Editing WLS (AM) (section)

===Talkradio era===
[[Image:WLS890.png|thumb|WLS logo for its early Talk Radio years.]]
In June 1989, WLS announced it was going all-talk by the end of the summer.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Feder |first1=Robert |title=Radio stars will fall as WLS turns to 'hot talk' format |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3949029.html |access-date=April 30, 2018 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |date=June 22, 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911154631/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3949029.html |archive-date=September 11, 2016}}</ref> Rumors were that the change was to happen September 1. Air personalities were becoming more talk-intensive anyway and midday talk was added as well. But quietly, with no warning, on August 23, 1989, at 7&nbsp;pm, WLS stopped playing music altogether.<ref name="RockofChicago">Childers, Scott."[http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS80/ WLS AM Stereo 89 – The Rock of Chicago]", ''The History of WLS Radio''. Retrieved August 19, 2018.</ref><ref name="SmithTop4080">Smith, Ronald P. (2002). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3R9zwFeHI5kC&pg=PR11 Chicago Top 40 Charts 1980-1990]''. p. xi. Retrieved August 19, 2018.</ref> Phil Duncan was the last DJ to play music on WLS, and as Duncan finished up his show, a voice in the back of the studio (that of then-WYTZ DJ Steven Craig) was heard saying "Goodnight!" (Craig unknowingly (and unofficially) became the last live voice on Musicradio WLS.) Appropriately, the last song was "[[Just You 'n' Me]]" by [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]].<ref name="RockofChicago" /><ref name="SmithTop4080" /> WLS then became a [[talk radio|talk]] station, with [[Sally Jesse Raphael]] as its first host.<ref name="RockofChicago" /> In the beginning of the talk format, WLS featured high-rated talk talents from around the country, such as [[Bob Lassiter]] from [[Tampa Bay]], Stacy Taylor from San Diego and the station's biggest hit, Rush Limbaugh out of New York.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Feder |first1=Robert |title=WLS-AM tries to talk its way out of radio 'wasteland' |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3960090.html |access-date=April 30, 2018 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |date=September 7, 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911154638/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3960090.html |archive-date=September 11, 2016}}</ref> After a few years, however, Lassiter, Taylor and some of their other national hosts were dropped in favor of more local hosts. [[Jay Marvin]] also had several stints on WLS, where he was one of the few liberal voices on its political talk shows, which had mostly conservative viewpoints. The station served as the "flagship" broadcast outlet for the Sunday night, national political talk show, ''[[Beyond the Beltway]] with Bruce DuMont''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wlsam.com/goout.asp?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beyondthebeltway.com |title=Bruce DuMont-Beyond the Beltway |publisher=WLS Radio 890AM |access-date=January 15, 2011 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211044200/http://www.wlsam.com/goout.asp?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beyondthebeltway.com |archive-date=February 11, 2011 }}</ref>

By 1992, WLS had such low ratings that ABC's national management was planning on flipping the station to a satellite-fed country format (management went so far as to distribute an all-staff memo and hosts being told they were about to be let go). However, in what was described as an "eleventh hour decision", ABC canceled the planned format change due to convincing from local management. Throughout the 1990s, ratings began to grow, with the station occasionally ranked in the Top 10.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS90/|title=WLS Talkradio 89 – The Talk Of Chicago|website=wlshistory.com|access-date=April 30, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027235030/http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS90/|archive-date=October 27, 2017}}</ref>

On Memorial Day, 2007, WLS took a cue from sister station [[WABC (AM)|WABC]] and ran a special day of musical programming, "The Big 89 Rewind", featuring live visits from Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reelradio.com/ram/beg2.ram?lltewls052807-0800.rm~0:00.0~46:25.1 |title=audio file-Lujack and Edwards-"The Big 89 Rewind" May 28, 2007 |publisher=Reelradio.com |access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref> Fred Winston, Chris Shebel, Jeff Davis, John Records Landecker, Tom Kent, and other DJs, sounders, and airchecks from the Musicradio era.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imh-HiSPaDE |title=YouTube video of Big 89 Rewind-2007 |via=YouTube |date=August 2, 2007 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612074852/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imh-HiSPaDE |archive-date=June 12, 2014 }}</ref> The broadcasts re-aired on Independence Day 2007, and there was a new Rewind in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnl8_tdEtA8 |title=YouTube video of WLS Rewind 2008 |via=YouTube |date=September 11, 2008 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612074722/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnl8_tdEtA8 |archive-date=June 12, 2014 }}</ref>