Carrier Current

[Howard Glazer]

----- Original Message -----
From: Aaron Read <readaaron@friedbagels.com>
To: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 1:32 PM
Subject: Carrier Current


> It's been a few years since I've I've looked into, but during my college
> years (1994-98) the carrier current scene was alive in Boston.  Not
> exactly "well", but definitely alive.  There were carrier-current
> stations at:
>
> Boston University (WTBU)
> Emerson College (WECB)
> Newbury College (WNBY)
> Bentley College (WBTY)
> Regis College (WRGS)
> Emmanuel College **
> Wentworth Institute of Technology (WWIT) **
> Babson College (WBCR) **
> Boston College (WVBC) **
>

WJPZ (89.1) at Syracuse University, now on FM, started as a carrier-current
AM (1200) in 1974. As I recall, the guys who put the operation together
chose the call letters for two reasons: so the station could use the "cool"
letter "Z" in its imaging (WJPZ was a tight-playlisted Top 40 alternative to
free-form WAER, for students who were serious about a career in commercial
radio rather than just looking to spin their favorite album tracks and
ramble, stoner-style, into the mic between eight-song sets) and, looking
forward to "real radio station" status, because they had checked with the
FCC and found that the calls were available.

My brother attended Ithaca College 10 years later and worked at a similar
carrier-current operation, WVIC ("V"oice of "I"thaca "C"ollege), which
programmed some sports play-by-play as well as Top 40 rock and pop. At some
point, the folks at the "real" WVIC, in Michigan, who'd tacitly accepted the
carrier-current WVIC for some years, nudged the college station toward
dropping the "W" and it became 106-VIC. The station is now online, but I'm
not sure what its legal (or technical) status is these days.

Howard