WMAQ

WMAQ may refer to:

WMAQ (AM)

WMAQ was an AM radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and broadcast at 670 kHz with 50,000 watts. The station was in existence from 1922 to 2000, and was the oldest surviving broadcast outlet in Chicago. It was a class A clear channel station, and could be heard, particularly at night, over most of the eastern United States. WMAQ was owned in its later years by CBS Radio, but for much of its life it was owned by National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and later Westinghouse Broadcasting. The station's original owner was the Chicago Daily News newspaper, but its longest-running ownership was as an NBC Radio owned-and-operated station. Its transmitter was located in Bloomingdale, Illinois just off Army Trail Road, with a 780-foot tower where it remains today, with the callsign still on the exterior facade. The AM 670 transmitter is now in use by WMAQ's successor, All Sports Radio WSCR, and remains under CBS Radio ownership.

History

1920s

WMAQ came to life as WGU on April 13, 1922. The station was formed as a joint venture between The Fair Department Store and the Chicago Daily News, with the station's first transmitter atop the department store. At the time, the station was broadcasting on 833 kilocycles with a transmitter power of about 100 watts. There are questions as to whether anyone actually was able to hear the station's initial half-hour broadcast, as technical problems forced the station to shut down the following day and it remained off the air while a new ordered transmitter was awaited. One of the problems with reception of the station was the interference of other tall buildings in the area and the fact that it had only about 100 watts of power.