Re: WITS....and their famous 50kw upgrade...

[Kevin Vahey <fenway@ziplink.net>]

On Mon, 7 Apr 1997 HJBee@aol.com wrote:

> Paul Kelley was there then wasn't he?  I remember hearing from his son that
> the folks at 1510 were dissappointed with the end results of their upgrade.
>  Apparently they were told/sold a plan that would give them a signal
> comparable to WRKO and WBZ.....

  The main reason for the upgrade was their desperate attempt to keep the
Red Sox contract they somehow were able to get from WHDH back in 1975. The
Sox made it clear they wanted a signal that was at least equal to WHDH or
WRKO. The Sox never wanted to be on WBZ as they knew that would hurt the
development of a New England regional network. 

  The final blow came when the signal at night got worse in Westwood,
which happened to be the home of current Sox CEO John Harrington. WITS had
worked out a simulcast deal on FM with WWEL and when they became KISS
switched to WPLM-FM, and finally the Sox moved the entire contract to
WPLM. With the loss of both the Red Sox and Bruins, WITS no longer could
be a major player in the market. At the end the Red Sox evicted WITS from
their Fenway Park studio to give NESN a home.

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