Vocalo, the local music radio station that helped make Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa household names, is set to launch a live call-in show in hopes of “shaping what comes next.”
The Vocalo Hotline, a weekly show debuting at 8 p.m. May 29 both on WBEZ 91.5 FM and Vocalo 91.1 FM, is part of a major refresh for the music station, which has struggled in recent years to attract an audience and generate sufficient revenue to cover expenses.
“We know the way people are interacting with radio shows is changing, and so we want to make sure we’re setting ourselves up to continue to remind people that we have streaming options and a newsletter and vertical videos as well as the radio signal,” said Melissa Bell, CEO of Chicago Public Media, the parent organization of WBEZ, Vocalo and the Chicago Sun-Times. “We feel really strongly that the team we have in place now supports this work, and it’s well worth the payoff of really creating a product that so many people across Chicago truly love.”
The call-in show is part of WBEZ’s renewed focus on Chicago-based programming, which includes the morning shows, “In the Loop” and “Say More.”
Hotline is set to be a one-hour radio broadcast built around listener requests, shout-outs and conversation, CPM said in a news release.
“The show is designed to come to life across digital experiences as well, capturing the energy of each episode through video, social clips, artist moments and real-time audience interaction,” according to the news release. “Each episode will feature a curated mix of genres spanning pop, hip hop, R&B, house, dance and independent music, alongside artist interviews, emerging local talent and a roundup of cultural events across Chicago.”
Vocalo DJ Nudia Hernandez will host the new show.
Hernandez, who has been with the station for four years, grew up listening to late-night dedication shows; she hopes to replicate that here — but with a “hyper-local factor.”
“Like someone calling about someone they saw on the 29 bus at State and Lake,” Hernandez said. “I want to be able to ask people the question: If you could dedicate any song to any person, what song would it be?”
So what if someone calls in to Chicago’s “Urban Alternative” and requests Taylor Swift?
“If someone is having a bad day and they want to hear Taylor Swift, well, you know what, we’re going to play Taylor Swift for you,” Hernandez said.
The show almost didn’t happen.
Two years ago, facing a worsening financial situation, CPM announced plans to discontinue Vocalo broadcasts, part of a broader series of cuts at the news organization.
“First launched in 2007, Vocalo’s radio audience has not grown, reaching just 11,000 listeners weekly, with the broadcast station running at a significant financial loss for many years. As a result, the radio music broadcast will be phased out by May 1st,” then-CPM CEO Matt Moog said in announcing the cuts.
But the radio station was not taken off the air.
“There were press stories that came out in 2024 that Vocalo was shutting down and that was incorrect. They were considering shutting down the [radio] signal, but we never did and we decided not to do it,” Bell said.
Still, staff at Vocalo was cut from five to two, leaving just Hernandez and Morgan Ciocca, who writes the station’s online weekly newsletter.
Vocalo currently has about 15,200 weekly listeners, according to Ariel Van Cleave, WBEZ’s managing director of audio. The newsletter has about 34,000 subscribers.
The new show is being made possible in part by a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant, according to CPM.
“The grant is making it possible to breathe more life into this brand and all the music discovery that has always been a big part of what Vocalo is,” Van Cleave said.