'The Loop' Radio Station Sold To Christian Broadcaster For $21.5M

CHICAGO, IL — Move over, Ozzy Osborne. Chicago classic rock radio station WLUP-FM (97.9) — an FM dial mainstay known as "The Loop" to its listeners — has been purchased by a California-based Christian broadcaster, according to the Chicago Tribune. Educational Media Foundation bought the station for $21.5 million from Merlin Media, filing the sale with Federal Communications Commission on Monday, the report added.

Not only will the station be changing owners, it also will be changing formats. The Loop will shift from the classic rock sound it has been known for and move to adult contemporary Christian music starting Saturday. And while the call letters won't change, the station's familiar nickname of The Loop will most likely be retired.

In phrasing that has become synoymous with the rock 'n' roll world, Marv Nyren, market manager for Cumulus Chicago, which has been running the station for Merlin Media since 2014, told the Tribune that Erich "Mancow" Muller had broadcast his morning show live on The Loop for the final time.

“Mancow and his staff, they have all left the building,” Nyren said.

The sale to EMF comes a month after a deal fell through to sell the station and WKQX-FM (101.1) to Atlanta-based Cumulus Media for $50 million, the Tribune reports. WKQX is not part of the agreement with EMF, which will keep The Loop's programming while the FCC approves the sale, the report added.

Educational Media Foundation began as a nonprofit with a single radio station in 1982. The Christian broadcaster now owns 600 stations in 46 states, including WJKL-FM (94.3) in Glendale Heights. Mike Novak, EMF's president and CEO, asked longtime Loop listeners to try the station for a month before reaching a verdict on the new format.

"We’re hopeful that we have some sort of impact on the people of Chicago and that we can provide a positive and encouraging atmosphere in these days of uncertainty," he told the Tribune on Tuesday.

The Loop began broadcasting as the rock station it became known for in 1977. It was the home for some of the city's most popular on-air personalities, including Mancow, Steve Dahl and Jonathon Brandmeier. Before then, the station operated under the call letters of WEHS in the 1950s, and it experimented with a variety of formats, including using all-female DJs in the 1970s.

The station gained national attention in July of 1979 thanks to its Disco Demolition Night during a doubleheader at Comiskey Park. Dahl hosted the raucous event, which culminated in fans storming the field after a box of disco records was blown up. The antics forced the White Sox to forfeit the doubleheader's second game against the Detroit Tigers.

More via the Chicago Tribune

Image via WLUP-FM (97.9)