Is All-News FM Radio War in the Offing in Chicago?

Image via WikipediaCBS Radio-owned WBBM-AM 780 all-news radio, Chicago's top-ranked station, will begin simulcasting on WCFS-FM 105.9, heretofore a contemporary music station, as of August 1,  in a strategic maneuver to offset possible higher fidelity competition, The Chicago Tribune reports.

Merlin Media, which is led by a former Tribune executive, recently purchased WKQX-FM Q101 from Emmis Communications and is expected to convert the alternative rock station to a news-talk format. WBBM-AM, which has been an all-news radio station since 1968, also will take advantage of its FM doppelganger to broadcast Chicago Bears games in stereo if the NFL lockout ends and "da Bears" resume play. (Full disclosure: "TUOL"'s devoted staff used to reside in Chicago and regularly tuned in to WBBM NewsRadio, when not swinging to the jazz selections of the late Dick Buckley on WBEZ-FM.)