Which audience followed WLS through different eras?

Depended on the era, really. You had the farm families in the 1920s and 1930s tuning in for the Sears catalog and barn dance shows, then it switched to the rock and roll crowd in the 1960s when they went Top 40. After that, it was the talk radio bunch in the 1980s and 1990s, mostly older folks who wanted to argue about politics. Pretty fragmented if you ask me, not a single loyal audience.

Farm families clung to WLS during the early days for the National Barn Dance and Sears catalog news, then teenagers and young adults took over in the 1960s when it blasted the top 40 hits that defined the era.

Over the decades, WLS drew a different crowd each time. The prairie families in the 1920s and 1930s were loyal for the barn dance and farm reports, then the teenagers of the 1960s and 1970s made it their rock and roll companion, blasting from every car radio. Later on, the talk format pulled in the politically engaged, usually middle-aged folks who wanted to chew the fat on issues.

You know, thinking back, the audience that really stuck with WLS through thick and thin was the restless, curious teen in every decade. Back in the 1920s, it was the farm kid sneaking a listen to the National Barn Dance after chores, then in the 1960s, it was the suburban teenager cranking up the Top 40 hits in their dad's Chevy. Even when the talk era hit in the 1980s, that same core of folks, now grown up and maybe a bit more cynical, were tuning in for the debates. Doesn't that ring true to you - a generation just aging with the station?

Through the static of my old console stereo, I always picture two distinct crowds sticking with WLS across time. The first were the rural families huddled around a battery-powered set in the 1930s for the National Barn Dance, treating it like a weekly church service. Then, by the 1960s, it was my older brother’s generation, the teenagers sprawled on the floor with transistor radios, their fingers glued to the dial for the latest Beatles hit.