WCGO 1590 Evanston, IL

Evanston's WCGO 1590 operates as talk radio at 32 kilobits, a bitrate optimized for speech rather than music. Voices remain intelligible even at compression this aggressive. Talk radio's technical requirements differ entirely from music formats. WCGO exploits this principle. The station broadcasts into Chicago's northern suburbs where Northwestern University anchors the community. College-educated audiences dominate. Programming reflects that demographic. Talk shows address current events, local politics, and community issues with intellectual rigor. Hosts don't dumb down content for imaginary…