The Kaiser Stations (was Re: WTAO (FM?), WCOP-FM, WTTK)

["Peter Q. George" <radiojunkie3@yahoo.com>]

Hi Joe:
     Please check out the history of WKBG-TV (as WXHR)
on my website http://RadioDXer.com in the "The UHF
Morgue". WKBG-TV was the first of the Boston Kaiser
stations to make the complete makeover in December,
1966.  The AM and FM stations had and still remained
at separate locations.  The WXHR-FM used some very old
studios at Zion "Mountain" in Woburn up until the time
the new operations took effect.  Yes, the FM was
silent for a few months in preparation for Commercial
Wharf to go on-line in May of 1967.  WXHR-AM/740 while
technically still located at Concord Avenue in
Cambridge basically took the FM feed and fed it to the
board, to cover for the COL (City of License)
requirements.  96.9 was originally a Cambridge
allocation.  But, since Cambridge was already well
served by 2 other FM's (WTBS and WHRB) and 1 AM
(WXHR), they got the FCC OK to change the city of
license to Boston.  They tried to change the COL of
Channel 56 to Boston but, no..... it was the only TV
"voice" in the City so they had to settle for
Cambridge of which the station is still really
licensed to, to this day.  Kaiser/Globe really went to
town in getting the best studios, the best equipment
to make these stations "sing".  WJIB/"FM 97" was an
immediate hit to the HI-FI/Stereo crowd in Greater
Boston. 
     WCAS/740 (Wickus Island) was not so much of a
hit.  Only today under Bob Bittner does today's 740
show the most continued stability in the 54 year
history of that station. 
     We all know that WKBG-TV/Channel 56 was doing
quite well in its' first few years of renewed
operation from Zion Hill transmitter site.  So much in
fact that they (along with Channel 25-WREP, and
38-WSBK) put up a new cooperative tower in Needham in
1968.  WKBG/56 fired up at Needham in October, 1968,
WSBK/38 in the fall of 1969 and WXNE/25 fired up on
October 12, 1977. This tall candlabra tower still
serves these stations quite well.  As a little boy of
8, I loved watching Channel 56 then. Remember "Bunker
Hill", "The Captain Boston Show" with Chris Clausen
(still doing voice-over work to this day!) and "Magic
Key"?  Well... when they fired up their new "million
watts of power from our new tall tower!", I thought I
had died and gone to heaven.  It was that good! Boy,
UHF was fun then!


Cheers,
-Peter Q.



--- "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyross.com> wrote:
> On 18 Aug 2002 at 14:34, Peter Q. George wrote:
> 
> > The AM went silent for a few months in 1967 in
> preparation for WCAS. The
> > FM became WJIB in May, 1967 with the famous Stereo
> beautiful music
> > ("ding, ding....").  They limped along from Zion
> Hill in Woburn, MA
> > until the Commercial Wharf studios were built. 
> 
> I believe that the FM also went silent for awhile. 
> I have some 
> recollection of going to see the guy who was in
> charge of getting the 
> stations on the air with their new identities, to
> try to get a summer 
> job.  I went to see him at the Central Square
> studios, and WCAS may have 
> been on the air by then, but WJIB was not.  And I
> believe neither was 
> WKBG-TV.
> 
> -- 
> A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                          
> 617.367.0468
>  15 Court Square, Suite 210                
> lawyer@attorneyross.com
> Boston, MA 02108-2503           	        
> http://www.attorneyross.com
> 
> 


=====
Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts
                           "Scanning the bands since 1967"
radiojunkie1@yahoo.com
radiojunkie3@yahoo.com
***********************************************************

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