station, which eventually becomes a weeknight program, until his retirement from the station almost fifty years later.
  • Ray Nordstrand hired as an announcer, later becoming Bernard's assistant.

• 1954
  • WFMT moves to new studios in the LaSalle Wacker Building. The station's power and antenna height is increased, increasing their broadcast range.
  • Broadcasts are cut back to 8 hours per day.
  • Live recording made at Circle Pines Center, Delton, Michigan, on July 4, with Pete Seeger and Big Bill Broonzy.
  • The frequency changes to its current location: 98.7 MHz.

• 1957
  • WFMT receives an Alfred I. DuPont Award as the country's best broadcaster in the small-station category.
  • A discussion between Frank Lloyd Wright and Carl Sandburg is simulcast with WTTW, marking the first collaboration between WTTW and WFMT.

• 1958
  • WFMT and WTTW begin a pioneering stereo music project: WTTW broadcasts a left audio channel, and WFMT broadcasts the right audio channel, simultaneously.

• 1959
  • Daily programming is expanded from 6:00 AM to 1:00 AM.

• 1960
  • WFMT receives an Alfred I. DuPont Award as the country's best broadcaster in the large-station category.

• 1961
  • The station quadruples its broadcasting power, and wins its first Peabody Award.
  • WFMT offers its first multiplex stereo broadcast.

• 1962
  • WFMT presents the first live concert series broadcast in stereo, with music by the Fine Arts Quartet.

• 1964
  • Hi Fi/Stereo Review readers vote WFMT the highest fidelity station in the USA.

• 1965
  • The station's first series of Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts begins.

• 1968
  • The station is sold by Bernard Jacobs to WGN Continental Broadcasting Company.
  • The station begins 24-hour programming.

• 1969
  • WFMT becomes the first station to broadcast a live concert with Dolby noise reduction.

• 1970
  • WGN donates all assets and obligations of WFMT to WTTW.
  • Ray Nordstrand named President and General Manager.

• 1971
  • WFMT broadcasts for the first time in four-channel (quadrophonic) sound and begins broadcasting live from Lyric Opera of Chicago: opening night of the season only for two years, then opening nights of all productions.

• 1972
  • First distribution of WFMT programming to other American and international radio stations.

• 1976
  • Weekly Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert broadcasts resume. First on-air fundraising drive for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra held.
  • WFMT creates the Fine Arts Network for syndication of Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera broadcasts.

• 1978
  • WFMT participates in the first stereo relay of a live performance via satellite, from the San Francisco Opera.

• 1979
  • WFMT becomes America's first radio superstation, delivered by satellite and cable systems across the United States.
  • The Soviet Union and China begin broadcasting WFMT tapes of Chicago Symphony Orchestra radio concerts.
  • Annual fundraisers for the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Operathon) and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Symphonython) become weekend-long.

• 1980
  • WFMT becomes the first U.S. radio station to join the European Broadcasting Union. A live performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is heard in the USA, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden and West Germany, simultaneously.

• 1982
  • With the station's reputation for high fidelity broadcasts, it is chosen by Sony and Philips to be the first station in the world to broadcast music from a Compact Disc.

• 1983
  • From Bayreuth, Germany, Wagner's Ring Cycle is broadcast live for the first time as a digital transatlantic performance to the USA and Canada.

• 1987
  • WFMT broadcasts using DAT (Digital Audio Tape) for the first time.

• 1991
  • The WFMT Fine Arts Circle, a member/listener support and funding group, is formed.

• 1992
  • WFMT becomes the first station to broadcast from a MiniDisc, chosen by Sony to demonstrate the subtle differences between an MD and a CD.

• 1993
  • Nordstrand retires after suffering a heart attack, but continues to work with the station as a consultant until his death in 2005.

• 1995
  • The station moves to its current location in a wing of the WTTW complex in Chicago's Northwest Side. The new facility includes an all digital path from studios to transmitter. Tom Voegli provides leadership for the station. Then Dan Schmidt, current president and CEO, is appointed head of radio by President William McCarter.

• 1997
  • The WFMT Jazz Satellite Network debuts.

• 2000
  • Steve Robinson hired as General Manager.^{[citation needed]}

• 2001
  • An Artist of the Month feature is begun in January.
  • WFMT celebrates its 50th anniversary. December 13th, 2001 was declared WFMT Day by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

• 2002
  • WFMT Radio Network hosts and produces a live broadcast from Durban, South Africa featuring the world premiere performance of Princess Magogo, the first South African indigenous opera and the first opera with a libretto in the Zulu language. Broadcast heard by over four million people on 155 stations in the US and on European state radio networks.^{[citation needed]}

• 2003
  • The station launches a Fine Arts Hotline for the Chicago area.
  • The station begins syndication of the program "Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin", an educational daily program on various themes in classical music.

• 2005
  • The 30th annual Symphonython fundraiser for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is held on Sunday, 13 March, 2005.

• 2006
  • WFMT presents "Mozart 250: Live from Salzburg", a week of live broadcasts heard across the U.S. celebrating the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
  • A three month "Shostakovich Centennial Festival" concludes with "Shostakovich Week". From September 25th-29th, WFMT features special programs including the documentary I Recall Shostakovich, the live NY Philharmonic broadcast of the 5th Symphony and First Cello Concerto and a re-discovered 1973 program Shostakovich Speaks - the historic Chicago roundtable discussion featuring Shostakovich himself in conversation with Arrand Parsons and Norman Pellegrini.
  • Live broadcasts of Lyric Opera of Chicago opening nights return in October with a performance of Richard Strauss' Salome.
  • CSO/National City live broadcasts of chamber music concerts by Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians begin in October.
  • The Chicago Symphony Orchestra announces that CSO concerts will return to WFMT and the Radio Network starting in Spring 2007.

[edit] Reference

98.7 WFMT 50th Anniversary: Fifty classic years. From The Archives - 2 CD set and liner notes.

[edit] See also

• WTTW

[edit] External links

• WFMT Official Home Page
• Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin Home Page
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WFMT