Re: The Concert Network (WXCN-FM)

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

At 12:52 AM 4/15/97 +0000, you wrote:

>
>     WXCN is now WWBB ("B-101") in Providence.  It used to be the famous
>WLKW ("L" means 50 and "KW" means kilowatts.....50 kilowatts... or 50,000
>watts).  Before that, it was WCRX.  Before that, it was WXCN.
>
In fact, I believe it was WLKW-FM. The first station to have the WLKW calls,
was, I believe, the AM 990 in Providence, which, as far as I know, is
currently WALE. The AM 990 was indeed a 50-kW (daytime-only) station (and
considering its lousy coverage, had every reason to find creative ways--like
the call letters--to let people know about the power; nobody could possibly
have guessed the power from the coverage :-) Although the FM was a full
Class B (50 kW equivalent at 500 ft HAAT), it did not get its calls from its
power; it got them from the co-owned and co-located AM that it simulcast
during the daytime.

I think the first station to be named for its power was the original WXKW
(850) in Albany. WXKW operated for six years in the late 40s and early 50s
with 10-kW U DA-1 from a six-tower in-line array in Selkirk, south of
Albany. The station operated the whole time on program-test authority, never
being able to obtain a license because of alleged interference to the
dominant station on 850--KOA in Denver. But that's a story for another time
and another (long) post.

- -------------------------------
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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