Listeners to WBEZ-FM 91.5 may have noticed an abrupt change in the programming schedule Wednesday morning after a power outage shut down operations at the Chicago public radio station’s Navy Pier studios.
The outage occurred around 9:30 a.m. during the “In the Loop” program with Sasha-Ann Simons. The station was briefly able to continue broadcasting its local programming on a backup power system, but the outage also knocked off the heat, forcing the on-air staff to vacate as the temperatures in the studios began to drop.
WBEZ back to local programming Thursday morning after 16-hour power outage
At about 10 a.m., WBEZ switched to a network feed from the BBC, unable to air the regularly scheduled “Say More” show with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith.
“We kept things on until we realized we had to leave the studios,” WBEZ spokesperson Victor Lim told the Tribune. “We had to leave the office for safety concerns.”
ComEd, which discovered a damaged transformer at Navy Pier, was still working on the ongoing outage as of 5 p.m., with no projection as to when employees will be able to return to the studios to resume local programming, Lim said.
WBEZ, the highly rated NPR station, offers a mix of local and network programming throughout the day. It normally airs NPR syndicated shows such as “Fresh Air,” “Here and Now” and “All Things Considered” in the afternoon, but with regular local news inserts.
At 2 p.m., the station successfully switched from BBC to its scheduled NPR programming with “Here and Now,” but without local news as the power outage and deep freeze continued at the studios throughout the afternoon, Lim said.
WBEZ sent an email to listeners this afternoon about the “disruption” and power outage, thanking them for staying with the station during the temporary switch to BBC programming.
“We’ll keep you updated as soon as we’re back up and running,” the station told listeners via email.
By 5 p.m. – more than seven hours into the outage – ComEd had brought a new transformer to the site at Navy Pier and was working to install it, a spokesperson for the utility told the Tribune. ComEd was looking to have power restored for WBEZ by Wednesday night, the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, WBEZ planned to keep airing network programming throughout the night, with the hopes the station will be live and local by Thursday’s morning drive.
“We’re trying to just play the rest of our syndicated programming, but just without the local segments,” Lim said.
WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times are owned by Chicago Public Media, after the radio station and newspaper merged under the nonprofit organization in January 2022.
