WNBQ 1956 ads

[Jeffhs]

NBC's then-O&O television station in Cleveland, now WKYC-TV and owned/operated by Gannett Broadcasting, held the callsign WNBK from the time it signed on in 1948 until about 1954. NBC's O&O radio stations in the city were WTAM-AM and FM, respectively, changing briefly to KYW-AM-FM (the latter never having been on the air) in 1955 and continuing until '65. WKYC-AM and FM were NBC's O&O radio stations in Cleveland until 1972; the stations were sold that year and changed their calls to WWWE and WWWM, respectively, the beginning of a long string of ownership, format, and callsign changes. The radio stations are now known as WTAM (that station's heritage callsign, dating to when the station first signed on in 1923) and WMJI-FM.

The television station, however, still maintains ties with the radio operations as far as weather forecasts and such are concerned (the radio stations apparently get their weather forecasts from the TV station's weather department), even though the stations now are owned and operated by two separate companies: WKYC-TV (now WKYC-HD) by Gannett and the radio stations by Clear Channel of San Antonio, Texas. However, WKYC-TV's station ID graphics and news set design still, IMHO, reflect their NBC O&O days. I think the reason for that is because NBC still has a minority interest in the station, the controlling interest being held by Gannett, although with the impending sale of the NBC television network to Comcast Cable that may change very shortly; Comcast at this time appears to be very close to reaching a deal with NBC to purchase the network.