WABI is no more

[Kevin Vahey]

What station in Bangor will wind up with Sox and Celtics play by play?
WZON actually became all sports after Mr. King bought the station to
insure he could listen to the Sox at home.

I am very curious to see how EEI in Bangor affects WZON. Bangor is
over 200 miles from Boston but the fans there are rabid fans. We all
saw what happened when EEI moved into Providence and just destroyed
WSKO. Could it happen in Bangor as well?

On 3/3/09, Doug Drown <revdoug1@myfairpoint.net> wrote:
> Scott Fybush reports in this week's North East Radio Watch that Maine's
> oldest radio station, WABI in Bangor, has changed its call letters to WAEI
> (AM) to reflect its recent affiliation with the WEEI Sports Network.  This
> may seem insignificant, but the call letters have been the same since the
> station first went on the air in 1924.  The FM counterpart, which it
> simulcasts, became WAEI-FM about two months ago.  The historic WABI calls
> now rest solely with Bangor's Channel 5 (5.1 DT), which is under separate
> ownership.
>
> Sad, I think, and unnecessary . . . but not surprising.
>
> WABI was originally placed on the air by the First Universalist Church in
> Bangor, then later was sold to the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company.  Gov.
> Horace Hildreth bought it in the late '40s, and subsequently established the
> FM and TV stations.  Diversified Communications (owned by his heirs) sold
> the radio outlets about ten years ago, IIRC.
>
> -Doug
>
>