fm a radio station in elmwood park illinois that simulcasts wbbm am . wbbm fm city chicago broadcast area chicagoland & northwest indiana branding b96 slogan chicago s 1 hit music channel frequency 96.3 mhz also on hd radio 96.3 hd2 dance top 40 first air date 1941 format top 40 chr erp 3 300 watts haat 474 meters 1 555 ft class b facility id 9613 callsign meaning world s best battery maker referring to a former owner of wbbm am we broadcast better music from a slogan of its radio sister made from the calls one of the two bs in wbbm branding is used in b96 branding owner cbs radio cbs radio east inc. sister stations wbbm wbbm tv wcfs fm wjmk fm wscr wusn wxrt webcast listen live website b96.com wbbm fm known on air as b96 is a top 40 chr radio station in chicago owned by cbs radio . the station broadcasts at 96.3 mhz with an erp of 3.3 kw from a transmitter atop willis tower formerly sears tower and its studios are located at two prudential plaza in the loop . wbbm fm s main competition is wksc fm as well as urban rivals wgci fm and wpwx . wbbm fm broadcasts two channels in the hd radio format . 1 contents 1 station history 1.1 the early years 1.2 hot hits top 40 1.3 the killer bee dance house music days 1.4 transition to rhythmic top 40 1.5 recent history 2 morning show 3 summer bash concerts 4 references 5 external links station history edit the early years edit wbbm fm began as a simulcast of wbbm radio in 1941 a very conservative mix of music which appealed to a broad range of ages . the young sound format was invented by john dewitt in 1966 for cbs radio at wcbs fm in new york . bud kelly was the announcer for the young sound on wbbm fm ; it was not elevator music . the young sound had an energy to it and definitely skewed toward a younger audience than wbbm fm had previously sought . 2 by 1969 wbbm fm moved to a more progressive rock format but by 1973 evolved to top 40 . another change in the late 70s put wbbm fm in a rhythmic format focusing on disco & r & b. dick bartley who later became a very popular syndicated personality spent time at wbbm fm as program director in the late 70s . 3 by 1980 the format had changed yet again this time to soft rock 96 . wbbm fm briefly carried american top 40 with casey kasem during the soft rock years . hot hits top 40 edit in march 1982 wbbm fm picked up a top 40 format known as hot hits which was created by consultant mike joseph in 1977 for wtic fm in hartford connecticut . that concept one of the earliest examples of chr also revitalized the top 40 format and would play a role in bringing the format to the fm band throughout the 1980s . the concept was to play only the current hits on the top 30 and no recurrents or oldies whatsoever . the format was delivered with up tempo energy and plenty of jingles from tm communications . the original staff of 96 now as the station was called included mark windsor anthony tony the wild child hamilton chuck evans steve davis joseph smokin joe dawson gary spears david dave rock n roll robbins bob lewis frank foster dick the italian stallion biondi tony taylor joseph joe bohannon colborn tomm rivers and don geronimo . as a hot hits station wbbm fm played the top 5 hottest hits every hour and in between other hits on the top 50 chart . after mike joseph s departure as consultant by early 1983 the station had adopted its trademark b96 name and started playing recent hits from the past several years mixed into the hot hits under program director buddy scott evolving into a more common chr station as a result . the station continued to be tremendously successful and at times was the number one station in chicago . out of all of the hot hits stations wbbm fm was the most successful for the longest period of time and managed to accomplish what a long line of stations since the 1960s had been unable to do defeat wls for chicago s top 40 radio crown . the killer bee dance house music days edit by 1989 wbbm fm would start embracing a lot of dance product especially the home grown house subgenre . that move would result in b96 evolving into a very dance leaning rhythmic top 40 direction by 1990 as the killer bee b96 . under this direction they would see ratings skyrocket out of nowhere and through most of the decade b96 would set the standard as a cutting edge leader when it came to breaking dance music acts from la bouche to rozalla in the united states . 4 transition to rhythmic top 40 edit by 1997 however b96 would start embracing acts from the world of r & b hip hop and pop as the dance scene dried up . even today they have not forgotten their roots as most of their daily and weekend mixshows are still dance intensive and still spike a track or two in between the current hits from time to time . the station also acknowledges its gay audience by appearing at the annual chicago pride parade as well as many other lgbt related events . in december 2005 the existing station launched into hd radio and added an hd2 fm sub carrier to program commercial free dance top 40 hits 24 7 similar to the pioneering former energy 92.7 5 . 