History
WMRO-FM
The station was first licensed in 1965, and held the call sign WMRO-FM. [1] It was the FM sister station to AM 1280 WMRO. Its transmitter was located atop Aurora's Leland Tower, and it had an ERP of 3,600 watts. [1] The station broadcast a beautiful music format. [3] WMRO-FM was owned by Vincent Cofey and Benjamin Oswalt. [1] [4] In 1967, Vincent Cofey purchased controlling interest in the station for $35,000. [4]
WAUR
In 1969, the station's call sign was changed to WAUR and its ERP was increased to 31,200 watts. [1] In 1973, it was sold to Stevens Communications for $343,000. [5] In 1975, WAUR's transmitter was moved to the eastern fringes of Aurora, and its ERP was increased to 50,000 watts at a HAAT of 488 feet. [1] In the late 1970s, the station aired an adult contemporary format, playing music from the 1960s and 1970s. [6] In the 1980s, WAUR was branded "Gold Rock", playing oldies of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, along with some currents. [7] [8] [9] [10] In 1986, the station was sold to Midwest Broadcasting for $4 million. [11] [12] The following year, WAUR and AM 1280 WMRO were sold to Beasley Broadcast Group for $8.7 million. [13] Beasley Broadcast Group had been a minority owner of Midwest Broadcasting. [11]
WYSY-FM
In March 1988, the station's call letters were changed to WYSY-FM. [2] WYSY-FM aired an adult contemporary format and was branded "Y-108" with the slogan "Doin' It In The 'Burbs!". [14] In December 1989, its AM sister station WMRO 1280, became WYSY, simulcasting Y-108. [15] In September 1992, the station's transmitter was moved to Bloomingdale, Illinois. [16] For a while in 1993, the station played hot AC days and hard rock/metal at night. [17]
In late 1993, WYSY was sold to Cox Communications for $9 million. [18] In January 1994, the station switched to a classic hits format featuring rock, pop, R&B, and disco hits of the 1970s, with the slogan "The Greatest Hits of the '70s". [19] [20] The station was briefly branded "Star 107.9", but changed its branding to "Y107.9" because WZSR had registered the "Star" moniker with the state. [20] [21] [22]
In 1996, WYSY-FM and 105.9 WCKG were acquired by Infinity Broadcasting as part of a station swap. [23] At the end of the year, Infinity Broadcasting was purchased by the parent company of CBS. [24] This caused CBS/Infinity to exceed the FCC's ownership limits, requiring the sale of two stations. [25] CBS/Infinity decided to sell WYSY-FM and WSCR AM 820. [26] In 1997, WYSY was sold to Spanish Broadcasting System for $33 million. [26] [27] On April 14, 1997, at 6 p.m., after playing "Last Dance" by Donna Summer and "Last Song" by Edward Bear, WYSY-FM dropped its 1970s hits format and began stunting with a 4-to-5 hour loop of songs primarily from the adult contemporary format (the first song on the loop being "Everyday Is A Winding Road" by Sheryl Crow). The format was helmed in a way that served as essentially a predecessor to the future adult hits format, as it was "deejayed" by a voice deemed only as "Bill", who claimed he borrowed a number of CDs and records and was playing "some of [his] favorite songs." [28] [29] [30]
WLEY-FM
On July 4, 1997, after almost 3 months of stunting, WYSY adopted a Regional Mexican format branded "La Ley". [31] [32] [33] Its call sign was changed to WLEY-FM later that month. [2] By coincidence, WLEY's calls originated on WCFS-FM (105.9) in the 1950s, standing for Leyden Township.
On August 21, 2018, WLEY-FM HD2 began broadcasting 95.1 Clubsteppin', an Urban oldies format focused on Chicago stepping. [34] The format was programmed by Lamont Watts. [35] Clubsteppin was simulcast on 95.1 FM by the translators W236CF in Chicago and W236CG in Bolingbrook, which formerly aired a rock format as "The Hound". [34] WLEY-FM HD2 was also simulcast on 103.9 W280EM until May 2020. W280EM's owner, Windy City Broadcasting, was fined $8,000 in March 2022, following an informal objection filed by Albert David, as its owner had never informed the FCC that the translator had switched from rebroadcasting WTMX-FM HD2 to WLEY-FM HD2 or of it being taken silent in May 2020. [36] [37]
