Chicago Radio Shocker: EMF To Acquire Legendary WLUP

Well, you can Kiss Her Goodbye!

Educational Media Foundation has filed with the FCC to acquire WLUP 97.9 FM The Loop.  The station is currently owned by Randy Michaels Merlin Media and is operated under an LMA by Cumulus Media.

The deal is worth $21M and comes following the end of agreement for Cumulus to purchase the station. The deal fell apart because of its bankruptcy proceedings.

EMF is expected to put it's K'Love Christian AC format on 97.9 FM.  It currently airs in the market on WJKL 94.3 FM.  It's believed 94.3 FM will eventually air EFM's Christian CHR programming.

WKQX was not included in the station sale to EMF, according to the FCC filing.

The station signed on in the 1950s as WEHS, and morphed into R&B outlook WHFC in 1963 under Leonard Chess, the legendary Chicago record company executive.

The station went through several incarnations, including a run as WSDM in the 1970s, which at one point went with an all-female air staff.

WLUP was launched in 1977, and the station quickly became the nexus of rock music and irreverent radio in Chicago. The Loop scored its highest ratings in the summer of 1979 with a 7.3 share that placed it third among all stations.

The news marks the end of an era for the station whcih has been WLUP-FM, since March 1977. The station was nicknamed "The Loop FM98" after the main business district in Chicago.

Hawaiian Congressman Cecil Heftel purchased the radio station in early 1979, kept the call letters, and "Loop" identifier. Lee Abrams was hired as consultant. The rock format was kept, but emphasis was put on harder-edged rock. Lee Abrams became the consultant, and Jesse Bullit the program director. Steve Dahl, who had been unemployed since WDAI 94.7 went to a disco format in December 1978 - and who would become the basis for one of the most infamous promotions in sports history, Disco Demolition Night - was hired for mornings in March 1979.

In 1985, Heftel Broadcasting bought former Top40 AM 1000 WCFL, which  became a Christian music and teaching station. In April 1987, that station became WLUP as well, making 97.9 FM WLUP-FM. The religious format was dropped from 1000 WLUP and the station simulcasted WLUP-FM overnights. During the day, though, WLUP 1000 ran a full-service rock format while focusing on talk. By 1990, the AM station would evolve to mostly talk with a few rock songs mixed in per hour. In late 1992, Heftel sold WLUP to Evergreen Media, as Heftel sold all of their English language stations in order to focus on their Spanish language properties.

By this time, WLUP-FM also began mixing more talk into the format by simulcasting morning and afternoon drive with the AM station. On September 27, 1993, the AM station became a sports station as WMVP. At the same time, WLUP-FM became WLUP again, and switched to a comedy/talk format with a few rock songs mixed in per hour

WLUP was one of the first stations to have the "FM talk" or "hot talk" format in the early 1990s. Hosts during this period included Jonathon Brandmeier with "News-man/Blues-man" Buzz Kilman, Kevin Matthews, Danny Bonaduce, Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, Liz Wilde, Ed Schwartz and Seka.

In February 1996, sister station WYNY in New York simulcast WLUP for a day as part of a week-long stunt of simulcasting sister stations nationwide before flipping formats to rhythmic adult contemporary as WKTU. In June 1996, WMVP dropped their sports format and returned to simulcasting WLUP.

WLUP 97.9 FM (4 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

WLUP switched to a Modern AC format on September 30, 1996. In 1997, Evergreen and Chancellor Media merged. In order to stay under federally-mandated ownership limits, Evergreen opted to sell WLUP to Bonneville in July (which already had a Modern AC outlet in WTMX), and then switched WLUP back to a rock format on July 21 at 5 a.m. (Chancellor retained AM 1000, which aired a separate talk/sports format before it was sold to ABC Radio in 1998 and became the Chicago affiliate for ESPN Radio).

Emmis Communications traded three of their stations in Phoenix to Bonneville for WLUP-FM and $70 million in 2004. While under Emmis ownership, WLUP slowly evolved into a mainstream rock format, while continuing to lean on classic rock with a harder edge.

In 2005, Emmis brought back Jonathon Brandmeier to do mornings on The Loop.  By 2011, WLUP shifted completely to a classic rock format.

On June 21, 2011, Emmis announced that it would sell WKQX, sister station WLUP-FM, and New York's WRXP to Merlin Media, a group headed by former Tribune Company executive Randy Michaels.  Emmis, who would retain a minority stake in Merlin Media, would grant Merlin a local marketing agreement to operate WKQX and WLUP-FM from July 15 until the sale to Merlin officially closed on September 1

On January 3, 2014, Merlin Media announced a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cumulus Media that would see Cumulus take over operations of WLUP-FM and sister station WIQI as well as inherit Merlin's LMA for WKQX-LP. The deal includes an option for Cumulus to purchase the stations from Merlin.

In January 2018, as part of Cumulus Media's bankruptcy proceedings, the company requested that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court release the company from several "extremely unprofitable" contracts, including its LMAs with WLUP and WKQX. Cumulus stated that under the agreement, which carries a monthly fee of $600,000, the company had lost $8.4 million on the two Merlin stations.