WCGO

For the station in Chicago Heights, Illinois, on AM 1600 that held the call sign WCGO from 1959 to 2009, see WCGO (1600 AM).

WCGO
Broadcast areaChicago metropolitan area
Frequency1590 kHz
BrandingChicago's Smart Talk
Programming
FormatBrokered programming (English, Korean, Russian, Assyrian)
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
  • Jorge Rodriquez
  • (Ambiente Clasico LLC)
History
First air date
September 29, 1947; 76 years ago (1947-09-29)[1]
Former call signs
  • WNMP (1947–1970)[2]
  • WLTD (1970–1979)[2]
  • WONX (1979–2009)[3]
Call sign meaning
Chicago
Technical information[4]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID35447
ClassB
Power
  • 10,000 watts day
  • 2,500 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
42°1′18.11″N 87°42′41.21″W / 42.0216972°N 87.7114472°W / 42.0216972; -87.7114472
Translator(s)95.9 W240EH (Evanston)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.1590wcgo.com

WCGO (1590 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Evanston, Illinois, and serving the Chicago metropolitan area's northern suburbs. The station is owned by Jorge Rodriquez through licensee Ambiente Clasico LLC.[5][6] WCGO has a brokered programming radio format where hosts buy time on the station and may use their shows to advertise their services or seek donations. On weekday mornings, the station airs Korean-language Christian radio programming. Russian language shows are heard in the afternoon. Evenings and weekends, WCGO airs brokered talk and ethnic shows. Overnight, it carries the nationally syndicated Coast to Coast AM with George Noory from Premiere Networks.

By day, WCGO is powered at 10,000 watts non-directional. To protect other stations on 1590 AM from interference, at night it reduces power to 2,500 watts and uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array. The transmitter is on North McCormick Boulevard near West Howard Street in Skokie.[7] Programming is also heard on 250-watt FM translator W240EH at 95.9 MHz in Evanston.[8]

  1. ^ "WNMP Started" (PDF). Broadcasting – Telecasting. October 6, 1947. p. 24. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  2. ^ a b History Cards for WCGO, fcc.gov. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  3. ^ Call Sign History, fcc.gov. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCGO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pollack was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference FCC1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WCGO
  8. ^ Radio-Locator.com/W240EH