5 cbs has owned wbbm fm since the beginning even though they merged with westinghouse in 1995 infinity in 1997 and viacom in 2000 . through cbs radio the cbs corporation continues to own wbbm fm . recent history edit in october 2008 the station slogan changed from chicago s hits & hip hop to chicago s new 1 hit music station . the change occurred due to the station s shift back to mainstream top 40 as the rhythmic format nationwide was suffering a downturn in ratings as well as the introduction of the ppm used for arbitron radio ratings measuring purposes in order to make station more advertiser friendly and to attract a more diverse audience . the trend was later followed at sister rhythmic contemporary stations kluc fm in las vegas which moved from contemporary hit radio in 2009 and as of 2010 kzon in phoenix arizona . morning show edit see also eddie & jobo this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message b96 was probably most known for its flagship eddie & jobo morning show . joe colborn stage name bohannon first signed on at b96 in 1984 hosting evening as jobo in chicago . ed volkman started at b96 in 1986 hosting morning drive along with karen hand and mike elston . when elston left b96 in 1988 bohannon was moved to mornings along with volkman and hand and the eddie & jobo show was born . the duo enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s . on november 21 2008 eddie jobo and erica were relieved of their morning show duties marking the end of an era in chicago radio . on december 31 2008 it was announced that julian nieh and jamar j. niice mcneil would be replacing the eddie & jobo & erica show . j. niice & julian on the radio made its debut january 5 2009 in the 5 30 10 a.m. slot . the two were previously together at clear channel s wiht in washington d.c. on wednesday november 28 2012 at 8 48am julian nieh announced his departure from the b96 morning show . 6 the show now continues with the name the j. show with showbiz shelly with j. niice as the main morning host with direct support from michelle showbiz shelly mennaker and expanded support by gabriel producer gabe ramirez and producer mary . 7 8 summer bash concerts edit see also b96 pepsi summerbash b96 has held a summer concert 9 at various local venues since 1992 with the exception of one year that it wasn t held due to a perceived lack of good musical talent available to perform . when it started in 1992 it was held at the world music theatre in tinley park now called first midwest bank amphitheatre . after several years it moved to the joliet raceway where it stayed until moving to the maywood park racetrack for a year and then to toyota park in bridgeview in 2007 . the event has hosted top musical acts as well as local acts including j roman as the vocalist of the electro pop group the jump smokers . j roman is half of b96 s afternoon drive show . several artists have appeared more than once over the years . the summer bash concert series proved so successful that the station also began a winter holiday season version of the event called jingle bash . references edit http hdradio.com station guides widget.php id 3 hd radio guide for chicago http www.allthatismusic.com the young sound.html http www.allthatismusic.com the young sound.html it s over everyone listens to techno from radio info.com september 27 2011 http www.hdradio.com stations http chicagoradioandmedia.com news 2958 julian nieh exits b96 http www.timeoutchicago.com arts culture chicago media blog 15907796 b96 reboots morning show after julian jumps http b96.cbslocal.com show the j show b96 summer music festival of pop chicago tribune june 11 2010 accessed march 6 2011 . external links edit official website query the fcc s fm station database for wbbm radio locator information on wbbm query nielsen audio s fm station database for wbbm v t e radio stations in the chicago market by am frequency 560 6701 7201 750 7801 820 850 8901 930 950 10001 1030 1050 1080 1110 1160 1200 1220 1230 1240 1270 1300 1330 1340 1370 1390 1410 1420 1430 1450 1450 1490 1500 1500 1510 1530 1570 1590 1690 by fm frequency 87.72 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.1 88.3 88.3 88.3 88.3 88.5 88.5 88.7 88.7 88.7 88.7 88.9 88.9 89.1 89.1 89.3 89.3 89.5 89.7 90.1 90.5 90.7 90.7 90.9 91.5 91.7 91.9 92.3 92.5 92.7 93.1 93.5 93.9 94.3 94.7 95.1 95.5 95.9 95.9 96.3 96.7 96.7 96.9 97.1 97.5 97.9 98.3 98.3 98.7 99.5 99.9 99.9 100.3 100.7 100.7 101.1 101.9 102.3 102.3 102.7 103.1 103.1 103.5 103.9 103.9 103.9 104.3 104.7 105.1 105.5 105.5 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.1 107.1 107.5 107.9 noaa weather radio frequency 162.400 162.425 162.500 162.550 digital radio 780 1300 1390 1690 89.3 1 89.3 2 89.5 1 89.5 2 90.1 1 90.1 2 90.1 3 90.7 1 90.7 1 90.9 1 90.9 2 90.9 3 91.5 1 91.5 2 92.3 1 92.3 2 93.1 1 93.1 2 93.1 3 93.9 1 93.9 2 94.7 1 94.7 2 95.5 1 95.5 2 95.9 1 95.9 2 96.3 1 96.3 2 96.7 1 97.1 1 97.1 2 97.9 1 97.9 2 97.9 3 98.7 1 99.5 1 99.5 2 100.3 1 100.3 2 101.1 1 101.1 2 101.9 1 101.9 2 102.3 1 102.7 1 102.7 2 103.5 1 103.5 2 104.3 1 104.3 2 105.1 1 105.1 2 105.1 3 105.5 1 105.9 1 105.9 2 106.3 1 106.7 1 106.7 2 107.5 1 107.5 2 by callsign kwo39 kxi41 kxi58 kzz81 w219cd w244bq w248bb w264bf w280em waes wait wake wbbm1 wbbm fm wbeq wbew wbez wbgx