WCFL The Big 10

[cyberdad]

I've never understood that decision

. Did any of you listen to the FM reincarnation of WCFL on 104.7 in the early 90s? They had the original "Super CFL" jingles. The idea was a good one, but since they were transmitting from the Joliet area the signal over most of the metro was poor.

I did, The signal was problematic at my location in Crystal Lake, but on the good end, I could listen to it almost most of the way to Bloomington-Normal, where my oldest son was in college at Illinois State. The transmitter was in Morris, which was roughly the halfway point on the drive. So the signal was fine for 100 miles of cornfileds.. Not so much for the six county metro. In addition to that, I think they were underfunded from day one, and IIRC they eventually went bankrupt. That said, it was a pretty good listen and fun while it lasted. I always got a kick out of them being out in the sticks and inserting "The Voice of Labor" into their TOH IDs!

 

[cyberdad]

I lived in Wauconda in the mid '80s, and had no trouble receiving them. WLS was another story; WCBS caused interference.

I grew up in mostly in Wauconda. In the mid and late '60s, WCFL indeed had a better signal there than WLS, but not to the point where a lot of people would notice the difference. WCBS wasn't a significan't issue in those days, but as has been discussed, the signal has seemingly deteriorated to a point given the residential and commercial development in the vacinity of the TX site near Tinley Park. I can see where that could have well impacted reception by 20 years after I left town.

Here in Crystal Lake, just twelve miles west, where I've lived since 1977, things are just the opposite. WLS has the slightly better signal than WMVP.

 

[radioman148]

I did, The signal was problematic at my location in Crystal Lake, but on the good end, I could listen to it almost most of the way to Bloomington-Normal, where my oldest son was in college at Illinois State. The transmitter was in Morris, which was roughly the halfway point on the drive. So the signal was fine for 100 miles of cornfileds.. Not so much for the six county metro. In addition to that, I think they were underfunded from day one, and IIRC they eventually went bankrupt. That said, it was a pretty good listen and fun while it lasted. I always got a kick out of them being out in the sticks and inserting "The Voice of Labor" into their TOH IDs!

Thanks for reminding me that it was Morris. I knew it was near Joliet, but I couldn't remember the town. The signal varied where I live in the near north suburbs. Sometimes it was pretty good and other times not so good. Same thing in the car unless I was further west then it was not too bad. I remember before they went on the air they stunted playing "Louie Louie" for a couple of days. It was a fun listen for awhile.