Re: Concert Network in the 50's & 60's

[Dan Strassberg <dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

At 05:11 PM 4/10/97 +0000, you wrote:
>I remember WBCN(boston), WHCN(hartford) & i think WNCN(new york).
>Were there any others around the country with the W_CN (or K_CN) calls? Were
>they independents or one entity?
>Does anyone have some history of the Concert Network?
>I recall a great deal of live broadcasts.
>When and why did it finally die?
>Regards,
>Bill Piacentini
>
I think you named all of the CN stations. (Well, I _thought_ so, but I see
from another post that there were a couple of others.) Wasn't the Concert
Network the creation of one T Mitchell Hastings? Didn't WBCN start out with
the calls WTMH? I'm pretty sure the three stations simulcast. They were so
located that programs could be relayed from station to station.

Now Scott should jump in and provide a history of the Rural Radio Network
AKA QXR Network AKA Ivy Network in upstate New York. This was a chain of
stations from Troy (WFLY 92.3) across the state to somewhere near Buffalo,
which ran an over-the-air-relay simulcast. I believe the first incarnation
was RRN and it began before I started in college in Troy in 1952. By the
time I got to Troy, I think it had alrady become the QXR Network, relaying
the programs of (then) WQXR-FM (now WQXR (FM)) in New York City. At that
time, WQXR simulcast on AM and FM. The AM was what is now WQEW (1560). Troy,
being 150 miles from New York City, was kind of far away for a
point-to-point over-the-air FM relay. When reception was bad, WFLY picked up
WQXR AM. Imagine feeding the whole network of half a dozen stations with the
fading skywave from 1560 (which may still have been running 10 kW at the
time). In any event, I think that every one of the original RRN stations is
still on the air on its original frequency, though at least some, and
possibly all of the calls (except for WQXR and WFLY) have changed. I think,
though, that some of the stations are still commonly owned and still
simulcast--though I have no idea of who owns them or what they're simulcasting.

Some calls I remember from RRN/QXR Network days are WVCN DeRuyter and WVCV
Cherry Valley. There were a bunch of others. 

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Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205

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