WAIT is a radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 located near Crystal Lake, Illinois

Crystal Lake, Illinois

Crystal Lake is a city located in southeastern McHenry County in northeastern Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs. It is named after Crystal Lake, a lake located west-southwest of downtown. Crystal Lake is also a suburb of the city of Chicago. The population was 38,000 at the 2000 census, but as of...

. It was purchased by Newsweb Corporation

Newsweb Corporation

Newsweb Corporation is a publisher of ethnic and alternative newspapers in the United States, based in Chicago, Illinois. The company also owns several radio stations in the Chicago area and a television station in Sterling, Colorado....

 in 2004. Original call letters were WIVS.

The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC) as a Class D station and only broadcasts during daytime hours. The station signs off from sunset to sunrise to protect 850 KOA

KOA (AM)

KOA is a clear channel, news/talk radio station serving the Denver-Boulder and Colorado Springs, Colorado markets. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is nicknamed "the Blowtorch of the West" for its 50,000 watt signal.KOA was originally owned by General Electric and began...

 in Denver.

Because of its far north suburban location, WAIT covers Rockford and Madison with a city grade signal and in some areas, better than it serves Chicago itself.

History

The 850 KHZ frequency came on the air in the 1960s using the call letters WCLR, which stood for Crystal Lake, its assigned city. Various formats, including classical music, were used in its early years. In the early 1970s, the station was purchased by Mel Bellairs, a WBBM-AM personality, who changed the daytime only station's call letters to WIVS, standing for wives. The station's talk shows and music were targeted to the women Bellairs targeted when he worked for WBBM. In the mid 1980s, the original WAIT at 820 KHZ, which was best known for its beautiful music format in the 60s and 70s, changed its call letters to WCZE, or cozy radio, now airing an adult pop music format. Owners of the 850 frequency quickly grabbed up the WAIT call letters, which originally stood for the stations dial position (Eight).
The new WAIT played a satellite-fed Adult Standards

Adult standards

Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...

 format called "AM Only" (now Dial Global

Dial Global

Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....

's America's Best Music

America's Best Music

America's Best Music is the on-air branding of an adult standards 24-hour radio network, known internally as Adult Standards and formerly known as AM Only, currently owned by Dial Global. It was one of the original Westwood One's Transtar networks...

).

WAIT switched from Adult Standards to a suburban-based Talk format in January 2002 under new ownership (NextMedia). On May 5, 2005, AM 850, now owned by Newsweb Corporation, launched progressive talk with the new call letters WCPT

WCPT

WCPT could refer to:In the Chicago area:* 820 WCPT at Willow Springs — had the call sign WAIT from 2005 to 2007, and WCSN before that* 850 WAIT at Crystal Lake — had the call sign WCPT from 2005 to 2007, and WAIT before that...

. The WAIT call letters were moved to 820 AM, leased by Newsweb to Starboard Broadcasting]] and until November 25, 2007, WAIT was part of the Relevant Radio

Relevant Radio

Relevant Radio is a trademark of Starboard Media Foundation, and is the largest Catholic talk radio network in the United States, with 20 stations and 18 affiliates in 15 states...

 Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 network. On November 26, the WAIT call sign

Call sign

In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...

 returned to 850 AM and WCPT

WCPT

WCPT could refer to:In the Chicago area:* 820 WCPT at Willow Springs — had the call sign WAIT from 2005 to 2007, and WCSN before that* 850 WAIT at Crystal Lake — had the call sign WCPT from 2005 to 2007, and WAIT before that...

moved to 820 AM. Starboard, also known as Sovereign City Broadcasting, at the time purchased WNTD 950 KHZ and moved its Catholic talk format there.

WAIT, still owned by Newsweb Corporation, now broadcasts a Spanish language religious format.