Tag: public radio

An undated photo of Jay Pearce, showing him several years younger than his age of 69 at the time of his death.

Jay Pearce, longtime public broadcaster, dies at age 69

Jay Pearce, a member of the WILL Radio staff from 1998 to 2009, has died at the age of 69.

Illinois Public Media staff read proclamation of WILL-AM’s 100 years on-air

On April 6, 1922, four members of the University of Illinois’s electrical engineering laboratory put WILL-AM on the air. What would follow is a century of service to bring news, music, sports, education, and entertainment to Illinois via AM radio, then FM radio, then television, and later the internet. On April 6, 2022, the staff

WILL At 100: Remembering Focus 580, WILL-AM’s long-running local call-in show

For more than 30 years, the radio talk show Focus 580 was a mainstay of the WILL-AM program schedule, during a time when national daytime programming for public radio was scarce. The weekday program featuring host David Inge kept its listeners in touch with their local community and with the world.

WILL At 100: Looking Back On A Century Of Broadcasting

2022 marked the 100-year anniversary of WILL-AM, the oldest component of Illinois Public Media. The University of Illinois launched the station at a time when the idea of using radio to reach a mass audience was new and cutting edge. Over the century to come, WILL became a national leader in educational broadcasting, and more recently, public broadcasting.