WLAW - WNAC

[Scott Fybush]

Strictly from the FCC's point of view, the license continuity was by 
frequency. If you look at the FCC history cards for WRKO, you'll see 
that they start with WLAW in 1937 and show a sale on June 17, 1953 to 
General Teleradio, Inc. and a call change the same day to WNAC.

Likewise, if you look at the history cards for 1260 (now WBIX), you'll 
see that they start with WNAC (the earliest entries are 1931, but of 
course the history went back to 1922) and show a sale on June 17, 1953 
to Vic Diehm and Associates and a call change the same day to WVDA.

So if you use the license records, it was considered a dual sale - 
General bought WLAW from Hildreth & Rogers and simultaneously sold WNAC 
to Diehm. But the WNAC intellectual property obviously didn't come with 
the sale - it stayed with General and went from 1260 to 680. (And 
WNAC-FM/WNAC-TV of course remained unchanged through all of this, while 
WLAW-FM was surrendered.)

 From the listener perspective, of course, WNAC simply "moved" from 1260 
to 680 and WVDA came on as a new station on 1260, just as happened again 
four decades later with WEEI and WHDH and 590 and 850. If you follow the 
FCC license records, the station we now call WEEI 850 is the same 
license that was WHDH, with a sale and a call change in the 1990s. And 
what we now call WEZE 590 is the same license that was WEEI, with a sale 
and a call change in the 1990s.

I don't think anyone played a toilet flushing when WLAW went away, though.

On 6/5/2019 12:32 AM, Donna Halper wrote:
 > On 6/4/2019 4:05 PM, Doug Drown wrote:
 >> I have an historical question: When General Tire purchased WLAW in 
Lawrence
 >> back in 1953 and moved WNAC
 >> from 1260 to WLAW'S 680 frequency, was it more a merger of the two 
stations
 >> or an acquisition?  Did General obtain any of WLAW's intellectual 
property
 >> and hire any of its on-air staff, or did the station for all intents and
 >> purposes become defunct?
 >
 >
 > Beware:  the answer to this is complicated!!!  It also started with 
WNAC, which had been trying to get a better frequency & more wattage for 
ages and ages, but the FRC and then later the FCC kept saying "no." John 
Shepard 3rd had lots of health problems in the mid-to-late-1940s, and 
that caused him to abandon the effort to improve WNAC's dial position; 
but his executive staff carried on the fight after Shepard died in June 
of 1950.  Meanwhile, the Rogers family, which put WLAW on the air in 
1937 (co-owned back then by Hildreth & Rogers, of which Irving Rogers 
was president), was finding it increasingly more expensive to maintain 
the station, which by then had studios in Boston as well as Lawrence. 
The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune (which the Rogers family also owned) was 
having financial problems, and Irving Rogers decided it was time to sell 
the radio station in May 1953. What ended up was a bit of a swap. WNAC's 
owners-- the Yankee Network division of General TeleRadio, purchased 
WLAW. Meanwhile, the old WNAC frequency (1260) and some of its equipment 
got sold to Victor Diehm, who turned it into WVDA. Diehm got the best of 
both stations-- he also got WLAW's Boston studio, then in the Hotel 
Bradford.  Meanwhile, WLAW's 680 (and 50,000 watts) became the new WNAC, 
which already had a studio complex for AM, FM, shortwave, and TV, on 
Brookline Ave.  Some of the old WLAW air staff did get hired by WNAC. 
Others found work at other stations--  in the early 1950s, there were 
still a lot of radio stations on the air in Boston...


On 6/5/2019 12:32 AM, Donna Halper wrote:
> On 6/4/2019 4:05 PM, Doug Drown wrote:
>> I have an historical question: When General Tire purchased WLAW in 
>> Lawrence
>> back in 1953 and moved WNAC
>> from 1260 to WLAW'S 680 frequency, was it more a merger of the two 
>> stations
>> or an acquisition?  Did General obtain any of WLAW's intellectual 
>> property
>> and hire any of its on-air staff, or did the station for all intents and
>> purposes become defunct?
> 
> 
> Beware:  the answer to this is complicated!!!  It also started with 
> WNAC, which had been trying to get a better frequency & more wattage for 
> ages and ages, but the FRC and then later the FCC kept saying "no." John 
> Shepard 3rd had lots of health problems in the mid-to-late-1940s, and 
> that caused him to abandon the effort to improve WNAC's dial position; 
> but his executive staff carried on the fight after Shepard died in June 
> of 1950.  Meanwhile, the Rogers family, which put WLAW on the air in 
> 1937 (co-owned back then by Hildreth & Rogers, of which Irving Rogers 
> was president), was finding it increasingly more expensive to maintain 
> the station, which by then had studios in Boston as well as Lawrence. 
> The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune (which the Rogers family also owned) was 
> having financial problems, and Irving Rogers decided it was time to sell 
> the radio station in May 1953. What ended up was a bit of a swap. WNAC's 
> owners-- the Yankee Network division of General TeleRadio, purchased 
> WLAW. Meanwhile, the old WNAC frequency (1260) and some of its equipment 
> got sold to Victor Diehm, who turned it into WVDA. Diehm got the best of 
> both stations-- he also got WLAW's Boston studio, then in the Hotel 
> Bradford.  Meanwhile, WLAW's 680 (and 50,000 watts) became the new WNAC, 
> which already had a studio complex for AM, FM, shortwave, and TV, on 
> Brookline Ave.  Some of the old WLAW air staff did get hired by WNAC. 
> Others found work at other stations--  in the early 1950s, there were 
> still a lot of radio stations on the air in Boston...
>