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WFMT is an FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk and jazz. The station is managed by Window To The World Communications, Inc., owner of WTTW, one of Chicago's two Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Public television stations. WFMT is also the primary station of the WFMT Radio Network, and the Beethoven and Jazz Networks. WFMT transmits from the Willis (Sears) Tower. WFMT is considered one of the most active and important broadcasters of classical music in America. A unique feature of this commercial station is that it airs no pre-recorded (by non-station hosts) advertising on-air. A brief attempt at introducing pre-recorded commercial advertising, the only time in its history, proved unpopular with listeners. All advertising on the station is currently read exclusively by WFMT's on-air hosts. WFMT's programs can be heard through its satellite services, or syndication, internationally. The station's programming is also available online. WFMT is an associate member of the European Broadcasting Union.〔(European Broadcasting Union list of Associate Members )〕 ==History== On December 13, 1951, Bernard and Rita Jacobs put WFMT on the air at 105.9 Megacycles with a classical music/fine arts radio format. They began with 8-hour-a-day broadcasts (3-11 PM), with Bernard serving as the station's engineer, and Rita as the station's announcer. By 1953, programming had expanded to 18 hours per day. WFMT moved to new studios in the LaSalle-Wacker Building in 1954. The station's power and antenna height were increased, increasing its broadcast range, and the transmitting frequency was changed to the present-day 98.7 MHz. That same year, WFMT aired a live recording made on July 4 at Circle Pines Center in Delton, Michigan, with Pete Seeger and Big Bill Broonzy. In 1957, the station received an Alfred I. DuPont Award as the country's best broadcaster in the small-station category. WFMT also aired a discussion between Frank Lloyd Wright and Carl Sandburg, which was simulcast with WTTW, marking the first collaboration between WTTW and WFMT. Another collaboration occurred the following year, as the two stations began a pioneering stereo music project in which WTTW broadcast a left audio channel, and WFMT broadcast the right audio channel simultaneously. WFMT won another Alfred I. DuPont Award in 1961, this time as the country's best broadcaster in the large-station category, in addition to the station's first Peabody Award. The station quadrupled its broadcasting power the same year and offered its first multiplex stereo broadcast, which was tested the following year, presenting the first live concert series broadcast in stereo, with music by the Fine Arts Quartet. In 1964, ''Hi Fi/Stereo Review'' readers voted WFMT the highest-fidelity station in the US. The station's first series of Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts began in 1965. In 1968, WFMT began around-the-clock broadcasting. That same year, Bernard Jacobs sold WFMT to WGN Continental Broadcasting Company, which in turn donated the station to WTTW two years later. The station began distributing WFMT programming to other American and international radio stations in 1972. In 1973 it created the Fine Arts Network for broadcast syndication of Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera and BBC's My Word!〔(My Word! - WFMT )〕 and My Music〔(My Music - WFMT )〕〔BBC ended US distribution October 1, 2013. (My Word, My Music ~ A Fond Farewell )〕 panel game shows. In 1979, WFMT became America's first radio superstation, delivered by satellite and cable systems across the United States. WFMT programming entered the Communist Bloc, as the Soviet Union and China began broadcasting WFMT tapes of Chicago Symphony Orchestra radio concerts. In 1980, WFMT became the first US radio station to join the European Broadcasting Union. A live performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was heard in the US, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden and West Germany simultaneously. Wagner's Ring Cycle was broadcast live for the first time as a digital transatlantic performance from Bayreuth, Germany to the US and Canada in 1983. The WFMT Fine Arts Circle, a member/listener support and funding group, was formed in 1991. In 1995, the station moved to its current location in the WTTW complex in Chicago's Northwest Side. The new facility included an all-digital path from studios to transmitter. The WFMT Jazz Satellite Network debuted two years later. WFMT celebrated its 50th anniversary on December 13, 2001, which Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley declared ''WFMT Day''. In 2002, WFMT Radio Network hosted and produced a live broadcast from Durban, South Africa featuring the world premiere performance of ''Princess Magogo'', the first South African indigenous opera and the first opera with a libretto in the Zulu language. The broadcast was produced and hosted by Steve Robinson and was heard by over four million people on 155 stations in the US and on European state radio networks. In 2003, the station began syndication of the program "''Exploring Music'' with Bill McGlaughlin", an educational daily program on various themes in classical music. It was created by Steve Robinson and is now carried by over 50 stations in the U.S. and is heard by over 400,000 people each week. They also launched a Fine Arts Hotline for the Chicago area that same year. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「WFMT」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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