By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO) It is the end of an era in Chicago radio.   Merlin Media, the owner of iconic Chicago rock station The Loop, has agreed to sell the station to a Christian Broadcasting Company.    A Federal Communications Commission filing says Merlin has agreed to sell WLUP 97.9 FM to Educational Media Foundation, a company that operates Christian radio stations.

The company is planning to convert the station to noncommercial contemporary Christian music.    WLUP had been operated by Cumulus Broadcasting, the owner of WLS-AM, under an agreement to buy it, but those plans ended when Cumulus filed for bankruptcy protection.     Now the WLUP owner Merlin Media is selling the station to EMF for $21.5 million.

WLUP has been an integral part of the Chicago radio scene since 1977.     In 1979, current WLS-AM afternoon host Steve Dahl, while at WLUP, was responsible for one of the most famous radio stunts in history when he staged “Disco Demolition Night” at Comiskey Park.   Thousands of WLUP fans stormed the field between games of a White Sox doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers after Dahl exploded disco records on the field, leading to the cancellation of the second game.

Dahl told media writer Robert Feder: “As I look back on my 40 years on the radio in this market, I am reminded almost daily of The Loop’s impact not only my career, but also rock and roll history in Chicago, and around the world. They just don’t make brave risk-taking local radio stations like that anymore, and that’s everybody’s loss. I hope the last song they play there is AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell!’”

@ WLS-AM News