...and speaking of anniversaries...

[A. Joseph Ross]

On 11 Jun 2009 Dan.Strassberg wrote:

> IIRC (I think it was in the spring of 1956 but it could have been a
> year or more earlier than that), CBS radio switched from WTRY (AM) to
> WROW (AM) and CBS TV switched at the same time from WTRI-TV Channel 35
> to whatever the station on channel 41 was then called (maybe still
> WROW-TV). 

I think it was earlier than that.  It was sometime in 1956 that WTRI 
returned to the air as an ABC affiliate, and for the fall TV season 
that year, for the first time in that market, each network had its 
own station.

> However, by the time of the switch (or AT the time of the switch),
> WTRY (AM) changed hands. I think Channel 35 stayed with the former
> owners of the AM but the AM was sold to a Providence RI-based group
> that also owned WEAN there. The guy who headed the group was a
> fellow named Mowry Lowe. Lowe was a strong believer in independent
> stations and music-and-news formats (later known as MOR and
> Top-40). Instead of picking up the ABC Radio affiliation that WROW
> (AM) was dropping, WTRY became an independent and continued to do
> very well both in ratings and sales. I think ABC radio then moved
> to WPTR. 

Yes, there was a big network shift at that time.  CBS went to WROW, 
ABC went to WPTR, and Mutual, formerly on WPTR, moved to WOKO.  The 
only affiliation that stayed the same was NBC on WGY. 

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                   617.367.0468
92 State Street, Suite 700            Fax: 617.507.7856
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