[HCDX] Roll your tape recorders...

[W5USM@xxxxxxx]

Chicago's oldest set of call letters will vanish from radio Aug. 1
when WMAQ-AM (670) makes way for the Score.

CBS/Infinity Broadcasting Corp. says WMAQ and its news/talk/sports format 
would cease to exist after July 31. 

WSCR-AM (1160) will move up to the 50,000-watt frequency of 670 along with the
Score's sports-talk format, talent lineup and call letters.  More than half 
of WMAQ's 60 full-time and part-time employees are expected to lose their 
jobs.

Also on the move will be Bears football broadcasts, which switch from
WMAQ to all-news sister station WBBM-AM (780), in accordance with the
team's insistence that its games not be associated with the Score.

WMAQ will mark its final hours on the air July 31 by airing historic
audio from the station's past. A marathon broadcast of "When Radio Was"
will highlight many of the programs that originated from the station's
Merchandise Mart studios in the 1930s and '40s.

WMAQ began broadcasting on April 13, 1922, under the ownership of the
old Chicago Daily News. (The call letters stand for "We Must Ask
Questions.") It was acquired in 1931 by NBC, which operated the station
for 57 years. 

Under Group W ownership, it launched its all-news format in 1988. In the 
latest Arbitron quarterly survey, WMAQ tied for 21st place overall with a 1.7 
percent share and a cumulative weekly audience of 543,500. In 1999, the 
station reportedly billed $20.7 million.



73 from Bill Smith, W5USM
 "Shortwave  Since  1950"
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