The station was launched in 1973 as CBQ on 800 AM. The 800 frequency had been vacated earlier that year by the defunct CJLX. CBQ Radio's inaugural morning broadcast in December 1973 made it the second city in Ontario to get a regional broadcast centre. The call sign CBQ was a last minute choice by station managers since CBL (for Lakehead) or CBT (for Thunder Bay) were taken by the CBC stations in Toronto and Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrabor, respectively. Instead the letter Q was chosen for Quetico Provincial Park near Atikokan, which is west of Thunder Bay.