The unimpressive run of 1150 AM was: WTTT

[Dan.Strassberg]

Well, Donna Halper will tell you that, somehow or other, WTTT traces
its heritage back to WGI and its predecessor whose calls I don't
recall (W1<something>). Since WBZ was licensed to Springfield for a
year or so after it first signed on--after which Westinghouse swapped
the WBZ calls from Springfield to Boston and the WBZA calls from
Boston to Springfield, WGI (if it were still around in a form
recognizable as WGI) might claim to have been Boston's first station.
As I understand it, WGI took to the air, one way or another, while WBZ
was still WBZA, and since WBZA no longer exists (although maybe some
unrelated station now has the calls), WGI might lay claim to having
been on the air first in Boston. Of course, you've never heard WTTT or
any of its predecessors boast about the lineage and it looks like a
safe bet that Radio Luz will never boast about it en Espanol. Donna is
probably the only living person who has researched the history of the
station. If she has the complete sequence of call sign changes (let
alone ownership, frequency, and CoL changes), it might not fit on one
page.

And come to think of it, there might be a problem with the above line
of reasoning. I believe that WGI was licensed to Medford or Medford
Hillside (never a real political subdivision, AFAIK). So since there
may have been a WBZ Springfield before there was a WGI Medford
Hillside and neither one was originally licensed to Boston, the
argument for WGI being first may be on shaky ground.

-----
Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net)
eFax 1-707-215-6367

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin Vahey" <kvahey@comcast.net>
To: "Dan.Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 3:18 PM
Subject: The unimpressive run of 1150 AM was: WTTT


> With yet another format change on 1150 you have to look back at this
> station
> as being the worst performing AM in Boston history.
>
> When you consider the full time AM's to Boston  590, 680, 850, 1030,
> 1150,
> 1260, and 1510  the 1150 license has done very little of note in its
> history.  ( I didn't include 950 or 1330 or 1600 )
>
> Every other AM at one time was the most listened to station in the
> city as
> even WEZE 1260 was huge in the mid 60's before WJIB (96.9) came
> along and
> blew it away.
>
> Certainly 1150 must lead in call letter changes ( with 1510 right
> behind )
>
> In my lifetime only once did 1150 matter to most Bostonians. They
> were a NBC
> station in the 60's and they had the rights to the 1967 World
> Series.
>
> Also remember 1150 fondly for Monitor in the 60's before the station
> flipped
> to country.
>