WLAW - WNAC

[Kevin Vahey]

So can I assume WLAW-FM was deleted and the Lawrence allocation remained
silent until WCCM decided to launch a FM?


On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 7:10 PM Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> wrote:

> 93.7.
>
> If you look at the center tower of WRKO in Burlington, you can still see
> the remains of the pylon antenna.
>
> On Wed, Jun 5, 2019, 6:37 PM Sean Smyth <ssmyth@alumni.psu.edu> wrote:
>
> > What frequency was WLAW-FM on?
> >
> > On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 5:31 PM Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> wrote:
> >
> >> 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...
> >> >
> >>
> > --
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
>