Jan. 05--Chicago has a new country music radio station.
Owner iHeartMedia flipped the switch at noon Monday, launching Big 95.5, Chicago's Hit Country. The station had aired Spanish music since 2009, and previously was the longtime home of smooth jazz.
The new format, which features artists such as Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, will go head to head with WUSN-FM 99.5, Chicago's longtime country music outlet.
"Big 95.5 is going to be a dynamic country music leader and a breath of fresh air for country radio in Chicago," Matt Scarano, president of iHeartMedia Chicago, said in a statement.
Big 95.5 initially is airing country music without announcers and will roll out a live and local talent lineup soon, a station spokeswoman said.
The station will challenge CBS Radio's WUSN, which has been the market leader for more than 30 years. WUSN is tied for seventh in Chicago with a 3.5 share in the latest Nielsen audience survey.
WNUA, which most recently aired a Mexican regional music format, is tied for 20th with a 1.9 share, according to Nielsen.
The iHeartMedia Chicago radio group includes top 40 station WKSC-FM 103.5 (Kiss FM), urban stations WGCI-FM 107.5 and WVAZ-FM 102.7 (V103), and adult contemporary WLIT-FM 93.9.
rchannick@tribpub.com
Twitter @RobertChannick
