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Originally Posted by W.B.
WNBQ, incidentally, was the only NBC-O&O'd VHF station not to go in line with the four other O&O's of the time in conforming their calls to the network's then-parent, in keeping with their byline "A Service of RCA" - unlike WRCA-TV New York; WRC-TV Washington, DC; KRCA Los Angeles; and, from 1956-65, WRCV-TV Philadelphia. When the Chicago station changed calls on Aug. 31, 1964, it was to WMAQ-TV.
As to why the radio station is now a "jock block" station: That was related to Viacom's takeover of CBS in the late 1990's, and their decision to end WMAQ Radio in 2000 and move the sports station to the 670 frequency.
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The former WMAQ-AM was also an all-news radio station from 1999 until 2000, before becoming WSCR "The Score" AM 670. WMAQ-AM identified itself as "a Westinghouse Broadcasting station" during its all-news days (a preview of of things to come?
) and was operating in AM stereo as well. I remember listening to "WMAQ All-News 67" at night the year I moved here from suburban Cleveland; this despite the FCC's having abolished clear channels some 15 years earlier, but I'm close enough to Chicago (330 miles or so) that I can hear the city's major AM stations very well here after dark. I downloaded a promo for WMAQ All-News 67 from YouTube a while ago, and still have it on a CD.
WMAQ-AM had a number of formats from the '70s until 1999--rock, country, top-40, etc., ending with all-news from '99 until 2000.
I was not aware, however, that Viacom and CBS were involved in WMAQ's format switch from music to sports; I always thought that NBC sold WMAQ-AM and FM when the radio network was disbanded (NBC sold every one of its operated radio stations in 1986, effectively exiting the radio business for good), and WMAQ's new owners (the station was probably initially owned briefly by another media group before Viacom and CBS got involved in the issue) would decide the station's future from that point on.