WNTD is an AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Sovereign City Radio Services LLC. Its frequency is 950 AM and has separate day-time (1000 watts; non-directional) and night-time (5000 watts; directional) transmitter locations. It is currently one of three stations in the Chicago market that airs Relevant Radio

Relevant Radio

Relevant Radio is a trademark of Starboard Media Foundation, and is the largest Catholic talk radio network in the United States, with 20 stations and 18 affiliates in 15 states...

, a Catholic talk format, 24 hours a day. Prior to this from August 7, 2009 until Aug 14th, 2010, WNTD carried "Avenue 950" an eclectic mix of Jazz, Blues, standards and Adult Contemporary from 6:00 PM to 5:00 AM. The Avenue format is programmed by Sovereign City Radio Services and airs on most of their stations. Local programs such as This is Chicago Jazz with Mike Jeffers, Live from The Green Mill with Alan Gresik and the Swing Shift Orchestra and The Skinny and Houli Show with James “Skinny" Sheahan and Mike “Houli” Houlihan are produced by Sovereign City Radio Services specifically for the Chicago market. During the 2009-2010 season WNTD airs Loyola Ramblers men's basketball games. WNTD also airs Radio Vida Independiente, hosted by Horacio Esparza, the nation's only Spanish language program that deals with issues for persons with disabilities.

WNTD was the original affiliate of Air America Radio

Air America Radio

Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...

 in Chicago. Program hosts included Al Franken

Al Franken

Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

, Randi Rhodes

Randi Rhodes

Randi Rhodes is an American progressive talk radio personality, formerly featured on Air America Radio and Nova M Radio and now on Premiere Radio Networks. Her eponymous program, The Randi Rhodes Show, airs live Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 6 pm Eastern Time.-Early life:Rhodes was born in...

, and Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...

. The new network launched on March 31, 2004. However, these programs ended after two weeks, on April 14, due to a payment dispute between Multicultural Radio Broadcasting

Multicultural Broadcasting

Multicultural Broadcasting is a media company based in New York City founded by Chinese-American businessman Arthur Liu. Multicultural caters mostly to the Asian American community and owns television and radio stations in several of the top markets in multiple languages.-History:This company was...

 (the previous owner of WNTD) and Air America Radio.

Before its brief run as a progressive talk radio station, WNTD was a One-on-One Sports (now Sporting News Radio

Sporting News Radio

Yahoo! Sports Radio, formerly Sporting News Radio is a United States sports radio network that broadcasts sports news, talk, scores, and highlights 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On August 1, 2011, it was announced the network would change its name to Yahoo! Sports Radio, effective...

) affiliate, at first as WZDB but soon changed to WIDB. One-On-One was headquartered in suburban Northbrook

Northbrook, Illinois

Northbrook is a village located at the northern edge of Cook County, Illinois, which is also a North Shore suburb of Chicago. The population was 33,170 at the 2010 census....

. The Sporting News affiliation has now passed to WSCR

WSCR

WSCR is a sports radio station in the Chicago, Illinois radio market. The station is owned by CBS Radio and transmits on 670 kHz on the AM dial. Its transmitter is located just off Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale, which is a western suburb of Chicago. It is known as "The Score," and has been on...

.

Earlier incarnations of this station include WGRT ("W-GREAT"), owned by Ralph Atlass, founder of WBBM, and one-time owner of WIND; WJPC, owned by Johnson Publishing Company, which was an all-rap station for a time; and WEJM ("Jammin'").

Prior to WGRT, for 20 years the call letters were WAAF, a daytime only station with an all jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 format. It featured Marty Faye in the early morning, Daddy-O Daylie  in the late morning, Olympic great Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...

 playing jazz from noon-3, and Dick Buckley

Dick Buckley

Dick Buckley hosted the jazz program, Jazz with Dick Buckley, on Chicago Public Radio. His program, which was on WBEZ from 1977 through 2008, tended toward jazz of the 1930s and 1940s, or what he has called "Golden Era" jazz. In the early eighties, he also hosted a jazz program on WXFM...

 and Jerry Leighton from 3 til sunset.

WNTD traces its history all the way back to 1922 when it was one of the first fifty radio stations licensed by the FCC. It was owned by the Chicago Daily Drover's Journal, with the transmitter at the Union Stock Yard.