A format change is expected today at Alpha Media Hot AC “Star 102.3” WXLC Waukegan IL.
As we first hinted about in the story about the layoffs at the company’s Joliet IL cluster last week, WXLC will be flipping to Country today simulcasting 98.3 WCCQ Crest Hill/Joliet. It is expected that the stations will be branded as “Chicago’s Free Country“. The combination of the two signals will cover both the northern and southern suburbs of Chicago giving an in-market competitor to Audacy’s “US 99” WUSN for the first time since iHeartMedia flipped “Big 95.5” to Rock in September 2020.
The flip will also end 40+ years of Pop music on WXLC dating back to its early 1980’s flip to Top 40. Alpha had rebranded the station as “Star 102.3” last May as it regionalized morning and afternoon shows on its three Chicagoland Hot ACs.