Wake Up Chicago!

Black text over a ringing alarm clock illustration on white background, white text on blue background on lower third of button.

This slogan was used by radio and television broadcaster Art Hellyer. Since the mid-1940s, Art Hellyer has been a cornerstone of Chicago broadcasting. He was a television announcer, sports broadcaster, news anchor and feature reporter with WLS-TV (and its predecessor, WBKB-TV). He also spent time with WMAQ-TV & WBBM-TV. He was the deep voice heard over many advertisements. He is probably best known locally for his over 50 years in radio, where his dry, off-beat sense of humor and outspoken ways thrilled fans and infuriated management. Over the years, Art Hellyer had worked for WCFL-AM, WBBM-AM, WJJD-AM, WGN-AM, WAIT-AM, WIND-AM, WMAQ-AM, WLS-AM and WLS-FM. Hellyer's zany wit and "take no prisoners" attitude was a huge hit with listeners, but got him fired frequently. Regardless of his many firings, Hellyer was the #1 rated on-air personality in Chicago four different times, on four different stations, in four different decades.