WQAL began in April 1948 as WJW-FM, the FM sister station to , owned by William M. O'Neil, Jr. The new FM station went on the air just as the Cleveland Indians began their world championship season. WJW was the flagship of a six-station Ohio network that carried the games in 1947 and 1948, a forerunner to the current Cleveland Indians Radio Network; however, the full games were often carried on WJW-FM, since the AM outlet did not have available air time due to its ABC network commitments. As a result, Cleveland became an FM hot bed, and more FM radio sets sold in Cleveland than in any other market in the country in 1948. WJW-FM would also originate programming for the Standard Network, a 14-station statewide service set up at the end of 1948 as an extension of the Indians Radio Network.