Actually, WIIL used to be a Chicago-market station - prior to changing it's COL to Union Grove (Racine Co./Milwaukee market) due to ownership cap issues that its new buyer had. However, this never impacted it's signal, which has stayed put. I've lived in this region for many years now and WIIL used to be in like a local when I lived in Buffalo Grove (right near Lake-Cook Rd) about 15+ years ago. It was receivable in downtown Chicago too. But, this was before the advent of HD radio sidebands and fill-in translators. I could get weak signals from Milwaukee FMs in Buffalo Grove back then too. Forget that now. Since then, I've gradually moved closer to WIIL's home turf - now residing about 6 mi west of it's tx.
Anyhow, yes, WIIL tries to super serve Lake, McHenry and Kenosha Counties. They do have quite a few listeners and I'd say that Lake County is probably their biggest audience. The fact is, the Chicago market is huge and WIIL is a rimshot that barely serves 25% of it. The .5 that they get isn't that bad if you look at it that way. And they usually do better than WXLC, which is actually heard on radios all over the same region, but which usually books ratings in the same neighborhood.
By the way, culturally it is rough to get Milwaukee people to listen to much of anything based in - or near - Illinois. They have an irrational hatred of the state and of all things Chicago. Even if it's only 1/2 of letters in the WI-IL calls and 2/3 of the ads. This is a cultural thing and I'm absolutely not making it up. They really think that Illinois is the source of their every problem and that Chicago (with the 18th worst murder rate) is more dangerous than Milwaukee (with the 6th highest murder rate). Again, I am serious; Milwaukee people will flip it off as soon as the first spot for a car dealer in Libertyville comes on. It's unbelievable.
So, WIIL won't get much listenership north of Racine either. Not ever.
Anyhow, yes, WIIL tries to super serve Lake, McHenry and Kenosha Counties. They do have quite a few listeners and I'd say that Lake County is probably their biggest audience. The fact is, the Chicago market is huge and WIIL is a rimshot that barely serves 25% of it. The .5 that they get isn't that bad if you look at it that way. And they usually do better than WXLC, which is actually heard on radios all over the same region, but which usually books ratings in the same neighborhood.
By the way, culturally it is rough to get Milwaukee people to listen to much of anything based in - or near - Illinois. They have an irrational hatred of the state and of all things Chicago. Even if it's only 1/2 of letters in the WI-IL calls and 2/3 of the ads. This is a cultural thing and I'm absolutely not making it up. They really think that Illinois is the source of their every problem and that Chicago (with the 18th worst murder rate) is more dangerous than Milwaukee (with the 6th highest murder rate). Again, I am serious; Milwaukee people will flip it off as soon as the first spot for a car dealer in Libertyville comes on. It's unbelievable.
So, WIIL won't get much listenership north of Racine either. Not ever.