WLS-FM 94.7

A commercial classic hits FM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and owned by Cumulus Media, broadcasting at 94.7 MHz and serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Studios are located at the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with the transmitter situated atop Willis Tower. The station traces its origins to January 1, 1948, when the American Broadcasting Company launched WENR-FM as a companion to the AM outlets WLS and WENR (890 AM), which operated under a time-sharing arrangement on that frequency. WENR-FM initially simulcast WLS programming before developing its own separate schedule of classical music and Broadway show tunes. Following ABC's consolidation of the twin 890 AM operations into a single WLS entity in February 1954, and ABC's subsequent purchase of the Prairie Farmer in November 1959, the FM outlet was redesignated WLS-FM in 1964 and adopted a beautiful music format broadcasting in stereo. By 1968 the station had expanded to extended daytime hours and briefly experimented with underground progressive rock programming before continuing to evolve through additional format changes over the following decades. The station ultimately settled into a classic hits format. The WLS brand carries substantial historical weight in American broadcasting, rooted in the Prairie Farmer media legacy and ABC Radio's long association with Chicago, making it one of the most storied call sign histories in the country.