Re: History of 1570AM Beverly

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

Hi, Bob: What your reply didn't say is that Taunton (WPEP) had been on 1570
since (I assume) the late '40s. So the agreement of which you wrote marked
(at least temporarily) the end of its aspirations to become a higher powered
station.

I know that the WPEP predates any 1960s agreement on its facilities because,
when I started at RPI in September 1952, one of the wheels at the campus
radio station, WRPI, was a guy from the Providence area who--before he went
to college--had worked at WPEP and another Providence-area station that is a
_true_ piece of nearly forgotten New England radio trivia. WFCI Pawtucket
(1420 kHz 5 kW DA-N) was the fourth full-time 5 kw AM in the Providence
market. (The others were 630, 790, and 920.) The Journal-Bulletin had dreams
of becoming a major force in radio as well as print and purchased WFCI,
which became WPJB, as the AM affiliate of WPJB-FM 105.1. A few years later,
the Journal purchased WEAN 790 and, under the then-existent duopoly rules,
had to dispose of 1420. Instead of selling the station, the paper took it
dark, paving the way for stations in New Bedford and Pittsfield to move onto
1420.

I believe that when the Taunton-Newton-Beverly agreement was executed, WPEP
was still a 1 kW station. (1570 is a Mexican "clear" channel--home of the
legendary XERF--and, back then, the maximum power for any US station on that
frequency was 1 kW. Also all US stations on 1570 were limited to daytime
operation.) When the structure of Western Hemisphere AM allocations began to
change a few years later, US stations on Mexican clears were first allowed
to increase to 5 kW-D, then to add limited night service, and ultimately to
operate full time, first with a maximum of 500W-N and later, any power. I
think that WPEP now runs 5 kW-D and some low power at night. I don't recall
whether or not it's directional to protect WNSH.

Although WPEP never became a 10-kW station, staying on 1570 turned out to be
a much better deal than moving to 1550 because full-time operation on 1570
is possible with relatively uncomplicated facilities. Moreover, since the
demise of CKLM, 1570 is relatively quiet at night in New England. Although
there are now a couple of full-timers on 1550 in the Northeast (one of
which, in Bloomfield CT, is not too far from Taunton), protecting CBE
requires either uselessly small night power or a complex DA. Bloomfield uses
four towers at night (or maybe five) for 2.5 kW.
--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
617-558-4205, eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: Jibguy@aol.com
To: dan.strassberg@att.net ; arusso@smcvt.edu ; dlh@donnahalper.com
Cc: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 12:00 AM
Subject: Re: History of 1570AM Beverly


WNTN owes its current (and 1968) facility to an agreement with applicants
1570-Beverly and 1570 Taunton, since all had applied for 1550.   The
agreement was 1550 for Newton, 1570 for Beverly & Taunton.
----jibguy