WEBG/Chicago Flips To ROCK 95 FIVE
• At the stroke of 5pm CT, and several hours of stunting, iHeartMedia made it official and formally pulled the plug on five-year-old Country outlet WEBG (BIG 95.5)/Chicago — as “The Final Countdown” by Europe faded into Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman,” the frequency formally flipped to ROCK 95 FIVE, “Chicago’s Rock Station.“
“Our goal with ROCK 95 FIVE is to provide the music Chicagoland has been missing, a key soundtrack for a large lifestyle group,” said James Howard, Regional SVP of Programming for iHeartMedia Chicago. “Our purpose is to be a driving force and a companion in the lives of millions of Rock music fans for years to come.” Market President Matt Scarano said, “I am thrilled to bring Rock music back to Chicago. These songs haven’t been played on the air for years. I am looking forward to hearing the soundtrack of our lives on ROCK 95 FIVE.”
The station began stunting at 11am local time Thursday with a medley that included R.E.M.‘s “It’s The End of the World As We Know It,” Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On,” “Killing In The Name Of” by Rage Against The Machine and “Born In The USA” by Bruce Springsteen, to name a few favorites.
We are told that the new ROCK 95 FIVE will play the hits from Nirvana, Guns N’ Roses, Linkin Park, AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Green Day, Def Leppard, Foo Fighters, Mötley Crüe, etc. For a bit of history, the former WNUA made the conversion to Country on January 5, 2015 and installed the WEBG calls a week later. Country fans, fear not — the former format will live on, thanks to the magic of WEBG-HD2. The programming line-up for ROCK 95 FIVE will be announced later.
