Is WBZ AM-TV the only AM combo left in NE

[Dan.Strassberg]

I am more than 96.9% positive that the 96.9 was owned by General
Electric when it moved its studios to Commercial Wharf, began a
beautiful music format, and changed its calls to WJIB (FM). Back then,
GE was into owning radio stations in a pretty big way. The company
also owned KFOG (FM) in San Francisco, which also had a beautiful
nusic format and more-or-less nautical calls. In fact, of course, fog
is more connected with San Francisco than jibs are with Boston. I
can't recall whether the WALE calls, which are nautical and have a
regional connection with New England, were in use when 96.9 became
WJIB, but the chances are that WALE was safely ensconsed in Fall River
and unavailable for use in Boston even if GE had wanted the call sign.
Of course, back then, I doubt whether the "songs" of whales had yet
been recorded, and even if they had been, it seems unlikely that the
general public had heard about them--much less heard them.

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

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <Joe@attorneyross.com>
To: "Dan.Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 1:04 PM
Subject: Re: Is WBZ AM-TV the only AM combo left in NE


> On 17 Nov 2008 Dan.Strassberg wrote:
>
>> I think that very briefly, during Kaiser-Globe ownership (but maybe
>> during Harvey Radio ownership, which would make more sense), 740
>> was
>> WXHR (AM) and then during Kaiser-Globe ownership, it may also have
>> very briefly been WJIB (AM). I'm quite confident of the WXHR (AM)
>> calls even though they may have lasted for only a week or two.
>> (Also,
>> I have a track record of being wrong about such things.) IIRC, this
>> was at a time when the station had a very pleasant music format and
>> AM
>> drive was done by a guy named Patrick Downey who had great pipes
>> and a
>> pleasant manner. As for WJIB (AM), I don't think that Bob Bittner
>> has
>> ever been able to prove that the current WJIB (AM) calls constitute
>> the second appearance of those call letters on the station.
>
> No, the WXHR calls were on 740 for some time, perhaps a year or two.
> They were simulcasting the FM classical music format on AM.  If they
> had done that earlier, and if they had a night signal on AM, they
> might have managed to survive as a classical station.  As it was, by
> the time they started doing the AM simulcast, WCRB had the AM
> classical music market, and WCRB, with a night signal, also had the
> advantage of being able to get the afternoon drive-time commuters
> all
> year round.  FM car radios were rare to nonexistent in those days.
>
> When Kaiser-Globe took over the stations, they put both radio
> stations off the air for awhile until they were ready to start their
> new programming, WJIB from Commercial Wharf and WCAS from studios in
> Central Square.  The AM was never WJIB during that period.  I
> remember speaking with the program director or station manager who
> was setting up the stations (I was looking for a summer announcing
> job), and he said that he picked WJIB as the callsign because he
> wanted a nautical term to emphasize the station's location on the
> waterfront.  The AM programming had a different model, and the call
> letters were chosen to reflect the communities that the station was
> primarily trying to serve.  I remember an ad where some country hick
> was talking about the station call letters, saying "The government
> wouldn't give them the B for Belmont.  About time the government
> started trying to save money."
>
> The "Wiccus Island" slogan started almost immediately, though it was
> several years before it showed up in the corporate name of the
> station's owner.
>
> -- 
> A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                   617.367.0468
> 92 State Street, Suite 700            Fax: 617.507.7856
> Boston, MA 02109-2004           http://www.attorneyross.com
>
>