Re: WLAW-680

[Dan.Strassberg@worldnet.att.net]

I think that David Harris found a copy of an old 
newspaper (Eagle-Tribune?) that contained a WLAW program 
schedule from a time either just before or just after 
WLAW became an ABC affiliate. (I think the name of The 
Blue Network had already changed to ABC.)

I'm also curious about how close WVDA's program schedule 
(right after WVDA started up) was to WLAW's program 
schedule just before WLAW died. Were the local air 
staffs of WLAW and WVDA more or less the same? Was WVDA 
initially an ABC affiliate? I'd guess not, because I 
think WCOP was an ABC affiliate (it hadn't yet been 
purchased by Plough Inc--which turned it into an 
independent). WVDA, being licensed to Boston, unlike 
WLAW, couldn't carry ABC if WCOP did.

I was still in college, in Troy NY, when WNAC moved to 
680 and WVDA took over 1260. Around that time, an Albany 
station, WXKW-850, went dark because of technical 
problems with its directional array that were never 
resolved. At least one WXKW announcer, John Mountier 
(great voice, great delivery) moved to Boston and joined 
WVDA. Several years later when I moved to Boston to 
attend graduate school at MIT, he was still at WVDA 
(which I think were still the 1260 calls).

I arrived in Boston in early June 1956, just 43 years 
ago. I believe that WBZ had only recently dropped NBC 
and become an independent. I could be wrong, though; 
that might have happened shortly _after_ I arrived.

I'm not positive that in June '56, the 1260 calls were 
still WVDA, but I think they were. I think so because I 
seem to remember the station being sold later on to Air 
Trails (or was that Great Trails?) and the call sign 
being changed (to WEZE). I think that, maybe, by June 
'56, WVDA had become the NBC affiliate, replacing WBZ.

I'm pretty sure that by June '56, Plough Inc already 
owned WCOP and that WCOP was an independent. This leaves 
unanswered the question of what station carried ABC in 
Boston at that time.

WEEI-590 was CBS (O&O), WNAC-680 was Yankee Network and 
Mutual. (Later on, WNAC also carried some NBC 
programming, but I don't think that happened immediately 
after WBZ dropped NBC.) I think that WVDA-1260 was NBC. 
WHDH-850, WBZ-1030, WCOP-1150, WMEX-1510, and WBOS-1600 
were independents. The rest of the stations in the 
market were daytimers and the four radio networks did 
not usually affiliate wirh daytimers. So I'm unclear 
about what station carried ABC. And if I'm wrong--that 
is, if WEZE was the ABC affiliate, what stion carried 
NBC? Or did NBC go without a Boston affiliate after WBZ 
became an independent and before WNAC started to carry 
some NBC programming?

I was in the Boston area when most of these changes took 
place. I followed them assiduously at the time, but it 
was a long time ago. Although I pride myself on having a 
good memory, particularly about things in which I am 
strongly interested, a lot of the details have become 
cloudy. Can someboy fill me in? Donna? David?

> Another thought hit me about the old WLAW regarding what a couple of members 
> of this list had to say about studio location.
> 
> Perhaps WLAW's master control was located at the transmitter site in 
> Burlington along with a small booth only big enough for a mike, a small 
> table, chair, and an announcer to do station breaks between network 
> programming.
> 
> Perhaps also, phone lines for both the ABC (formerly Blue) network and for 
> any remotes WLAW might have done came into the transmitter building as well 
> as another line connecting the Boston studio to the transmitter/master 
> control set-up.
> 
> Under this set-up, the only "local" programming done out of Burlington would 
> be station breaks and maybe also "rip-and-read" local newscasts. The rest of 
> WLAW's "local" programming came out of Boston.
> 
> Of course, back in the late 1940's, an affiliate of a "big four" radio 
> network (ABC, CBS, Mutual, and NBC) would generally receive 13, 14, or 15 
> hours a day of network program feed. Since few stations were on the air 24 
> hours a day (and most "big four" affiliates broadcasting aproximately 19 or 
> 20 hours a day), most affiliates, apart from station breaks, had only 4 to 6 
> hours a day of local programming.
> 
> Perhaps we can find someone who can give us "the story behind the story".
> 
> Joseph Gallant
> <notquite@hotmail.com>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________________________
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