95.5 WNUA-FM Says "Adios" - Now “Hola” to Mega 95.5 Brand of Spanish radio

WNUA, a pioneer 22 years ago with the adult-contemporary format that blended pop instrumentals and jazz influences, is poised to become a Spanish-language station, complementing the music of artists such as Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Aventura with local on-air personalities, news and traffic. This according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.


As I listened on Friday morning, Ramsey Lewis is bidding fans farewell through the 9 a.m. hour. There is a brief audio montage recalling the history of the 95.5 frequency in Chicago, from the Moody Bible Institute to WDHF to WMET to WNUA. Then at 9:55 a.m., the plan is to begin playing 5,000 successive songs from the new brand over the next two weeks as a launch of Mega 95.5 programming.

I have been following the “flip” guessing game as other smooth jazz stations around the country dropped the format in recent weeks. But much of the speculation wrongly had WNUA embracing country, oldies or classic rock rather than what is being billed as Spanish hot adult contemporary.

A change in call letters has not been finalized, but the new Chicago station branding will be Mega 95.5, and it will be available online through Mega955.com.

It may be small solace for loyal WNUA listeners, but its smooth jazz format will remain available online at yoursmoothjazz.com, as well as on smart phones via iheartradio.com and to those with HD Radios at 95.5 HD2.

You can read more at chicagotribune.com.