WBZ--WBZA

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

Historically, WBZA was considered a repeater for WBZ, before the call letter
swap.  WBZ in the early 1920s had major signal problems getting into Boston,
and for a while, WBZ/WBZA were both on the same frequency, but a peristen
hum and whistle caused engineers to move WBZA over to 242 meters-- but, both
stations operated the same programming.  There were occasions in those early
days when the Springfield station did have some local person on (usually a
minister), while the Boston station had some local speaker or local band;
but by and large, the two stations were in fact synonymous and not
separate-- the media referred to the new WBZA in 1924 as a "booster"
station, to get WBZ's signal into Boston.  When in March of 1931 the call
letter swap occurred, the purpose never changed-- Westinghouse had a
commitment to cover all of Massachusetts with the WBZ signal, and if that
meant having two stations simulcasting, so be it.      

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